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Birth
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Infancy: Language Development
My first words resembled something along the lines of "Mama" or "Dada". -
Infancy: Sleep
As an infant I rarely slept through the night. I was constantly crying or wanting to be fed. Despite this I would guess I was able to get about 15 hours of sleep each day/night. -
Infancy: Physical Development
During the early years or my life i attended a Montissori School. Montissori schools go about education in a way that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative interaction. Not only did the hands-on learning encourage growth of gross and fine motor skills but the collaborative environment encouraged growth social skills. This was most likely during the Sensimotor stage of development. -
Infancy: Temperament
My temperament classification was definitely moderate surgency/extroversion. I believe this is partly due to the fact that i was enrolled in the Montessori academy and had to interact with people from a very young age. It definitely kept my parents on their toes but that was all good because i think the goodness of fit was very good. This is because at this time my parents were younger and loved to be active and social and encourage me to do the same. -
Early Childhood
Began a Pre-K program and St. Paul's Episcopal School -
Early Childhood: First Memories
Though hard to remember now, I believe my first memory was digging in the dirt in my backyard looking for worms and playing with my dog. I must have been around 4 years old. -
Early Childhood: coping with stress
In my early years of childhood I was a very stress free child. I never really worried about anything and lived with a smile on my face all day. -
Early Childhood: Attachment style
I was definitely securely attached to my parents. Towards the beginning of kindergarten I would sometimes cry whenever my parents had to drop me off in the morning. Then the best part of the day was when they came to pick me up after school. Sleep overs with friends were very hard at first because I could not stand to be away from my parents. -
Early Childhood: Increased Language Development
At St. Pauls and at home I would have books read to me and do simple worksheets. My parents and teachers would ask me to point out pictures and say what they were. When I would make a mistake I was always met with positive reinforcement through being told the right answer so that I could learn for the future. -
Early Childhood: Cognitive Development
During the first few years at St.Pauls I was further encouraged to play games a lot and color with other kids my age which helped my physical and social development. This was all during the Preoperational Stage of my development. In the coming years of elementary school and middle school I would be introduced to topics that would challenge me greater. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Discussing emotions/right and wrong
My parents were very good at handling my emotions and letting me know right from wrong. I was prone to getting in disagreements with my brother and friends. Whenever I would get upset they would ask me why I was feeling that way and what I could have done to solve the conflict myself or what we would do better in the next situation. In addition to this they were very good about talking me through why things like lying and stealing were wrong. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Sleep
My parents were very strict about my bedtime. I was to be in bed at eight o'clock at night each night. Of course I was very opposed to that at first but then would eventually pass out and sleep until the next morning. As a result of this bedtime I was able to get an adequate amount of sleep each night so my body could grow, rest and be ready for the next day. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Physical Development
During this stage of my life I loved to be outside playing with my neighbors. We would play war, football, explore the ditches behind our houses and ride bikes. These activities helped me develop my motor skills. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Memory
Throughout this period of my life I was beginning to show signs of my underlying ADHD. This made it increasingly hard for me to just read things and remember them. The ways that I found to help myself remember things was to actually do them repeatedly. -
Late Childhood: Physical Development
Throughout my later childhood I began to play organized sports such as swimming, football, baseball and soccer. Which greatly helped the development of my fast twitch motor skills and my overall gross motor skills. -
Late Childhood: Sleep
Once I began to play multiple organized sports and my schoolwork picked up I was no longer told when to go to sleep due to the fact that I would have hours of homework to do after practice. This lead to me having less amounts of sleep which affected my athletic performance and school performance. -
Late childhood: Cognitive Development
During this time in my life I was given placement tests and as a result challenged with harder material than a majority of my peers. I began to love reading and read at every opportunity I could get. This all began to occur during the Concrete Operational stage of my life. -
Adolescence: Language
In my middle school years I began to learn the language of Spanish. It was not difficult for me to learn. It became much easier to truly comprehend and use when I spent months of my summer in Spanish speaking countries on mission trips. -
Adolescence: Cognitive Development
Throughout middle school and into high school I was placed in higher level classes to challenge me more and make me grow as a learner. This would be occurring in the formal operational stage. -
Adolescence: Puberty
I started hitting puberty before a majority of my friends so I was fairly uncomfortable when I first began puberty. I grew six inches in one summer and became bigger and stronger than my friends. However my friends quickly caught up to me and i became more comfortable with myself as time passed. -
Adolescence: Memory
As time began to pass I began to have a harder time incorporating what I was learning into hands on experiences. This made memorizing information very hard due to my ADHD. I was very smart and so I was able to memorize information and regurgitate it back for tests but actual learning was difficult throughout middle/high school. -
Adolescence: Stress
I lived a fairly stressful life throughout my adolescent years. In order to cope with these stresses I would often turn to athletics. Whenever I would feel stressed about a decision or a problem I was having I would often go and workout or practice and let my mind be empty of everything but the task I was doing. It always allowed me to feel better and at ease about whatever obstacle was in my way. -
Adolescence: Sleep
Throughout this period of my life sleep was something that was often neglected. I often did not get home from my sports practices until close to nine at night and did not start homework until ten. Which would mean I would not get to sleep until at least eleven or later and then have to be up at six the next morning. At first this lack of sleep really affected me and made the day very difficult. eventually I adapted and was able to function. I often took naps to compensate. -
Adolescence: Dialect
Throughout my adolescent years I became increasingly aware of a certain dialect that I had developed throughout my life. It was my southern accent. I come from Mobile, Alabama. It is a small city in the lowest part of Alabama. It is a place where "ma'am" and "sir" are required. It is also one of the few places I have heard crawfish be reffered to a "mud bugs" and deer are called "swamp donkeys." -
Highschool Graduation
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Began Attending UAB
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Early Adulthood: Physical Development
To this day I have yet to see a decline in any of my abilities/senses. I honestly have only seen growth in myself both mentally and physically since I have been at UAB. An exposure to very loud music may have affected my hearing slightly. -
Early Adulthood: Sleep
Whenever I entered college, my sleep schedule never really changed. I would still be up late at night due to school assignments and up early due to athletics. However the difference was that I HAD to go to bed earlier to get at least 7 hours of sleep during the night. My football practice started at 5:30 am so I need enough sleep to be able to preform at that but also to be able to preform and be attentive in my classes after. -
Early Adulthood: Identity Development
The results from the online test are accurate in describing myself. It said that I preferred more familiar experiences. I'm neither introverted nor extroverted. I am level-headed and supportive of all. All of these attributes describe me pretty well. I do not believe my personality has changed at all throughout my lifetime. -
Early Adulthood: Family History and Health
My family is very healthy and are not sick often. My grandparents are all in their seventies/eighties and are all healthy. The only thing that is prevalent in my mom's side of the family is ADHD. I plan to continue exercising and eating healthy throughout my life so that I may prolong my life as long as I can. -
Early Adulthood: Identity Development
At this point in time I do not have any questions about who I am as a person nor do I want to change who I am. I believe my current status fits well in the Identity achievement stage.
