We Are the Products

My parents have played perhaps the biggest role in who I am today. When I was little, my mom always let the independent side of me run and explore. She let me be a kid, without worry and let me learn from my surroundings. When my shy, quiet self came to visit, which was very often, she would nurture and encourage me to try new things and to not fear failure. She was and is always there and always understanding. Through my mother's kind actions toward others, and all of this, I have learned to be very accepting of differences and very open to different ideas and backgrounds. Her compassion shown every day has been instilled in me. Many of the things I believe and want to do with my life today seem to stem from this. Many clubs I have been in and loved deal with compassion towards others such as International Outreach Clubs and the like. I feel this influence also has a lot to do with why I was so interested in taking cultural studies. This curiousness about the world around me which was encouraged from a young age made me want to continue to learn about differences in the world and why we differ.

Having to travel back and forth between my parents also had an impact on who I am today. Many kids, including me, have to go back and forth between two parents' houses. This can be very hard for some. When I was little, I had the hardest time with this. I cried because I missed the other parent and when it was time to switch houses, I felt like my time was cut short. The differences in rules also made me really take into account the way I act as an individual and how different people can subcosciously change the way I act. When I was with my mom she would say, "quit talking like that you sound like your dad" and my dad would say, "that's something your mom would do" in his annoyed tone. This all made me really think about the way I come across when talking to people and I believe it may be a big contributing factor to why I seem to overanalyze many conversations.

My parents really shaped my world. What they didn't teach me, I learned from reactions evoked from my environment. These reactions led me to these ideas of 'right' vs 'wrong,' shaping the way I feel about the world today. Even the way in which I am writing these words on this page are a direct result of who I have 'learned' to become. We are truly products of our environments and I, as well as everyone else in this world demonstrate this everyday.