The Healthcare Workforce

Running Head: WHAT I HAVE BECOME 1

“ WHAT MADE ME THE PERSON I HAVE BECOME”

PSY-202

Prof. Louise Framan

Submitted: October 18, 2012

WHAT I HAVE BECOME 2

Outline

1. Where are you from?

A) Born in a small town near Montgomery, Alabama

B) Moved to Montgomery as a teenager

C) Stationed in Warner Robins, Ga. during my mid twenties

D) Currently living in New Orleans, La

2. What was your family like?

A) Single mother household primarily raised by maternal grandmother

B) Fourth child of eight siblings

C) Low income household

3. What did you do after you finished school?

A) Joined the military during my senior year of high school

B) Active duty and National Guard for the last 12 years

4. Do you have your own family now?

A) Met my husband in 2007

B) We had our first daughter together in 2009

C) Gave birth to our youngest daughter in 2011

5. What are your personal, professional and academic goals?

A) Continue to build a strong relationship and family to show my children a great example of

a stable, two parent household.

B) Continue and complete my degree in nursing in 2013

C) Earn my Masters in Healthcare Administration

WHAT I HAVE BECOME 3

“ What made me the person that I am today”

There are many things that play a significant role in molding an individual in their life.

Some of the most influential things that played a part in my life were those things that I still

reflect on today as an adult. Where I was born, the structure of my family as a child, choices I

made upon completing high school and my own family are a few of those things. These are the

things that I will discuss in this paper in further detail.

I was born in a small town called Millbrook, Alabama. Back then the population was

5-6,000 people but has since grown tremendously. Because of the town being so small,

practically everyone in town knew each other and helped one another in any way they could.

I think this is one of the reasons that I am such a giving person that really cares about the well-

being of others. Around the age of 13 I moved to what was considered the big city,

Montgomery Al with my oldest sister until I graduated high school and joined the military.

During my time in the military I have had the privilege of travelling to many different places

Including, Warner Robins, Ga and ultimately ending up in New Orleans, La where I currently

reside.

As, a small child I was always the adventurous one, who wanted to go everywhere and

see everything that I could. I was the fourth child born to my mother who was a single mom at

the time. I remember my siblings and myself being raised mainly by my grandmother because

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my mother hadn’t really matured into the parent that she needed to be, she was only 21 years

old when she gave birth to me so that really explained her maturity level. We never really had

much as children but we never complained because we had each other. My grandmother tried

her best to give us what she could and to try and make us feel as though we had just as much as

the other kids. I think it’s because of this lesson, that I grew up to be happy with what life has

afforded me and to never be jealous or envious of others for what they have. I have

never looked back on my childhood and regretted not having the best toys are clothes or any of

those things, I appreciated what my mother and grandmother were able to provide for us. As you

can probably expect, I am a very appreciative person today because of my childhood.

At about the age of 13 I had gone through a very traumatic time in my life and

my mother wasn’t around so my oldest sister, on my father’s side of the family, stepped in and

saved me from myself and my situation and moved me to Montgomery, AL with her. It was

within those years that I began to develop a real sense of self and who I wanted to become. I

went on to graduate high school and had made up in my mind that I wanted to join the Air

Force . Less than 6 months after graduating high school I was off to basic training. Basic training

for me was a huge mind game to break you down, then to build you back up. Needless to say it

was a huge eye opener for me because up until that point I had never really been outside of the

state of Alabama other than family trips to the beach in Florida. It was then that I was

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fascinated by the world and how it was such an interesting place, far more than the small town

of Millbrook and I wanted to see as much of it as possible before I died. I am still working on

that, there are still a few states that I need to check off of my list of places travelled.

Five years ago while I was stationed I Warner Robins, Ga I met the most influential,

Inspiring, individual in my life. This person showed me the fun side of life, the part that says you

can still be career oriented and enjoy life as well. He happened to be the man that I will be

spending the rest of my life with. Today we are raising our beautiful daughters together and

enjoying every moment of the journey to come. It has been researched and written that “a

positive feature associated with adult development is evidence showing that individual’s beliefs

about knowledge and knowing develop over the life span” (Hoare, 2006, pg.74). Now, that I

have the honor and pleasure of having my own family, I am able to look back and identify the

many things I have learned as an adult as oppose to what I thought I knew as a teenager. I think

this shows proof of my development as an adult in the way I view learning and knowledge.

I am currently working towards a degree in healthcare and would ultimately like to receive my

Master’s in Healthcare Management to show my girls that it’s never too late to set goals in your

life and to strive as hard as possible to reach those goals.

Many circumstances and lessons can and will have a role in the type of person or adult

that we all become. In my life I have had the opportunity to learn life lessons from many

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different experiences. Many of those experiences are still the basis of most of the decisions that I

make today. My family is the number one influence in my life followed by, where I’m from, my

upbringing as well as the decisions that I made after high school. Although I still have a lot more

of my life to live, I do look forward to the goals that I have left to reach

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References:

G.A., & Mossler, R. A (2010). Adult Development and Life Assessment. [ebook version] Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUPSY202.10.1

Hoare, Carol (2006). Handbook of Adult Development and Learning. [ebrary version]

Retrieved from https://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford

References: G.A., & Mossler, R. A (2010). Adult Development and Life Assessment. [ebook version] Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUPSY202.10.1 Hoare, Carol (2006). Handbook of Adult Development and Learning. [ebrary version] Retrieved from https://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford