My Personal Autobiography - Essay Example

My Developmental Autobiography

Taking a nostalgic journey down through my memory lane, I can see a picturesque domicile that looks like a sample of a designer who perfected the art of integrating heirloom antique furniture and primitive fine art on the walls of the large airy and open room, with morning sun rays skewing through the lucent cream-colored window curtains cutting through the expanse to make incessant streaks that would easily be mistaken for laser beams. Though so hazy, I can see the image of my father seated on a cozy divan in the far corner of the living area, his face covered in a copy of what I can now describe as a magazine. A further walk down the lane, I can see a silhouette image of myself running through the room almost ecstatically, with my sister following along as we shriek happily. In that silhouette image, I can see my young fizzled heart, intricate with fragility, pounding with much trepidation, each beat bringing forth an intimate pleasure of recognition, the almost mystical thrill of ownership of a stream of life of a happy family overflowing with love.

My infancy and childhood was a remarkable one, as this is best brought out by my childhood photos which I currently have in my valuable possessions. Looking at these photos, I can almost feel that my parents had hired paparazzi that took countless photos to track down every single step of my childhood development. Each photo almost certainly represents Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development that include sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage. A photo that brings a smile on my face is the one where I am holding a piece of bread to our family puppy. My parents say I was only three years old when that photo was taken. At this stage, I must have started to exhibit the characteristics of sensorimotor stage, where I was getting acquainted to the environment and objects around me.

As I became more conscious with my environment, I learnt to use words and pictures to represent objects. My egocentric points of views are the most talked about points in our family dinner time and my oldest sister cannot help but mention how I turned out to be a talkative child. Concrete operational stage was realized in the sense that my logical reasoning was seen earlier in my development as my mother often talks about how they could be marveled by the way I understood things logically and coherently, my father always joking that I was bound to become a doctor. The formal operational stage is still very crystal clear in my memory. This is the time I started experiencing my adolescence and I particularly looked at issues from the moral point of view due to the religiously devout nature of the family I was raised in.

At my adolescence stage, I experienced James Marcia's every single stage of identity development. At the age of 13, I had identity diffusion, because I did not seem to have a sense of choice of commitment to my friends or my family. My world almost tore apart, before I came to my senses and realized that I was actually meant for more. My choices in life became more apparent, choosing to commit to some relevant roles in my life which are guided by values and goals for the future. I wanted to make a difference, even though I could not quite put finger on the role, I simply wanted to be that person who would be known around the world for making a difference in someone’s life. I was experiencing what Marcia described as identity foreclosure.

Then when I was just setting my feet on the ground and having a clear plan for my future, an interesting turn of events made me move to the United States of America at the age of 14. Marcia’s fourth stage, identity moratorium was becoming more apparent when I became homesick. Moving away from my family was a state of crisis for me, because I was left to explore various commitments and make choices that I was ready to commit myself to. But when I realized that there was nothing I could do about moving away to a foreign country, I found myself in a resigned state, making a commitment to my new found state of identity that I had chosen. This was pretty much an identity achievement for me.

What I have become now is in no way grounded on my genetic composition but rather shaped by the moral standards set by my family. My nurturing chiseled my character into a fine piece of art and I hope to hold on to this priceless gift for as long as I breathe.

The fact that my family was built on strong religious values aligned me into a social identity that embraced spirituality. However, despite my stand on all matters spiritual, I have come to terms with the notion that no person should be imposed by any other individual to believe in a certain order without their own choices. I have become aware that while rules or laws might exist for the greater good, there are moments when they work in contrast to the interest of particular individuals. This is line with Kohlberg’s fifth stage of moral reasoning that pertains to social contract and individual rights. The parent style my parents employed in raising us was meant to shape us into reasonably independent people that are not swayed away by other people’s opinion. Thus, even though people my age are under constant pressure to fulfill the events on their social clock, my opinion is a little different as I am more concerned with building my future first before thinking of getting married and having children.

This however does not mean that I am resigned to be set apart among a class of bachelors and spinsters for the rest of my life. I believe in social order, and fulfilling my creator’s requirements of creating a generation of off springs. At this young age, I am still in the process of learning to apply crystallized and fluid intelligence that will help me lead a future life that is built on a solid foundation that is grounded on the ability to solve new problems, use logic in unprecedented situations as well as using my learned knowledge and experience to raise my children. Furthermore, career development is at the top of my priority list followed with pursuance of humanitarian efforts that will see me make a positive difference to the marginalized groups in the country where the blood of my ancestors flows.

When all the items on my bucket-list are checked, I plan to retire off, probably to a beach house where I will eat the fruits of my labor, knowing that I have done all I could in making the world a better place. Nothing will bring me closure than to see my children, grandchildren, and probably great-grandchildren trolling the face of this planet, living by the family ideals that have been built by my ancestors.

Just to sum up, the person I have become today is shaped by family values that have been imparted into me and siblings by parents who believe in moral authority of religious scribbling. To me, nothing is as important as a family because it is the most basic unit of our society. What the family nurtures us to become should be in line with the kind of society we want our children to live in.