Life Experience's Effect on Self-Concept

Some experiences, no matter how hard we try to forget them, will never be forgotten. As a young person still in his or her youth, you will confront really difficult conditions, but you must remain strong to the finish. I've never believed that there can ever be happiness after suffering (Baldwin et al., 2015). Because of my experience, I have chosen to be friendly to everyone I meet because you never know what someone is going through.

When I was 15, I began making plans for my future life, which was full of hopes and desires. Though I was not good in academics, I had dreams that were not that easy to conquer. Everyone thought that I was very happy since my parents would provide me with everything while still young. However, no one knew what I was going through back at home. My parents would occasionally curse and abuse me (Lambert et al., 2013). They would beat me at night and send me to bed with torn bleeding lips. I always wished that I had an elder sister who would constantly help me. However, I had a non-existing sister who I would hold and cry at night and that was my pillow.

The result of the beatings and curses by my parents resulted in my low self-esteem and self-concept when growing up. Because of that that I view myself of incapable of something in reality I may be able to do and this affected my academic and even social development until I became a teacher which was even forced on me by my parents. The training as a teacher and experience helping children in similar situation has re orient perception of myself and boost my self-concept that I'm capable of pursuing my unattained academic and professional ambition in the healthcare field (Lind et al., 2013).

References

Baldwin, M., Biernat, M., & Landau, M. J. (2015). Remembering the real me: Nostalgia offers a window to the intrinsic self. Journal of personality and social psychology, 108(1), 128.

Lambert, N. M., Stillman, T. F., Hicks, J. A., Kamble, S., Baumeister, R. F., & Fincham, F. D. (2013). To belong is to matter: Sense of belonging enhances meaning in life. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(11), 1418-1427.

Van den Bos, K., & Lind, E. A. (2013). On sense-making reactions and public inhibition of benign social motives: An appraisal model of prosocial behavior. Advances in experimental social psychology, 48, 1-58.