Becoming A Coast Guard Officer

One of the most uncertain things that all humans face is their real identity. This difficulty has caused a lot of confusion about who we really are and how we become our own person. There are many different theories to how people can identify themselves, but Social Identity Theory is the most viable and reasonable. This theory claims that people become who they are based on experiences and life lessons due to their surroundings. They believe that one’s own experiences will cause them to shape how they will identify themselves. Following that theory, it is reasonable to assume that all experiences, whether positive or negative, would have a direct impact on your identity. However, some psychologists believe that negative memories or experiences …show more content…
This vigorous, 4 year college strives to create the future of the Coast Guard by offering their cadets an opportunity to excel at their education, perform on the athletic fields, and exemplify a strong military cadet. My adjustment to this establishment has taken a great toll on the cadet that I really am. When I first get accepted to the Academy, I was questioning my reasoning for coming here because I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to be a Coast Guard Officer. I had a lot of confusion on what I wanted to do in my future and whether or not I would fit in this society. Traumatized by my childhood and my previous problems in my past, I wasn’t confident in my abilities to become a great cadet. However, there was one time at the Academy that I realized my identity was to become a strong, hard-working friend. I was Lead Fourth Class in my company for two months. Although it doesn’t sound like such a huge role or hold significance, this was an experience that taught me leadership and commitment to a team. I had some trust issues in the past with people due to being harassed and bullied, but this was the first time where I had to gain the trust of my peers and give my trust to them to do the right thing and get the job done. I believe that this factored from Social Identity Theory as I identified myself amongst my peers which led to this experience. Michael Hoggs wrote an article based on the correlation between Social Identity Theory and leadership. He believes that the social group will identity its leader and provides itself with an experience for the leader to grow. “In addition, a fundamental attribution process constructs a charismatic leadership personality for the leader …” (Hoggs 2). With this, I can only say that I am a strong leader at the Academy as well as a good friend due to the fact that I had the great opportunity to become the Lead