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My Life
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Distresed- Miscarriage 3 years earlier
My mother had a miscarriage 3 years before I was born. Soon after, my mother claimed she felt emotionally unstable. My parents tried to concieve again but had no luck. My mother figured something was wrong with her, but my parents didn't lose hope. After my parents discovered they were pregnant, they went to extreme measures to ensure my well-being.They followed all the necessary precautions and on May 3rd, 1990, I was born. -
Stress- Parents felt financially insecure
At the time, my parents were working full-time. Since they were already feeling anxious, my parents thought it was best to have my mom stay home during her pregnancy. Since my dad was the only income, my parents began to suffer financially. My mother was stressed because she felt if they couldn't keep up with their bills, how were they going to care for a baby. -
D.O.B. I was born at 10:19 am.
My mother claims there was a code blue shortly after I was born. I wasn't breathing and my heart stopped for a while. The doctors revived me. -
As an infant, I cried excessively.
My mother claims I cried more than often. My mother tried to comfort and soothe me as I cried. As a result, I became too attached to her. As I grew older, I cried whenever she put me down or left the room. -
Motor Milestone- Walking
My mother said I learned how to walk later than the average toddler. Some of my mother's relatives voiced their concerns, but she knew I was cautious. I would stand against our coffee table and put one foot out towards the sofa. My mom said I would just stand there looking at the couch. After awhile, I sat down and crawled towards the couch and stood up against it. Finally, my mom said I seemed determined and I took my first few steps and soon after I started walking without any support. -
Language Milestone (18 months to 2 years old)
Around this age, my mother said I tried to form sentences. However, I would use my native language and mix it with english. For instance, I would ask my mother for a spoon whenever it was time to eat. Rather than saying, "Where is my spoon?" I would say, "Haajii spoon?" In Navajo, "Haajii" means "where?" So I would mix both my Navajo language and english to ask questions. I didn't know both were seperate languages. -
Sociolization- I was a shy toddler (2-5 years)
Since I was attached to my parents, I had a difficult time around strangers. I was very shy growing up. My parents tried to give me to our relatives but I wasn't afraid of everyone. In fact, I was afraid of everything from cats to dogs. At this age, I began to feel shame. My mother and father would express their disappointment with me if I didn't do as I was told. I was aware I was a seperate person, apart from my parents. Feeling conscious of myself and my surroundings made me feel very shy. -
Animism- (3-5 yeats)
As a child, I use to believe that monsters lurked in my closet and underneath my bed. For awhile, I couldn't sleep. Around this age, I also believed that the moon followed us as we traveled. I would ask my parents why the moon followed us wherever we went. My parents would laugh and try to explain why. I just believed the world centered around us (egocentrism). -
Identity Constancy
At the age of 5, I was in the Kindergarten. One time around Halloween, a teacher walked into our classroom dressed in a gorilla outfit. I was so afraid of her. I pratically hid under my desk. Some of my classmates were running around laughing and screaming, and I was just plain scared. She took off the head of the gorilla to ease our minds but after she put it back on, I was still afraid of her. I think I was more afraid of the gorilla's fixed expression. -
Piaget's Preoperational Stage (4-5 years old)
Around the age of 4-5, my brother and I would argue over little things. We were always competing with one another. If we didn't recieve the same amount of food or juice, we would get upset. If my mother poured my brother a taller cup of juice, I would get upset because I thought he was getting more than me. My mother tried to explain to us that we were getting the same amount, but I didn't believe her. What appeared to me is what I understood. -
Gender-Stereotype Play (6-7 years)
As I moved to 1st and 2nd grade, I realized I started to play more with girls. In Kindergarten, I played with everyone; boys and girls. However, as I grew older, I prefered playing with girls. We had the same interests, like drawing and coloring. We didn't care to compete with one another. The boys, on the other hand, were more agressive, competive, and rough. I was very fragile growing up so I stayed away from all the rough play. -
Concrete Operational Stage (6-7 years)
Around this age, I began to question the tooth fairy. Before, my parents would sneak into our rooms and put some money underneath our pillow. I even remember catching my dad in the act. At this age, I knew the tooth fairy wasn't real but I continued to play along to get money. -
Relational Aggression
In middle school, I joined the cross country team. One day at practice, we were doing a drill and this girl was getting mad at everyone for no apparent reason. I was getting fed up, because we were trying our best. I told her to chill out and she quickly started to try and turn our teammates against me. Luckily, for me, my friends and cousins were on the team and they didn't give her any attention. Throughout the season, she continued to try and damage my friendships. It was a nightmare. -
Self-esteem (12-18)
In elementary school, I felt bad about myself. It wasn't until Junior High that I started to feel very insecure about myself. I was considered skinny for my age and height and it bothered some girls. They made nasty comments about me throughout Middle School. They often asked if I was being fed regularly at home. I couldn't help it, I had a very high metabolism. Around this age, I had a very low self-esteem. -
Learned Helplessness- internalizing tendency
As I entered high school, I felt very motivated but that all changed when I took a Composition class. I didn't have a problem writing until I took that class. I just felt like my teacher didn't care about me as a student. The more I tried, the more I was disappointed. Near the end of the semester, I just gave up. My thinking was more like, "Why should I try if he's just gonna give me another poor grade?" I developed this learned helplessness. -
Prosocial Behavior
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to help others. In high school, our counselor asked us what we wanted to do after graduation and I said I wanted to go to college to pursue a degree in either Sociology or Psychology to help others. I was always helping my friends, classmates, and teachers. I didn't expect to recieve anything in return. If someone was in need, I wanted to help. I thought if I was in their situation, would I need help? Yes. This attitude and behavior continues to stick with me. -
Bullying
In high school, my friends were annoyed with this girl. I always tried to distance from all the gossip and drama, but one day it caught up to me. My friends were talking about this girl and I happened to be there. Later, another friend approached me and said the girl was crying in the restroom because she thought I was spreading rumors about her. I was blindsided. Rather than passively standing by, I should have told my friends to stop bullying this girl. It's something I always regret. -
Depression
In high school, I suffered from depression. I had a lot going on and I tried to keep up with my academics and sports, but it all tumbled down my junior year. My parents were having marital problems around this time. They expected me to be this type of student, athlete, daughter, and sister. As the oldest, all the resonsibility laid on me. I was overwhelmed with everything and I began to feel depressed.
