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my 1st birthday party was the little mermaid themed. 

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An age graded event that occurred was that I learned how to walk.  A history-graded event that affected my toddlerhood was the destruction of the world trade center on 9/11/2001. At this stage, I connected to Bowlby's phases of attachment. Specifically, phase 3, where I would be attached to a select group of people who took their time with me and I soon began to have separation anxiety.

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I was about 5-6 years old here. I was with my family at some wildlife park in San Antonio. Pictured are my two sisters and dad. 

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An age-graded event was graduating kindergarten. A history-graded event that occurred was Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  I connected the most with the concept of socioemotional development. It is essentially how a child develops self-regulation, emotions, and social skills and cues based on their experiences with other, especially their age. I grew up as a very nervous and shy child. I did not like interacting with other kids, much less if they were strangers, however, I blame this on the fact that I was homeschooled up until the fifth grade. Fun fact, the day this picture was taken was a traumatic day for me. I was at a playground area later that day and this strange older boy picked my up and tried to take me with him to his car. My mom was no where in sight and I started kicking and screaming and crying until he put me down. I was fine, just shaken up.

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My aunt took this picture of me. I was about 9 and this was right after we opened Christmas presents in my Abuelita's house in Mexico. 

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An age-graded event was learning how to ride a bicycle at 7 years old. A history-graded event that occurred was Barack Obama becoming the first African-American president. I related most with Kohlberg’s theory of conventional moral reasoning. Essentially, this concept is how kids consider other’s perspective and how the moral rules placed are to uphold the community and gain approval. As a child, I can recall countless times when I played nicely with my sisters to gain the approval of my parents. In reality, I never wanted to play with them, let alone nicely, but I did so to keep the peace and for my sisters to like me. It was tough being the middle child.

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I was about 15-16 years old here. This picture was taken at the Palm Valley Animal Center when I would volunteer. This was my favorite dog I met there. 

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An age-graded event that occurred was when I went through puberty. A history-graded event that occurred during this time was the death of the terrorist Osama Bin Laden. A concept I connected to most was the concept of how adolescents are big risk takers. Risk taking is where dangerous activities are done with association to increased impulsivity and shifted levels of serotonin and dopamine. I was obsessed with skateboarding at the time and specifically in this picture, I would constantly seek to spend time with the dogs that a had a bad reputation. There was a section in the back with all the dogs that were aggressive with a history of biting. It had a sign saying, "enter at your own risk." Luckily, the dogs were nice to me and I was never hurt. I look back on that time now and I think that those dogs were just misunderstood. Poor them :(

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This is my college headshot I took when I was 21. I regret wearing that outfit hahaha. 

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An age-graded event that occurred was that I graduated high school and went out of state to attend college. A non-normative event that occurred was my father passing away unexpectedly. A history-graded event that occurred was the covid19 pandemic. I connected most to the concept of the third marker of emerging adulthood. The third marker is the feeling of being in between adolescent and adulthood. Inwardly, I still feel like I’m 16 but outwardly I’m 23. Plus, I still live at home while half of my friends are making career-based moves.