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How to write a self-identity essay
In your academic life, you must have already written short essays about your name, your family, and whatever identifies with you. You’ve come a long way, and now, you may need to write about this journey – a journey to create your identity.
It’s a common practice for students joining college or majoring in specific courses to submit self-identity essays as part of their application. So, if you want to learn how to write one, look no further.
What’s a self Identity Essay?
Self-identity essay defines the writer, physically, emotionally, or psychologically to the readers.
Simply put, a self-identity essay explains who you are. So, first, discover yourself to enjoy writing such a paper. Usually, it’s an analytical narrative that relates to your story, covering your life journey to where you are today, and where you intend to go in life.
Self-Identity Essay Structure
When writing about identity in general, focus on how it relates to your experiences, perceptions and life in general. Use personal experiences and real-life illustrations. You can bring in statistical data and examples from literature, as well.
Here is an outline of identity essay paper:
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Introduction of a self indetity paper
Like most forms of writing, you begin your self-identity essay by an overview of your intended topic. Tell a story that relates to your background. You can propose a question or draw an analogy. For example:
In my early years, it never dawned on me that being whole was possessing a complete sense of self-identity. Yes, I never had enough knowledge about my body, emotions and plans. I know I could control anything in my life, let alone my feelings. I spent most of my adolescent age flying with the wind, not knowing how to hold myself. It sharply contrasts with what I’m today.
Self Identity Thesis Statement
Your final sentence of the introduction is the thesis statement. It invokes curiosity on the reader, and it is the main idea of your paper. And is often the case, you are going to build your essay around that statement.
To get a strong thesis statement, identify the essay’s subject and pronounce an assertion about it. For example, here it is:
“It sharply contrasts with what I’m today.”
Well, here the statement leaves the reader desirous, and thirsty of what your life was like, what happened and how has it changed over the years. In a nutshell, the thesis statement guides your entire writing process.
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Body
In essence, the body of self-identity essay talks about your name, family and what you currently are. They don’t have to appear in any order, but they need to flow. So, use transition clauses to put them together, while also reflecting on the thesis.
Typically, the first sentence of every paragraph tells your readers its contents. You need to use a strong opening sentence and further delve into it in the subsequent sentences. Be creative to keep your readers engaged.
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Conclusion
Though this section forms your final submission on the topic, when writing a self-identity article, we conclude by talking about your future aspirations. Tell your audience where you want to be, let’s say in ten years from now.
Since this is not a speech, avoid using phrases that allude to a conclusion.
If you have read up to this section, then you are ready to pen down your story. Stick to the structure we have outlined, and you’ll never miss your points.
Self Identity Essay Structure
A self-identity essay focuses on three things,
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Your Name
Our names form the central picture of how society views us. So, for a moment, think about yours. What’s your name, and what does it mean to mean to you? If there is a hidden story about it, please tell it. The strategy is to tell a story, propose a question, and draw a comparison if any. Let your audience know if your name has inspired you in any way or how it has influenced you.
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Your Family
Who makes up your family, and how is your relationship with them? How have they changed you over the years, and who has had the most impact on how you view things? Bring out your family story – everyone has one.
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Your Identity
Generally, write about your life. How do you identify the person you see when you look at the mirror? Tell us about your friends and family and how they relate to you. Bring out your life, growth and personal development, right from childhood to what you currently are.
Share your beliefs and convictions about various issues. It’s best here think about yourself, your history, and the changes you have undergone. It’s here that you justify your thesis statement.
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Self Identity Essay Example:
I was born in Texas, but raised by a single mom. I am Asian-American and I have never been to Asia. The culture of my mother is so deeply engrained into me that it’s like I’ve been to the East twice over. It has shaped every aspect of who I am – how I talk, how much respect or lack thereof that someone deserves, what kind of food is best (fried rice with soy sauce!), even when you eat it – all because my mom wanted me to always know where she came from and be able to stand up for myself no matter what cultural background people had.
And yet there are those times when we’re not conversing at home that i struggle sometimes with balancing two cultures at once. I would always go to the same Chinese school as a kid, but now that I’m older and in college, I was forced to pick Western school or computer science classes if i wanted to pursue my passion of programming.
It took me four years of starting and stopping majors and working at a dozen different jobs before I realized something: Computer Science is an art form for logical reasoning. It’s all about coming up with algorithms, decomposing problems into smaller pieces until you can resolve them into simple statements that are irrefutable by nature. You don’t have to be fluent in another language; its not about memorization or knowing any particular facts – it doesn’t even matter what you believe in! It’s all about taking a large problem and breaking it up into simpler parts, then decomposing those smaller pieces until you can figure out a solution.
That’s why I love computer science, because the problems are universal, they don’t rely on your nationality or religious background. It’s not about what language or background you come from – it’s all just logic.
But when i think about how much time i spent trying to be someone i’m not: studying things that weren’t interesting just because my mom told me to (and by extension society said so too), dating people who were interested because of my race instead of for the person inside; I feel like I wasted a lot of time chasing something that everyone was telling me is what I should do but what I didn’t myself believe was the right path for me.
And now that i’m in my last year of college and I’ve realized what is truly important to me, it’s really easy to reflect on all those things that happened in my past and see how much they discouraged me from following what I love doing: writing code. There were so many times when one class made me feel like an idiot (my high school bio teacher had us take a test because he knew his kids would fail; we did) or when people told my mom she should have “toughed up” instead of raised someone who doesn’t conform to their idea of being masculine enough. There were times where I felt dumb because I couldn’t speak another language or when people told me I’m not really Asian because my mom was raised by white parents.
I feel like the most successful artists of our time struggle against this, whether they know it or not – especially if you’re an introvert who has been trained to be quiet your whole life. Because even though in terms of literal skill (ability to code well) you may have a much higher chance at success than a vocal person does, there are so many more subtle ways that society discourages everyone from stepping into the light and being true to themselves. It’s funny how shallow we can treat each other even though technology makes us all equal and connected at once; i think that’s what personally keeps me going through the hard times without giving up on my dreams.
