Who am I really?

One of the biggest factors of what shapes me being me is my friends.  Friends are a major socialization agent in everyone's lives because they always surround you with new trends, words, slang, and ideas.  Many people go through many friend groups throughout their lives and this is why they don't figure out who they truly are until they realize that they don't always have to do what their friends do, and they should worry about doing what makes them feel comfortable.  Friends can be a good experience in the socialization process because people get to experience new things and face new fears and in the end, these all help to build the person you are today.  I feel that my friends have shaped me into who I am because I finally found a group that I'm comfortable in and I can be myself knowing I won't be judged. They have socialized me through many different ways. A lot of the clothes or trends I like I have discovered from seeing my friends wear them.  I know also that some of the words I use I distinctly developed from my friends like certain slang words and phrases.  My family sometimes questions some of the things I say, and recently I have realized that all of the strange things I say that my parents don't understand, I have learned from my group of friends.  My friends have also been a socializing agent "socially".  I like to go out a lot probably because that's what we always do and I'm not a rule breaker because all of my friends think before they make decisions and I have definitely adapted to doing this as well because you avoid many problems by doing this. I am thankful that I have had my close group of friends around me for many years because without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today.  That being said, looking back on my freshmen year I was much different because I had different friends whose choices I sometimes didn't agree with and that is why I chose to find a new group, that I have now, that I feel comfortable and safe in.

Realization of Norms

After this week in class, I have realized that I follow almost every norm in this society, but I have never actually stopped and thought about it.  We have talked a lot about norms and values and there are many of these that I agree with, and some I disagree with.  I definitley agree that Americans value time and schedules way too much. We are so worried about doing everything based on a strict schedule and if we deviate from it for whatever reason, we haven't accomplished that much that day.  I realized this week that I value time very much in my personal life because everyday I run on a strict schedule of when I will workout, do my homework, eat dinner, and go to bed.  I also constantly look at clocks because I'm always thinking about what is going to happen in 20 minutes from now instead of embracing the moment.  Another that I would agree with is that our society values material culture.  In a film we watched about people in Denmark, one lady said, "Less things, more life" and I believe that this saying should be followed more often because we all our so worried about having the new product and having excess of items instead of just being happy with what we have.  This is also true in my life because I always want the next big thing, when the iPhone 4 came out, I immediatley wanted the iPhone 5 even though my brand new, 600 dollar phone was perfectly fine.  This says a lot about our society and why everyone is so individualized because we are constantly competing for higher status. Overall I have come to terms this week with the fact that I follow almost all of the norms brought up during class because that is what I have been surrounded with my whole life and it has shaped me into who I am today.