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Birth
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A Big Move
Life was hectic. At 8 years old, my parents were divorced, my mom was drinking too much, my dad was in prison, and my sister and I had no sense of normalcy. Things were unmanageable for my mother, so we all moved in with my grandparents. Suddenly we had rules and chores, but we also had consistency. This affected my trajectory as such abrupt changes in my microsystem created a confusion that I was not prepared to cope with. At times I rebelled because I felt overwhelmed. -
Growing Into Myself
Childhood events had caused me to be shy in early adolescence. As a teen, I began the building the foundations of my identity and found music, skateboarding, and amazing friends. In being a part of this subculture, my mesosystem was enriched. I grew into myself and had a positive outlet that inadvertently taught me so much about emotional regulation. Without this connection, I believe that I would have persisted in acting out and be overwhelmed with feelings of angst. -
Oh Baby!
Early childhood events had fostered a sense of independence at an early age. I moved out at 17 and had my first son at 18. The challenges of navigating life with my own little family brought new experiences with both exo and macro level systems. I had shared experiences with parents at Headstart, my economic opportunities were limited, and due to cultural values, I was judged for being a young parent. Still, I was up for the challenge and eager to succeed. -
Losing a Parent
My father passed away from an overdose when I was 22. It didn't feel like losing a parent, because we weren't close. However, it caused me to examine the relationship between poverty, drugs, and the criminal justice system. This event greatly influenced my later decision to pursue further education in behavioral health counseling and social work. The immediate occurrence didn't greatly impact my ecological systems, but it eventually impacted them all as I continued my education. -
We Said I Do
At the age of 35, I married the love of my life. While this typically has a great impact at the micro and meso level, we had been together for so long, that we saw no change in these systems. The biggest change we saw was at the exo level, with filing taxes and easier access to shared health insurance. I also saw changes at the macro level, related to social norms and people always asking why we weren't married yet. -
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Lifelong Learning
I went back to college in early/middle adulthood, at 38. Some call it non-traditional student enrollment, but I call it lifelong learning! At 42, I am still continuing on this journey. It affects my ecological systems at every level. It impacts the microsystem in changing family dynamics and peer relationships, the mesosystem in affecting role relationships, the exosystem in utilizing financial aid, and the macrosystem in societal attitudes regarding higher education and social mobility.