The Story of My Uniqueness - Essay Example

The Story of My Uniqueness Ever since I was a small girl, my Aunt Jenny would call me “Good Soul”! Good soul did sound nice and I felt this was a really warm address: “Good soul, how have you been?”, and aunt Jenny would kiss me and hug me. Once when I asked why she called me like this, Aunt Jenny replied that I was always kind towards her and other people, and animals, too. That is why, she decided that “Good Soul” would be a good name for me. Now when I look back at that time, I recall how much I loved taking care of people and animals around me. If I saw a dog hurt his leg, I would take him home, feed him, and treat him. I remember I could not bear someone crying, if I heard someone crying me heart started hurting so much that I tears appeared in my eyes, too, and I began asking God to help that person. Once my school friends heard how Aunt Jenny called me and started laughing. After that I asked my kind-hearted auntie not to call me “Good Soul”. So since that time I have never been. Although years have passed and much has changed, I feel inside I am very much the same. I love people and animals and often feel compassionate towards those who are sad or suffering. My sentimental personality sometimes becomes an object of mockery, so I used to be quite reserved in displaying my feelings in public. But inside I feel a lot. Descartes once said, “Cogito ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am” (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2012). I would rather say that in order to be one needs to feel. If to recall Nazi concentration camps organized by smart sadists where thousands of women and children were mercilessly gassed, tortured, and shot during the World War 2, Descartes’s statement loses its universality. Instead, “I feel, therefore I am” sounds much more humane and appealing. This is what I can say about myself, I feel and that is why I think of myself as human. So if asked, “Who are you?”, I will respond “I am a human!”. If formal characteristics are to be discussed, I think of myself as of an African American female in my teens. Christian. Middle Class. Heterosexual. Did I have any experiences that affected me because of my diversity? In the melting pot of the American society, I do not feel I am “other”. I really feel a part of the society. Especially, my school setting is very diverse. Just once I felt “other” when I entered the cosmetic salon ran by immigrants from India only to find out all customers were of Indian origin. I felt a bit uneasy, but the staff were so friendly that I quickly forgot that I was different. My family has been very friendly and large, which helps me to be friendly with other people. Besides, all members of our family are proud of our origin and we know lots of interesting stories about our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers. Besides, most members of our family have valued education a lot. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandparents pursued or still pursue interesting careers in various fields ranging from military to agriculture studies to choreography. This certainly helped me in shaping my attitude to studies and education. Still, I feel, today young people are restricted by insufficient finance in their desire to pursue a chosen career. For example, I would like to become a physician to cure people of various diseases. However, medical university education is too expensive for me and, thus, unattainable. My being African American has never hindered my ability to obtain any kind of services. Vice versa, in a school setting with the majority students being of Caucasian or Latino origin, the counselor would pay special attention to me. She would kindly ask if everything was all right or if I was not subject to any kind of discrimination. While, thanks God, there were no such cases, I felt had I encountered some problems, I would have been attended to. In terms of human services skills development, I feel I need to gain more understanding in working with members of various ethnic minorities. While I certainly do not have any prejudice about them, I am not fully aware of their customs and world views. Getting well-versed in cultural aspects of different nationalities will help understand people and their actions. Besides, I feel I have some negative stereotypes about people who drink heavily. Just because several people I encountered in my childhood were really savage and violent when drunk, I subconsciously fear that alcohol dependent people may be violent. Unless I get rid of this stereotype, this may prevent me from being really objective when forming my judgment of arising problems. Therefore, I need to learn more psychology and broaden my outlook as to diversity and cultural competencies. All in all, the only way to keep human is that of Goodness. Whether I am at home with my parents, at college or in my workplace, I need to be human, first of all. To help myself always act in humane and professional manner, I believe I need above all think of myself as Christian and following Christ’s Testament in treating others. I also need to develop my professional skills including enhancement of knowledge of psychology and culture. References “Cogito, ergo sum” (2012). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124443/cogito-ergo-sum. Read More