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The first stage happens from birth until about 1 year old. This stage is about trusting who you need to trust such as your family or the people who are going to take care of you, but also don't trust strangers in order to stay safe.  "People need to trust the world and the people in it, but they also need to learn some mistrust to protect themselves from danger." (Martorell, 13) I was taught to trust my caregiver who was my grandma from basically birth.  I did struggle with trusting people that I shouldn't, but eventually learned to only trust who my parents wanted me to.

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The second stage happens from ages 1-3.  This stage is finding a balance between having unlimited freedom and feeling shame and doubt when you do something that you know is not right.  "Erikson’s second stage in psychosocial development, in which children achieve a balance between self-determination and control by others." (Martorell, 157) The way that I found a correct balance between the two was my parents allowed me to do things independently, but they told me to stop when I was doing something wrong. This allowed me to not be scared to do anything by myself, but still feel shame when I do something that isn't right.

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The third stage happens from ages 3-6.   This stage makes sure that preschool age kids still do what they do best which is be a child and try out new things, but still feel bad when they do something that is wrong.  "Preschool children can do—and want to do—more and more. At the same time, they are learning that some of the things they want to do meet social approval, whereas others do not." (Martorell, 210) The resolution that I had in order to complete goals, but know what was wrong and feel guilty when doing so was by punishment. For example, if I did something wrong in my preschool, we had to sit out for 5 minutes. This allowed me to think about what I did, and not do it again in order to not get in trouble.

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The fourth stage happens from ages 6-12.  This stage allows the child to feel good about themselves and have motivation to progress and complete goals. "If children are unable to obtain the praise of others or lack motivation and self-esteem, they may develop a feeling of low self-worth and thus develop a sense of inferiority.  Developing a sense of industry, by contrast, involves learning how to work hard to achieve goals." (Martorell, 276) The way that I made it out of feeling inferior was through therapy. I felt inferior to other kids my age when I played baseball, and this led me to feel unmotivated to get better and quit for a year. I went to therapy, realized that I was good enough to play, and I ended up being able to work hard to complete my goals again.

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Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion

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Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion

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The fifth stage happens from ages 12-18.  This stage allows young adults to understand who they are either with a career path, sexual identity, or what values they want to live their life around.  "Erikson’s fifth stage of psychosocial development in which an adolescent seeks to develop a coherent sense of self, including the role she or he is to play in society. Also called identity versus role confusion." (Martorell, 336) I learned my sexual identity a lot younger than 12 because I knew that I was attracted to girls since I was in elementary school. The way I truly found my identity was by making goals for myself such as graduating high school and going to college and striving to complete these goals. The career path came a lot later as I just recently decided to become a teacher as of a few months ago, but finding what career I wanted to pursue allowed me to understand my true identity.

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The sixth stage happens during young adulthood which is about the ages 18-30. This stage allows young adults to make commitments to others such as getting married, getting a house together, and having kids. "Person seeks to make commitments to others or may suffer from isolation and self-absorption." (Martorell, 11) In my first semester of college, I started to feel isolated because I rarely or never saw some of my close friends that I saw often in high school. I got over this by starting to talk to them more and understanding that I am not going to see them as much as I used to. The way that I can gain intimacy is by committing to someone who I want to spend the rest of my life with.

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The seventh stage happens during middle adulthood which is about the ages 30-65. This stage allows people to give back to other people either through donating or volunteering to help someone or a group of people out. "Mature adult is concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation or else feels personal impoverishment." (Martorell, 11) The way that I can stay in generativity and not be in stagnation is by teaching kids and maybe even my own kids how to read and write, or how to be involved better socially in order to guide the next generation in the right direction.

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The eight stage happens during late adulthood which is about 65+. This stage allows a person to understand that they are going to die and be okay with it, and to feel good about what they have achieved in life. "Elderly person achieves acceptance of own life, allowing acceptance of death, or else despairs over inability to relive life." (Martorell, 11) The way that I can stay in the integrity side is by completing my goals and doing what I want to do so that I feel accomplished. Also, I can create goals that I want to complete and keep track of them.