Personal Experience: A Conceptual Analysis

Even though I was the youngest in my grade, I remember starting puberty before most of the girls in my 6th grade class, but thankfully it wasn’t long after that they all followed. According to our text, on page 388 it states that, going through puberty can enhance or diminish relationships with peers. My relationships were enhanced with my female friends. Having friends that were undergoing this new experience with me provided comfort in knowing that I wasn’t alone. This was the time in my life that I made stronger relationships with my girlfriends. We were all changing and growing up. Instead of playing with dolls when I was with my friends outside of school, we began to do makeovers and try on each other’s clothes.
Puberty was also when all …show more content…
(Berger, 2011) According to James Marcia’s theory, I identify with identity achievement. Page 434 tells us that identity achievement is when adolescences reconsider their goals and values due to their parents. I grew to respect my parents’ values which made me have a desire for higher goals. My parents have encouraged me to be my best at anything I attempt and to always set high goals for myself. My parents never made me work during my adolescence years but encouraged me to focus on school. While in school, I was always a very competitive student and athlete. In my younger adolescence, I won awards for being the most athletic girl in my grade and was always at the top of my class. Chapter 18 talks about stereotype threats. Though I was always in the top of my classes, my classmates always teased me and called me, “the Blonde”. Though it may have hurt my feeling at the time, having the competitive personality I have, it also motivated me to prove them wrong and placed me in direct competition with them. We competed with one another all through school. In 7th grade, I graduated in the top 10 of my class. I carried this with me to high school by being the only freshman that made the cheerleading squad, winning my high school and county beauty pageant, placing in the state pageant and graduating in the top 5 of my graduating class. In 7th and 12th grade my peers voted me for “best all around”. I was involved in multiple honor societies and clubs. I was secretary of the National Honor Society and I was a Tennessee / Virginia Scholar. My junior year, I was voted co-captain of my cheerleading squad and was voted captain my senior year. Also my senior year I joined theatre and my team became Cumberland District champs for our one act play. I had a few different boyfriends during adolescence but none them turned out