Growth and Development // Developmental Autobiography of an Individual (me)

Student Learning Outcome: 4- Sense of Identity

Description of Artifact: This is a deeper dive into the life events that have shaped who I am as a person, and what my identity is made up of.

Artifact Alignment: My cultural identity has been shaped by many impactful events that have occurred in my life. I know these moments define who I am, and I now better understand what I stand for. This will largely impact my classroom experience as a teacher because the inequality I have experienced has taught me the importance of equality of all my students.

Future Goal: My goal in my classroom is to create an environment where all students feel welcomed, appreciated, and heard. If students see how I bring my role and identity in the classroom, they will feel empowered to do the same with their own identity.

Sense of Identity Reflection: Through completing the artifacts in this section, I have learned many things about my own identity. Where I come from, where I live, the culture I am a part of, and the beliefs I have all share who I will be as a teacher. In order to understand others, you have to best understand your own identity. Through the work completed in this section, I now understand who I truly am and the things that I will fight for in my classroom.

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Birth- Early Childhood

Social Development → Born in the Netherlands, but moved to the United States of America aged nine months. Family is made up of mother, father, older brother, and younger brother. Social and personal experiences at this age included acceleration in academics, singing, dancing, and swimming. Social development went hand in hand with cognitive development when it came to language. Speaking two languages at the same time at such a young age challenged me socially and intellectually. At home we would focus on Bosnian, while at school and watching TV, English was my main focus. My moral development is at its strongest in these years of my life. Encouraging empathetic behavior, using teachable moments, and keeping expressions reasonable are three strong factors to my moral development. Here I learned that if anyone told me anything that nearly sounded or felt wrong, I shouldn't do it and I should tell mom right away. My mothers and father style of parenting was a mix between Authoritative and Authoritarian due to their strict parenting style in traditional Bosnia. From a young age, I knew what respect was towards my parents and how I was to act in the home and in public. Punishment was not necessary because I was a calm and good child, but it is because I knew the consequences at an early childhood age. Once school was in question, my creative side came through. I started realizing how creative I could be within my classes, and used that to the best of my advantage. My creative play helped with my social skills, education, and cognition. 

Cognitive Development → Reflexes such as rooting, stepping, swimming, moro, and babinski reflex have occurred and vanished at about 6 months. The following reflexes remain: startle, eye-blink, sucking, and gag. Motor development has acceled from rolling over at 2 months, walking at 10.5 months, and going up steps at 15 months. I used assimilation to discover the world around me, this was my way of exploring the world around me. My parents and caregivers supported healthy brain development by speaking to, playing with, and supporting me. My level for imaginary play has increased, focusing more on objects and not myself. At the age between 2 and 3 years old, I have now started to memorize more numbers and start my mathematical skills. By age 6, I will know about 10,000 words and my language acquisition in both languages is increasing drastically. 

Physical Development → 7 lbs 4 ounces at birth. Moderate in growth through birth and early childhood. Breast fed from infancy to 1 year due to lack of interest in feeding. Rapid growth occurred in the first few months of life, and towards early childhood I had begun to lose my baby teeth. My baby teeth fell out a few times at once, so I once had my first two front teeth missing. Fine and motor development continues to rapidly grow as I aged. Fine motor skills went from picking up blocks, to coloring inside the lines, to using kitchen utensils, to being able to write my first and last name Ajla Ahmetovic. Gross motor skills went from standing on one foot at 3, to skipping with alternative feet at age 6. 

Personality Development → As a young child, and through most of my adolescent years, I was a calm child that had little to no negativity or sadness. When asking my parents, they say I would always soothe myself if I was upset and became very independent at a young age. I learned how to do things for myself even through I had two adults who were capable to help. When I was (rarely) upset, I wouldn't show it through crying or being sad, I would simply be quiet and to myself. Nutrition was a challenge at this age as well. Here is where I developed my pickiness towards foods and textures. 

Middle- Late Childhood 

Social Development → My sense of self includes my self-concept and self-esteem, and self-worth. Self esteem was my general attitude toward myself and self concept was the knowledge about myself. I tend to interpret events in ways that allow me to maintain a positive self-image, this mainly consisted of extracurricular activities. Exceeding in my extracurricular activities created confidence in my own abilities, made me not worried about what others think, and boosted my optimism. Self regulation is also an important aspect in this age range. The increased capacity is characterized by deliberate efforts to manage one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts, leading to increased social competence and achievement. Until about 12 years of age, I had a preference for same-sex peer groups. I gladly would rather surround myself with girls than boys. 

Cognitive Development → At this time in my life, my brain volume was stabilized but significant changes in various structures and regions still continue to occur. Thickness of the cerebral cortex started to change based on the information being absorbed in classrooms. Cortical thickness was shown in temporal and frontal lobe areas which caused me to show improvements in language abilities, such as reading. At a young age, since I was exposed to two languages, I tried more than hard to be an advanced reader. At this age a lot of Bosnian kids were being put into ELL classrooms, but I never had to because I was advanced in my reading skills. From the age of 5 to 13, I went from sleeping around 11 hours a day to sleeping 9 hours a day- my brain needed rest. Nap time was never an option because I always wanted to play fake school in my free time. Motor development, such as gross motor skills, consisted of running, climbing, skipping rope, and swimming. I also learned how to write in both print and cursive and continue to sue cursive through my life. My fine motor skills, such as involving complex, intricate, and rapid movements, were outperforming the males in my class. 

