My Adolescence: My Journey Into Adulthood

Adolescence was the time for me to leave childhood behind and enter adulthood. This period in my life was characterized by major changes to my physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Puberty began along with sexual maturation, logical thinking, and the search for personal identity. Family and cultural values influenced my decision making but overall the need to get away from my family structure prevail. My physical development was affected by the beginning of puberty. I can recall feeling mortified because most girls my age had stared menarche and at 14 I still had not. Per our text, Mexican American girls start menarche at around 12 years and nine months, The Developing Person, Stassen 2015, page 451. That feeling didn’t

Answering the question of who am I is the search of every adolescent, I was no different. I resolved my crisis by forging my own identity early on, I took what values I believed to be important from my parent’s and culture and moved ahead to make my own future. I knew the type of person I didn’t want to be, at this point political or sexual identity were not as important. What matter to me most was my religious and vocational identity, the other two would follow when I had time for them. During my high school years, my father resurfaced in my life. It was too little too late but I still appreciated the effort, eventually we became friends. However, my mother was another story, she was very strict and controlling, all we ever did was bicker over small stuff that really didn’t matter. I did not have time for friends, I divided my time between school and work so peer pressure was not a problem. I didn’t get into trouble, break the law, nor use drugs. During my free time, I volunteer at church with various community projects. My relationships with adults help shape the person I am today. The elderly people of the nursing facility I worked all throughout high school were a second family to me. They offered a different look on life than peers or parents. They did not criticize my