My identity consists of pivotal moments of enlightenment and change as the photo reflects a person through small dots and broken pieces. Just like the photograph I took of someone else’s street art, my identity hinges on the things people see and believe about me. Meanwhile, the rest of it is hidden, kept close to me, away from the main population of our world. The photo is in black and white because the world likes clean lines and boxes to label ourselves, but I believe that people are far more complex and interesting than the lines we draw around ourselves.

What factors shape my identity?

The crucial factors that help to shape my identity are my family, friends, job, and interests. My family and friends provide the basis of the type of person I am and the person I wish to be moving forward. My job as a baker is a part of my identity because it the profession I am labeled under and it aids in developing my work ethic.. My interests, like cooking, watercolor, sewing, and playing music, also shape my identity because they are the points of commonality that link people to one another.

Who am I?

I am a human being who strives to do the best I can for myself and others every day. I am devoted to a life of service, kindness, and learning. I choose to see people for all the good they can bring to the world, and I try to give that same kindness to myself by learning from my mistakes and always giving my all.

How do I show up in the world?

If I were checking the boxes society provided, I am a white, English-speaking, heterosexual American woman born in the last three months of the 80s. I attended schools in the suburbs and came from a supportive family with parents who worked themselves to the bones to give me the necessities they did not have.

As to personality, I am seen as a team player. Perhaps as a middle child, I am a natural negotiator. Still, throughout growing up years to my career now, people have been happy to work with me because I can see beyond my personal desires to view the bigger picture. I have always felt that if some people are struggling, then we are all struggling, and we all have a responsibility to help one another succeed.

How does my identity inform my values, ideas, and actions?

My identity forms my values, ideas, and actions because it is the foundational lens through which I view and navigate the world. I behave and think along the lines of those identities, and personally, through music, art, food, and language, I have been able to begin to understand what the world looks like through the lens of others.