Physical Development → Grow taller, heavier, and stronger with continuous body changes. This period involved a slow and consistent growth →  consisting of gaining 5-7 pounds each year and growing 2-3 inches each year throughout my elementary school days. Baby fat started to decrease and I started to become thinning in the face around the age of 10. Although the baby fat started to decrease, I was consuming 2,400 calories every day. Since I am far from physical maturity, I had to be physically active throughout school and at home. After school everyday, my friends and I from the neighborhood met up to play kickball everyday till it got dark out. This helped keep away from obesity which can also be caused by high fat foods. 

Personality Development → My personality was flourishing throughout this stage. I became confident because my ability to write and read was improving very well. Since I knew that I was advanced in my academics, I started to become more of a leader in my classrooms. I had confidence to raise my hand high in class and was not afraid to help students out. I also continued my confidence at home, by wanting to dress myself, tie my own shoes, and build friendships. Physical, social, and mental skills are developing quickly at this time. It is a critical time for me to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports. I started to show more independence from my parents and family and tried to be liked by my peers. Here I developed my personality trait of being truly caring- bullying was common in school and I always tried to stand up for those getting hurt. 

Adolescents 

Social Development → High school. Two words that every person fears in this phase of life. People judge you for appearance, the drama will fill our heads, love will break your heart, friends will be enemies, fights will be lessons, and time will be wasted. I was thankful that I tried my absolute hardest to be mature and tell myself that nothing in high school matters. I focused on extracurricular activities like track and swimming to keep my mind from what the other kids were focusing on; things I wasn't wanting to do. My sense of identity included strengthening my self concept and self esteem. The want and need to belong was not a problem of mine, I believe I was well liked by my peers and teachers.

Cognitive Development → At this time, my brain underwent significant structural changes. My corpus callosum got thicker which in turn improved my ability to process information. My amygdala developed earlier than my prefrontal cortex which made me involved in higher level cognitive processes. The amygdala is responsible for emotions such as anger, here my emotions were at an alltime high. According to Piaget, I was at the formal operational stage in these years. I am now able to have more logical thoughts, an increased tendency to think about thought itself, and have more abstract than concrete thought. Although I think i'm mature at this time, egocentrism is at an alltime high. There's an imaginary audience that is so interested and focused on me and everything I do, God forbid I look or dress a certain way because society will kill me for it. Critical thinking and decision making helped me understand what to do and what not to do because I didn't want my imaginary audience upset. 

Physical Development → Oh puberty, the ugliest years of our lives. Here is where everything is starting to change. Here is a period of rapid physical maturation which involved hormonal and bodily changes. I started my menstrual cycle at the age of 14, I hit a growth spurt, I gained some weight in my hips, and started to experience growth in my chest. At first I was confused as to why my pants were fitting me differently, and I was afraid to attend school, but body image was important to have at this time. Although I didn't lean towards drinking, smoking, and having eating disorders, I had my first “boyfriend” in the eighth grade. Sexual content and sexuality was not a part of my life, my parents and religion taught me from a young age to not focus on that stuff till marriage. 

Personality Development → At this age, I have learned how to steer away from issues that are common with kids my age. I have learned maturity from a young age due to my parents strict parenting. I learned what to stay away from, and that included sex, drugs, and alcohol. I started to become more outgoing and extroverted. I was more social with my peers, and I was always the person who was willing to help anyone who needed it. 

Early Adulthood 

Social Development → According to Erikson, the main focus at this stage in my life is intimacy vs isolation. I most definitely have learned toward intimacy instead of isolation. I have been with the same person for four years now, and have surrounded myself with great life long friends. Selflessness was apparent at this stage, when I was willing to sacrifice my own needs for those around me. The friends I have surrounded myself with for the past few years, continue to be a great support system in my life. Love is also a strong factor in my life, due to the fact that my boyfriend and I have been together for the past 4 years. Intimacy, passion, and commitment are a part of Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love, which is needed in a relationship. As we look forward to the future, marriage is becoming closer and a life long partner is what we seek. 

Cognitive Development → At this stage, Piaget states that we are more quantitatively advanced because we have more knowledge than adolescents, which is of course true. We had to learn how to quickly mature because college is not the same as high school, what so ever. We switch from acquiring knowledge to actually applying it, this helps me a lot in my classes. My thinking has become more reflective and relativistic, as compared to what it once was. I am able to understand my world view, but also understand the diversity in world views should be acknowledged. 

Physical Development → Since I am only twenty years old, I have not reached my peak physical performance, but I will before 30! I am, however, at a higher rate of mortality than I was in my adolescent years. I know that certain behaviors will prevent illness and promote my health. Since I am a college student living on campus, weight becomes a little bit of a problem. I have put on some weight since starting college, but nothing to be too alarmed of. I focus on how much I eat, but I took at everything in moderation. Exercise is common with swimming, running, or being busy at work with the little kids. Alcohol is still not a part of my life, nor will it ever be. 

Personality Development → There are many factors that come into play when determining my personality at this stage in my life. Since we have made a serious transition from high school to college, I have matured in many different ways. I am still an extrovert and can easily make friends wherever I go, but I have calmed down a bit. My academic success, ability to plan, and good decision making skills make me an intellectual and my mental health, confidence, values, and community contributions make sure my psychological well being is in tact. I think of myself as a creative person, and hope to find out more about what my abilities are.