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Issam starts to go through gender intensification. He starts to try and act more masculine to get more attention from his girlfriend and other girls. Issam starts to work out a lot more and acts like he's so into sports, when in reality he doesn't care much for them.
(Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 384)

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Issam recently lost his mentor and art influencer, Abraham Yosef. Abraham's death was unexpected, being only 30 years of age. Like most adolescents Issam held in his anger and frustration in the beginning. Issam's family had lack of sympathy for him and his lost, due to the fact Abraham was not a relative.Losing someone close to him, caused him to become unmotivated and not express himself through art, like Abraham encouraged. "About 30% experienced significant grief reactions in the first year that then gradually diminished" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, pp. 548-549). Issam eventually got over his grievances of Abraham and he started getting back into his art and he would express Abraham in his art.

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Issam and his girlfriend have become sexually active. They both lose their virginity to each other. Issam's parents are permissive and allow Issam to make his own decisions. Jana parents beliefs were wait till marriage to have sex. There concerns were Jana becoming pregnant early or getting STI's that she can't get rid of. Issam is smart enough to use condoms, but at times forget. Sarah decides to get on birth control after a pregnancy scare.(SigeIman & Rider, 2018, pp. 386-391).

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The Family: Parent-adolescent relationship 

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The Family: Parent-adolescent relationship 

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Occasionally, there is conflict around minor matters dealing with "obedience, homework, household chores, and privileges" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 482). Because Issam is from a more collectivist culture, "maintaining respect for parents and family harmony are valued more" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 482), however, the conflict that occurs between Issam and his parents helps foster autonomy - his own values and beliefs and ways of resolving conflict.

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"Adolescence is truly a time for 'finding oneself," (Rider & Sigelman, 2018, p. 343) As Issam continues to develop both mentally and physically, so does his self-perception. Like most adolescents, Issam's self-esteem is fairly high. In order to develop this, Issam had to ask himself the following questions: "who are you, where are you going, where do you fit into society" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 344) this falls under Erik Erikson's identity vs. role confusion. Developmental trends elaborates more on Erikson's theory, it states that identity can be developed from two way, commitment or crisis.

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Issam shares a "secure attachement relationship with [his] parents" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.454). The trust they share is both encouraging and uplifting for Issam.

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Issam has a girlfriend named Jana and met through Sarah. Jana and Sarah are close friends because Jana appreciates a real friend. Issam and Jana are in the status phase of their relationship and are considered the "power couple" of their respective schools. They have similar interests and care about each other, but their relationship is mostly for show. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.456)

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Declining levels of Achievement & Cross-cultural Differences

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Declining levels of Achievement & Cross-cultural Differences

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Issam starts to lose his motivation in school. He eventually realizes how important his grades are. His plans for adulthood is to finish high-school and go off to college to pursue his career as a doctor. Issam regains his focus because he always wanted to prove stereotypes wrong about certain races dropping out of high-school. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 321-325)

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Issam has great grades and note-taking strategies, but Sarah has  better ones because she knows how to adjust her strategies based on what they're learning better than Issam. She is a straight A student and has never gotten B's. Whereas Issam has occasionally gotten B's. That is all due to how metacognition during brainy tasks can vary by gender. Sarah studies more and takes better notes than Issam. They're status is definitely high and have good resources. So socioeconomically,they both have excellent resources they could use, unlike some of their peers. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 251)

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"Adolescents who have a sense of moral identity tend to be more capable than other adolescents of advanced moral reasoning" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.419). Issam's culture plays a tremendous part in his moral identity. In comparison to American adolescents, the role of a young Jordanian male is distinctively different. Unlike Issam, a majority of teenagers struggle with understanding who they are. Being that Issam comes from a culture where men have greater responsibilities at a younger age. Which resulted in him maturing faster than the usual male.

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When in class, Issam constantly takes color-coded notes, to understand relevant vs. irrelevant information. He color-codes his notes to sort out within the relevant information, the level of importance that each one has. During adolescence, they develop advanced learning and memory strategies like note-taking or underlining.(Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.250)

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Issam wants to express his ideas. Using hypothetical and abstract thinking Issam looks at society in a troubling way and wants to make a difference. He believes that it doesn't matter where you come from, you can still strive to be successful. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 220-222).

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Issam's favorite snacks are Sour Patch Kids, Kombucha, and Cheeze-its. These are his favorite snacks because he likes how sour and strong the snacks are. Issam's love for strong snacks comes from him being an adolescent. Adolescents "are more likely to enjoy foods with strong or strange tastes because they have had more opportunity to 'acquire' these tastes through multiple exposures" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.186).

