At the frat house, with a party pumping downstairs, studying for my physics test, the smell of Jack Daniels and weed fills my nostrils as my brother walks into my room and I realized, I was going down a path that I did not want to follow. The biggest question that I receive when I tell my peers where I came from is: why did you come to the academy? They see the groups, the people and the activities I did previous and wonder why I would give it up. They assumed and perceived my identity different than what it was now. Though at the time, they are slightly correct that was a previous identity of myself. Now, I have changed, and matched with a group and identities that fully represent what I strove for. It was a rough journey getting to where
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In Stets and Burke article, “Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory”, they state that, “Social identity is a person’s knowledge that he or she belongs to a social category or group” (Stets and Burke 225). This is saying that to start understanding our own identity, we must think and reflect on the groups and activities that we are apart of. They also state that group members will have, “… a particular role identity… fulfill the expectations of the role, coordinating and negotiating interaction with role partners” (Stets and Burke 226). Meaning that each person plays a role within the social group. If one can not or does not fulfill a role assigned to them, they will not be apart of that group much …show more content…
I have changed the groups around me to fit my identity. I was apart of a small group who got along very well. The first time around, I did not get into the academy. I was heartbroken that I did not get into my number one school. So, trying to move forward I settled with going to my local university, The Pennsylvania State University. At Penn State and my other clubs, I didn’t quite fit in. In my first semester I was living in a fraternity house. Which granted was relatively inexpensive and away from my parents. But, I was the hermit living on the third floor. I did not interact at all with any of the other people there except for my brother, who was also living there. I just didn’t fit into their identity. They were jamming music loud and throwing parties every weekend, while I just wanted to relax and do my own thing up in my
In Stets and Burke article, “Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory”, they state that, “Social identity is a person’s knowledge that he or she belongs to a social category or group” (Stets and Burke 225). This is saying that to start understanding our own identity, we must think and reflect on the groups and activities that we are apart of. They also state that group members will have, “… a particular role identity… fulfill the expectations of the role, coordinating and negotiating interaction with role partners” (Stets and Burke 226). Meaning that each person plays a role within the social group. If one can not or does not fulfill a role assigned to them, they will not be apart of that group much …show more content…
I have changed the groups around me to fit my identity. I was apart of a small group who got along very well. The first time around, I did not get into the academy. I was heartbroken that I did not get into my number one school. So, trying to move forward I settled with going to my local university, The Pennsylvania State University. At Penn State and my other clubs, I didn’t quite fit in. In my first semester I was living in a fraternity house. Which granted was relatively inexpensive and away from my parents. But, I was the hermit living on the third floor. I did not interact at all with any of the other people there except for my brother, who was also living there. I just didn’t fit into their identity. They were jamming music loud and throwing parties every weekend, while I just wanted to relax and do my own thing up in my