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This stage occurs from birth - 18 months old. Infants and toddlers are forming bonds and creating trust with individual people. Having their needs met is a big part of creating trust.

I built trust with my dance instructor. I was a very shy little girl and trust didn’t come easily to me. This was the first relationship I formed at the studio, and it helped to shape future relationships there.

I resolved this stage of development with trust.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "In these early months, babies need to develop a balance between trust, which lets them form intimate relationships, and mistrust, which enables them to protect themselves." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 150)

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This stage occurs between 18 months - 2 years old. At this stage of development, toddlers are developing a sense of self control. They are discovering what they can and cannot do on their own.

I developed a greater sense of self-control at this age, and I began to pick out my own clothes for dance class. This was the beginning of the development of independence.

I resolved this stage of development with autonomy.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "The strength that emerges during this stage is will. As children are better able to make their wishes understood, they become more powerful and independent." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 156)

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Between 3 - 5 years old, children try to control situations through playing and other social interactions, like dancing. Children begin asking themselves if they are good at this/bad at that and try to take control of their feelings to these questions.

Due to my dance talents, I started to realize that I preferred some genres of dance over the others and developed shame over failing.

I resolved this stage of development with guilt.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "This conflict marks a split between two parts of the personality: the part that remains a child, full of exuberance and a desire to test new powers, and the part that is becoming an adult, constantly examining the propriety of motives and actions." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 210)

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This stage occurs between 6 - 11 years old. In this stage, when a child productively learns a new skill, they feel useful. If they struggle to learn a new skill, they feel a sense of worthlessness.

I developed what genres of dance I felt good in. Productively learning and growing in these new skills helped me to develop positive self-worth.

I resolved this stage of development with industry.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is " If the stage is successfully resolved, children develop a view of themselves as being able to master skills and complete tasks." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 276)

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Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion

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Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion

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This stage takes place between 12 - 18 years old. During this stage adolescents explore independence and are discovering who they are.

By this age, dance was all I knew, and I wondered if there was anything else to my identity. I began to contemplate if dance was a season of my life that I should leave in the past.

I resolved this stage of development with confusion.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "The effort to make sense of the self is part of a healthy process that builds on the achievements of earlier stages—on trust, autonomy, initiative, and industry—and lays the groundwork for coping with the challenges of adult life." (Erik Erikson, pg. 336)

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This stage takes place between 19 - 40 years old. This stage of development focuses on the desires of having a partner. Being in a relationship forms intimacy. While struggling to find a partner, leaves one vulnerable to isolation and loneliness.

I fell into an abusive relationship that pulled me away from dance and well as my family. This phase started out as intimacy but very quickly changed to isolation. I was isolated from anything that loved me or I loved back and left alone.

I resolved this stage of development with isolation.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "Just as a dysfunctional, abusive relationship may pull a young child’s developmental trajectory in a negative direction, a supportive loving relationship with a different adult may buffer that child from the storms of a difficult childhood." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 112)

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This stage takes place between 40 - 65 years old. During this stage, people are often contemplating how to make the world a better place and taking proactive steps to better themselves for the sole benefit of future generations.

This is the stage I am currently in. I contemplate how I can contribute to the world. I am taking active steps, college being one of them, to ensure that my life has meaning for myself, and well as my children, and their children, and so on.

I am resolving this stage of development with generativity.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "Erikson, while acknowledging that crises could be resolved poorly, left room for improvement. At any point in the life span, development could shift in a positive direction, and a crisis might be successfully resolved and a new strength developed." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 14)

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This stage takes place between 65 - death. During this stage, people question themselves on whether or not they led a meaningful life.

I have yet to hit this stage, but I know that I will look back on my life and question if it was meaningful. Stagnation in the previous phase would result in despair in this stage. This is why I am confident that I will feel integrity in this phase due to my generativity in the last phase.

I will resolve this stage of development with integrity.

A quotation from my book that supports my personal analysis is "While the crises that Erikson outlined were particular to one place and time, Erikson did make clear that social and cultural influences mattered. Erikson highlighted the social clock, the conventional, culturally preferred timing of important life events." (Gabriela Martorell, pg. 14)