Identity Formation in My Education Essay
Erickson believed that identity formation is a continuous process that occurs in our entire life. I agree with his assertion since I have experienced transformation in a certain aspect of my life which is education. James Marcia used Erickson’s theory to come up with four aspects of identity development. In this essay paper am going to discuss how my education has undergone the four aspects or rather how I have experienced the four aspects throughout my education life.
The first aspect is identity diffusion. When I joined school I had no choice and no say on what school to join and whether to join school or not. Those choices were made for me by my parents. I did not consider education important to me as I did not understand. As time went by, I proceeded to higher grades, and I started to enjoy studying. I realized that education was important to children for their future success. This realization made me commit my time to my studies as well as my concentration. This aspect according to me was experienced from 6th grade. Initially, education was a part of pleasing my parents but after 6th grade, I started reading for my future. This aspect can be termed as identity foreclosure (Marcia, Waterman, Matteson, Archer & Orlofsky, 2012).
After finishing my high school studies of course with a good grade, I had to make a decision whether to go to college or take up a job to support my livelihood as well as that of my parents. This decision was hard to make. There was that longing to advance my studies by going to college through help from scholarships and relatives. There was also a longing to take up a job so that I could help my parents who are not well off. This aspect can be described as identity moratorium. After much deliberation, I decided to enroll in a college located near home. I enrolled in a scholarship program that helped me settle my academic fees partly. I took up a part-time job to help settle part of my academic fees as well as my upkeep fees. Am currently in my last year in college and looking back am proud of the decision I made of joining college. Thus, the aspect I underwent is called identity achievement.
References: Identity Formation in My Education Essay
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American psychologist, 55(5), 469. Learn how to get assignment help from homework answers websites
Marcia, J. E., Waterman, A. S., Matteson, D. R., Archer, S. L., & Orlofsky, J. L. (2012). Ego identity: A handbook for psychosocial research. Springer Science & Business Media.