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Sigelman, C.K. & Rider, E.A. (2018). Life-Span Development, (9th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Dai, D., Tan, X., Marathe, D., Valtcheva, A., Pruzek, R., & Shen, J. (2012). Influences of Social and Educational Environments on Creativity During Adolescence: Does SES Matter? Creativity Research Journal, 24(2/3), 191–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.677338

TedTalks: Sarah-Jayne Blakemore—the mysterious workings of the adolescent brain [Video file]. (2012). Retrieved October 24, 2019, from https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=100535&xtid=53036

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Issam's intellectual capability was discovered at a young age, grasping knowledge quickly allowed him to be placed in advance classes. Issam has a remarkable IQ score of 136. His environment contributes greatly to intellectual growth, coming from a very intelligent family and his father being a doctor, as well as having a high IQ score. His cognitive advances such as, achievement of formal operations, improved memory and information-processing-skills is his genetic ability to achieve greatly in his academics. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 277)

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Fostering Creativity & Cultural Variation

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Fostering Creativity & Cultural Variation

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Issam has a desire to be an artist and it is hard for him to express his creativity because neither his parents or the schools fully embrace it. In his school he is one of the few students that try to spread art around the school, they even have events to spread art around the city. His art expresses the cultural influence on him and through this, he is able to translate his perceptions and views on politics, society, and the culture. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, pp.278-79). Also it is a challenge for Issam to foster his creativity because of bodily changes. "Due to adolescents having a loss in creativity around this time they go through the process of trying to retract the creativeness back to the adolescent. This research is relevant because it emphasizes the retraction of creativeness in adolescents" (Dai et al., 2012)

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Going into adolescence Issam's attention span has improved than when he was a child. Taking in information is easy for Issam, although he overestimates his multitasking abilities. His improved ability to sustain attention seems to be tied to "increased myelination of those portions of the brain that help regulate attention" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.185).

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Issam has tinnitus in his left ear because he blasts his music in his headphones. He usually wears only one headphone while walking to class. Simply, "tinnitus is ringing sounds in one or both ears that can last for day, weeks, or indefinitely" (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.186).

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Irbid, Jordan

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Shows an interest in art

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Issam is approaching the peak of physical fitness and health. His weight being 149 pounds compliments his ongoing growing height. Although he does not participate in any sports, he is physically active when he walks to and from school each day, which takes him about 20 minutes. He has good dietary behaviors and does not smoke, despite most of his peers involved with tobacco use. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.148)

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Issam is embracing his biological changes. Although he is gaining his independence, in contrary to American teenagers, he is not showing signs of distance, barriers or conflict with his family relations. He occasionally experiences moments of restlessness or varied energy levels, but because of his tight-knit family, he is able to receive support and adjust with ease. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, pp.146-47).

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We are able to notice that Issam has reached sexual maturation due to secondary sex characteristics such as pubic, underarm, and facial hair. He is going through physical changes involving the enlargement of his genitalia and voice changes where his voice may "crack". During this time, Issam will also experience increased hormones through the process of adrenarche that will lead to semanarche and "wet dreams", triggering sexual thoughts, feelings and maturation.
(Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p. 143-146)

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In comparison to his twin sister, we were able to notice the differences in their growth rates. Issam had a growth spurt in the past year and grew 4 inches and now stands at a height of 5 ft 6, where his sister Sarah only grew an additional 3 inches and is now standing at 5 ft 4. Due to this, we can observe that even tho they are the same age, the differences in sex will additionally indicate when they have achieved their adult height. (Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.143)

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In this period of Issam's life, he is going through puberty and the process of biological changes; physically, mentally and sexually.
Issam's brain is in the ongoing process of synaptic pruning --where the brain is removing unused and unwanted connections. In a presentation presented by TedTalks (2012) shows gray matter and its development in the prefrontal cortex increases during childhood, peaks, and then significantly declines in the teenage years.
Risky behavior is directly correlated to the brain changes during this stage, where Issam may have moments of rebellion or risk-taking situations.
(Sigelman & Rider, 2018, p.143)

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Arabic and English

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Greek Orthodox (Christian)

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He is 16; born June 5, 2003

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1 fraternal twin -- Sarah

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Dad: Mahammad Ameer (Circassian/Arab)
Mom: Jouri Ameer (Armenian/Arab)

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Doctor

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1/2 Arab, 1/4 Circassian, and 1/4 Armenian