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1.1 Entering Adolescence
I picked this point in time to represent the whole year between 11 and 12 as the specific point when I finally entered adolescence. I remember growing almost 1 foot in this year alone and people started to treat me differently and take me more seriously. I was given more responsibilities and trust and this in turn had an effect on how I saw the world and what I wanted out of it. -
2.1 Typical Maturer
My maturation was typical when compared with my peers. However, in elementary school, I skipped two grades, so I was always surrounded by kids 2-3 years older than I was and this had a huge impact on my perception of my body. It wasn't until high school when I was held back one year that I finally didn't feel small or slow developing. -
6.2 Companionship
My friendship with Jason was definitely based on companionship because all we did together was play sports and video games. We rarely talked about intimate or emotional subjects, most of our conversation and activity centered around having fun through sports, video games, and other physical activities. -
7.1 Transition to High School
I know my transition to high school was a little bit difficult. I had a lot of the issues discussed in the book. I remember struggling with my body image because I entered high school one year younger than my classmates. So I was playing sports with 17 and 18 year old while I was 13. That was a very challenging and intimidating experience. This also contributed to my experiencing the loss of top dog status. I also struggled with the increased responsibilities and academic workload. -
7.3 Intrinsic Motivation
Most of the time my actions in high school was governed by extrinsic motivations (ie. expectation of my friends, parents, and teachers). The one thing I can think of is I draw and paint a little bit. I've always been into art since middle school but not on a professional or serious level. I'm a total amateur hobbyist. I started getting more serious in high school and this led me to taking some art history classes. It's always been an intellectual hobby that I do for fun and to challenge myself. -
3.3 Contradiction
I am an introverted person that can turn very sociable in certain situations. I am a jock who plays on sport teams all year around and participates on the Academic Bowl and Math team. I am fairly popular and I get along with all of my schoolmates but I still feel awkward and left behind due to my young age. I have several friends that are girls but I still feel very awkward around girls and don't know what to say half of the time. -
3.2. Self-Protection
All of my teachers always tell me how smart I am and how I read and write well. Yes, I know I don't always get A's and B's but know what I tested post high-school on my reading, writing, and math last year. I wasn't even in high school yet. Also I really love sports, especially basketball. I didn't play much last year but I grew up a lot this year. I'm almost 6 feet tall so I think I should play more this year. I think I am nice and a pretty great guy. -
6.1 Parent Adolescent Conflict
The fall of my sophomore year was probably the period where my parents and I had the most conflict in our relationship. I had started dating a new girl and I was a little obsessed with her. My parents tried to make sure I was balancing myself and managing my time well. I thought they didn't like her and this led to several months of conflicts. What changed was us going to group counseling and talking out our feelings and frustrations in a controlled setting. -
6.3 Stimulation
My friendship with Kimberly, one of my best friends during my high school years, was really centered around our love for reading books, involvement in the school theater club, and being on the academic bowl team. Kimberly remains one of the smartest people I know and I always admire and respect her opinions. I definitely enjoyed spending time with her because she really stimulated me intellectually. Our friendship really took off during my sophomore year as we had all classes together and -
3.1 Imaginary Audience
During my sophomore year, I had a phase where I played around with hair dye including a very embarrassing week with my hair dyed in a leopard spot pattern. I was totally acting out and trying to find myself. I was trying to be noticed and visible. I was acting like a character in a movie. -
2.2 Niche-picking
I think that joining the Academic Bowl and Theater clubs in high school would fit. Those two groups weren't as popular and often had a hard time finding people to help out. I was involved with both groups because I had a great time doing it. My genes definitely played a role in prompting me to join those activities. My family is a strong lover of both the theater and trivia games so I was already wired to love those activities. -
8.1 Rites of Passage
The textbook talks about how adolescence by western standards has no notable formal rites of passage, it was the same for me. However, much like how the book discusses I would consider the first time I had sex as a personal rite of passage. It happened after prom my sophomore year in high school with my girlfriend, who was a senior and going away to college. So it was kind of an coming of age for me and a good bye for us. I did notice that my parents treated me differently after they found out. -
4.1 Gender Typed Behavior
I remember one time in high school, one of my female friends fell out with her circle of friends and the next few weeks were filled with gossip, backstabbing, and constant re-drawing of battle lines until it just fizzled out one day. The next day everybody was friends again. During this time, there were several instances of visual and emotional aggression from girls towards other girls. -
4.2 Non-gender typed behavior
In high school, I remember there was this boy. Whenever we were playing sport games outside in the yard, he would be sitting with the girls and spending time with them instead. He would sit with them during lunch, spend time on weekends with them, and eventually join the cheerleading team. I remember a lot of the boys (myself including) along with some adults commenting on the fact that he didn't fit in with gender norms and that he acted like a girl. -
7.2 Transition to College
My transition to college was little bit of a struggle as I missed the regimented controlled structure of high school. I didn't do well academically my first semester and I had to get training from experts and counselors in developing my time management skills and managing my stress. Looking back, I think the increased independence and autonomy wasn't something I was fully ready for, I needed some more training and information before being able to do those things. -
1.2 Emerging Adulthood
It wasn't until I was about 25 years old that I had achieved some sense of financial responsibility and, most importantly, personal responsibility. Also by 25 years old, I had already experienced a few setbacks in my life goals which helped me further develop my resilience. Before that point in time, I often gave up at the first sign of trouble but after that point I became more resilient.