Interview With Keyonna Ciera Branham

Keyonna Ciera Branham is currently a junior at East Carolina University. She entered East Carolina as biology major but decided to change her major to Family Relations and Child Development. Keyonna was born in Charlotte, NC on May 29th 1995 to Brian and Danielle Branham. Lucky enough Keyonna was their first-born, but years later they decided to add two more children to their family. Brian Jr (age 16) and Kobe Branham (age 14) are Keyonna’s baby brothers who she values very much. I met Ms.Branham during our freshman year of college back in 2014. We’ve only known each other for a little over a year, but I feel like our relationship has grown every day since. I chose to interview Keyonna , because her story was unique and I believe she has

This was defiantly a big change to Keyonna but it ended up being the best decision she has ever made in her life. Prior to moving in with grandmother (Dorothy Bell), Keyonna began experiencing a series of emotions. All of these emotions somehow decreased her self-esteem and made Keyonna feel as if she was worthless. These emotions can be compared to Susan Harter’s exploration on the issue of self-esteem and self worth. Harter believed that there was two ways children tend to develop a sense of global self-worth. The first way would be that self-worth is based on how competent children perceive themselves to be. The second way is that self-esteem depends on the amount of social support they receive from those around them (Charles H Zastrow, 2013). Keyonna was having trouble realizing her self worth because of the lack of support she was receiving from her family about her simply just trying to be herself. Her self-esteem began to decline, which lead Keyonna to think negative thoughts about herself and her life. After moving out of her mother’s house, Keyonna was able to begin building her self-esteem back up to where she wanted it to be. It is important for children to be in a positive and healthy environment in order for them to realize their

The first theory I was able to apply to her life would be the learning theory. This theory is an orientation that conceptualizes the social environment in terms of behavior, its preceding events, and its subsequent consequences. Within the learning theory I believe Keyonna was able to illustrate some modeling behavior. During the time she began to live with her grandmother, she was forced to adapt to her new environment. Being that her grandmother has always illustrated some type of positivity about her life, Keyonna was able to observe this behavior and begin thinking more optimistic about her own life as well. She watched how her grandmother upheld confidence and motivation with every experience she faced in life. Mrs. Bell was not only a parent to Keyonna, but she was also a role model that has helped turn her granddaughters life