Lincoln Reeves

COM 220

7-14-14

Self-Concept Paper

George R. R. Martin once said Never forget who you are, for surly the world will not. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, for it will never be used to hurt you. For this paper I will be sharing with you today just who I am and just how I might have changed growing up throughout my childhood to early adulthood.

My name is Lincoln Reeves. While growing up in Jackson Alabama I was very involved into sports. Since I could almost walk I have been involved in baseball and once I got old enough I started playing football. During these two sports I also played soccer, Upward basketball as well as taking tennis lessons in the summer. Once I was around 13 years old I started working out in order to stay in shape and be able to compete and start for the sports I focused more on and only stuck with, which were baseball and football. Playing these two sports at my high school was very tough because not only do you have to compete with your teammates for the starting position or the other team itself, but youre also having so keep up with your grades. While being in high school and being involved with all of the sports I was playing, I was also doing the usual southern activities such as hunting, fishing, and just simply being outdoors.

When growing up in my hometown it was almost like the thing to do was to be in the click, which were the cool people in other words. While playing sports in high middle school and high school I hung out with the ones on those sports teams. With that being said, the starting off point for me hanging out with people in high school influenced me into wanting to be like them and do the things that they did. If they had a new trend of a new fad then the ones my age would always do it to be the in crowd. Now that I am in college I have already experienced more than I ever thought I would. Starting out my freshman year, I joined a fraternity that my older brother was a senior in. Being new to a college town and taking college classes, and going around and just doing everything that freshman do here, I did look up to my brother and his friends in his pledge class and whatnot. I guess you could say it was the same thing as high school but different. I wasnt having to be good at a sport or anything, you were just having to be yourself and be who you are. With doing that it was almost like you were in the cool group because it was college. There are plenty of groups to be apart of.

A direct definition is a communication that explicitly tells us who we are by specifically labeling us and reacting to our behaviors. Usually first occurs in families, then in interaction with peers and others. With playing sports in high school, I would almost say that was my direct definition. I was always playing, practicing or going over some sport with someone on my team or one of the coaches.

Reflected appraisal is essentially how people think other people think of them. Growing up you go through many phases, changes, and experiences. I felt as though while being in middle school playing sports and everything that I was in the group so to speak. The people that werent so talented with sports and everything didnt really hang out with my group as much. I didnt think they looked at me in a bad way but they knew that I played sports and everything and knew thats what we did. Now that I have been in college for a some years, I consider myself in a good group. When people see us out and about down town they know were going to have a good time and know pretty much what to expect.

Scripts being activities that are expected of us goes in different situations. With me playing sports growing up all of my life, I was expected to work at it and be the best that I could be as well as being good in my school work. Now that I am in college, I am expected to do the best that I can do in school and stay out of trouble. I would say my script in the overall part hasnt changed at all since growing up.

With what I have written today I hope you have learned about my self-identity and what has made me who I am today. I have basically told you a little bit about me and who I am and what has made me become that person today with the examples and stories I have provided. I will leave with a quote that my older brother once told me, Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I have ever known. Chuck Palahniuk