Self Awareness And Society

Self-Awareness Paper: My Perspective of Functioning Within Society

All societies operate as one larger system, composed of many smaller parts. For this system to function well each part must work correctly and then work together. Each person in the society is one of these smaller components. For each person to fit into and contribute to society, they must be self-aware. While I am constantly reexamining who I am, introspection is not all that I must be aware of. I must be aware of three things: who I am, how others perceive me, and who I am becoming. For most of my life I knew how to categorize myself into labeled boxes my family and society had set out in front of me to choose from. While I will always consider myself as a white, American …show more content…
Perspectives may be affected by factors ranging from the environment the person was raised in to interactions shared with the specific person being perceived. I have always considered how others may have perceived me but knew it should not dictate how I express myself. Every person’s perspective of me varies from distant relationships, a kind smile from a stranger or that woman who worked at the pool last summer, to more personal relationships, a daughter who is off at college or the mother of his child. Sadly, I have let a few of my person relationships fall farther distant than I’d prefer. My grandparents no longer know how to hold a lasting conversation with me unless it is to convert me to Christianity and follow the “Old Ways” of not living together until marriage and the woman should not be the main provider of the family. They no longer view me as the best behaving grandchild who is smart and will become successful on my own, but view me as a heathen who violated “God’s image” with piercings and does not dress as a young lady should. Thankfully, I have built new and more positive relationships. My boyfriend’s family is far more accepting in various beliefs and cultural difference which causes them have a better perspective of me. While they are aware of the larger problems my boyfriend and I have had in our relationship, they do not hold it against me because they understand that I am still learning and …show more content…
Instead of following the traditional path of getting an education, getting married, and then having children, I am now having to discover a new one. My boyfriend and I will have a child in April. We have also decided we will get married at some point after the baby is born. While trying to find a new balance with living with my boyfriend and having a child, I will also try my hardest to stay in school and eventually go on to graduate school to become an audiologist. I want to be able to support my family as best as I am able while living a fulfilling life. At the moment, my future depends on if my parents decide to continue to pay for my education. If they do, which they were planning to through the end of my bachelor’s degree, we will live in Farmville, Virginia. If they do not, we will likely move to Tappahannock, Virginia near his mother and her wife. I will take a year off and then go to the community college while he works. We are still discussing when would be best for me to return to work after the baby due to employment opportunities and child care situations. Either way, we will raise our child in the best environment we can provide and he will always have family to rely on when he needs to. While my identity has been shifted significantly with the recent discovery of the pregnancy, I still hold similar traits and values as before. I am still a smart, strong, white, southern woman