Autobiography
Who I am today has been affected by many things as I was growing up. Things like family, gender, class, and the area in which I grew up especially contributed to the person I am today. All of these things helped me to build character and create a basis for my personality, and how I interact with people.
For
starters, I grew up in a small community in the middle of Minnesota. I was raised entirely on a farm, and the
characteristics I developed in the open country still show through today. My parents taught me to be a nice person,
and I believe this is still my defining quality. We were a middle class family, with middle class values, always
living conservatively. Under the
watchful eye of my Father, on the farm, I learned responsibility and how to
deal with my problems. Both my Mother
and Father were always around for my siblings and I, and I know that this
directly affected how I felt about myself growing up. I still know that no matter how bad things get, my family will always
be there for me.
Also,
in the small community, I learned how to socialize. Because of the way I was raised, I became known as a nice
guy. From my friends, I learned how to
have fun and interact with others.
Being in a small community, I saw the same people all of the time, and
got to know them very well.
Consequently, today I have a hard time going places where I do not know
anyone, because it makes me nervous. I
know this trait comes from not having to deal with new people when I was
growing up. Also living in a small
community, everyone kept tabs on me as well as other members of the community,
this caused me to adapt to the motto “Don’t live it up if you can’t live it
down”.
Growing
up as a male also effected who I have become.
My family raised me traditionally, and I have been influenced by
standard male and female roles. I grew
up seeing men as completely masculine, and doing things the “manly” way. I learned to appreciate hard physical labor,
and see that the man was suppose to be the workhorse and tough guy. On the contrary, I saw women as being both
feminine and masculine, because in school they competed in sports and were just
as competitive as males. Therefore, I
have a view that women can be masculine, but men should not be feminine.
This
view of male and female roles is still evident in my personality, but I am
overcoming it. When I chose to go to
college to become a teacher, it just felt somewhat wrong. My Father is a farmer, my brother a
carpenter, and it seems only logical that I should be doing a trade. I am the first person in my family to attend
a 4-year college, and it feels as though I am faking my future. My parents offer me full support, as well as
the community. I guess everyone has
always told me that someday I would make a good teacher, so I know I am doing
what people expected of me. However, I
do not know if I am who I want to be. I
believe that someday I will make a good teacher, I just feel as though I was
born and raised to be a laboring tradesman, and I am cheating by becoming
educated.
Society
and the media have not affected me as far as who I am, but I feel often times
that my beliefs are contradictory to what the media presents. In today’s world, “anything” is accepted
into the mainstream, but I am still stuck with the traditional views. I see little things people do and think they
are weird. For example, I often find
myself analyzing people based on what they wear, what they eat, and what they
drink, among other things. People that
have piercings, or wear different clothing strike me as weird. Guys that do not eat meat strike me as
extremely weird, and even guys that prefer a fruity liquor over a beer seem
weird. I know that this line of thought
is very stupid, but I think that some of it is just my traditional country
background showing through.
On
the other end, rather than growing up affecting me now, since I moved away, I
have come to view past beliefs as wrong.
When I was growing up, my family was religious, and so I was religious. Now in college, I have put a lot of thought
to my place in my parents religion and find that I do not fit the mold. Rather than just conceding to beliefs of my
community and family, I question everything, and think independently. So much so, to the point that now I am a
cynic, and I don’t believe anything unless I can see or touch it, or at the
very least, rationalize it. I feel as
though I am at the point in my life where everyday my views are changing with
the more knowledge and viewpoints that I possess.
Overall,
these factors that have made a difference in my life, and how I view the
world. I am very hesitant on putting
these views on paper, because I am unsure about all of them. I am sure in the future, that these things
will change, and I will hopefully be a better version of myself. In the end, I am trying to keep an open mind
on my life, and how I view the world.