Ethnography paper:
There is no denying to the fact that when someone is growing up they begin to see different aspects of their identity which they believe its them but come to see it different overtime.Some factors that tend to form one’s personal identity are the environment, friends , family and personal interests. But with me ,being born in a American society whilst growing up with a African family taught me different aspects. This gave me different aspects to my ethics and morals, speech, clothing and a different approach to my school activities. This showed me different aspects of my identity that I came to see differently over time.
For African American Children born to African immigrants, blending the two identities Can be a challenge .Growing up in such a lively city like Atlanta, Georgia whiles being raised by and African family sure taught me a lot .While growing up being around so many Cultures Taught me different morals . As a little boy I always found it cool to blend in With the American kids therefore I pushed myself to become Americanized. Trying to talk like them, trying to dress Like them and trying to behave like them In order to feel more Americanized. This looked to me as to be my identity but while I was growing up I began realizing who I really am I started embracing my African values which brought out my true identity. I began Dressing up how I wanted, talking how I usually do to and behave and how I should. This taught me different values and brought out my real identity because For example, in an African home it is never accepted to walk around with your pants below your waist but in this case where one is trying to be more Americanized I started walking around with my pants but on my waist. Trying to make this match right entity I need to realize that it wasn’t and stuck to my true identity.
As a child born to first-generation Ghanaian parents, my childhood was quite formulated. I’d go to school, face my books, I’d attend church on Sunday’s and repeat this every week .But growing up and seeing all this social vices .In resisting my values I wanted to see how it felt like to skip class ,go out late at night ,stop going to church every Sunday and putting myself in bad company. But after doing this I found out that I was trying to form an identity that wasn’t real. The mindset behind this was growing up always being forced to do the right thing I wanted to know how it felt to be also seen as a “bad boy” . It’s rather unfortunate to see that it’s common these days to see young ones especially adolescents resisting their own values and continuing this path which ends them up in unhealthy relationships but fortunately for me I came back and remembered the type of ethics and morals I was in which brought me back to my values.
After coming back to my values ,It helped me discover my true self and find my true identity. Discovering my true identity gave me happiness because it lead me to do stuff I wanted and which gave joy doing .It also lead to me being better at decision making and gave me Self control .I was now able to resist social pressure because now that I had a strong sense of my identity I was now easily able to resist the influence of others and had tolerance and understanding of others. This also made me realize my strengths and weaknesses. Finding your true identity and knowing yourself means knowing your purpose in life.
