Hey and welcome to the first blog post of the 2020-2021 school year! Grade 10 bay-be! For  this very first post, the topic is going to be identity. More specifically, my understanding of identity and what I believe to be my own identity. 

Our introduction to identity started off with a solo definition, and then morphed into a group definition. I put a lot of thought into my solo definition and my group decided that we wanted to use that as our base. We incorporated other important points brought up by group members that I definitely forgot. My solo definition is at the top of the following image and our group definition is down below. 

We then did some work on what others had to say about identity. The first assignment was a writing assignment about a poem called, “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros. It’s about a girl named Esperanza and her struggle to understand the world around her. She talks about how her grandmother had her, “place by the window” after her grandfather made her his wife. 

I am really proud of this poem. I think it represents me much better than the next poem we will discuss, and I love the freedom I had to come up with ways of describing the way I see my name. There are parts that I would definitely revise if I had the opportunity to re-do it, but overall, I’m not discouraged by it.

Secondly for our writing assignments, we completed questions on a segment of writing called “Farewell to Manzar”. These questions discussed labels; why people place them on each other, what the consequences are of doing so, and our own knowledge of being labeled / putting labels on others. I didn’t particularly vibe with this assignment, and that definitely showed in my final answers to all the questions.

Now, with our definition solidified and thought over, we can try to answer the question: what is my identity? The short answer is: I have a very vague idea. This class has helped me to slightly clarify how I would define myself but in all honesty, its hard to define something you have a very vague grasp on. At 14, I have no better an idea how to define myself, than I do to define a stranger on the street. I suppose this could be a part of my identity; spending all my time with myself and still not knowing who I am. One thing I do know is that I am nothing, if not a woman of many contradictions, because now, I have a poem to show you, about my identity. 

This poem is one that I am somehow both satisfied, and repulsed by. It captures an outer sense of my identity. The way I present myself and the values I have decided to keep close to my heart. With these things, like being a cyclist, or being goal oriented, are things I am very open with. Who I am deep down, is something I am still discovering, and there are times where I’m not sure I like what I find. 

The final part of this post is the wacky gif you might have seen at the top of this post. This is an  image I made using Snapseed and my own very creative mind. 

Let’s work outward in. On the very outside of the image are things that I keep relatively open. I am a good listener, I love frogs, and my favourite pieces of clothing, or my armour, would have to be my socks and shoes. When we move to the border of my head, we will see that it is a broken line. This is because my identity isn’t solidified yet, and I’m still working on making that border have slightly closer, but not closed, dashes. Overlaid on my head, are a few images. Firstly, there is a road in Switzerland. Switzerland is where I am originally from, and for the grade 9 school year, I lived in a small town there. The road represents my favourite sport, road cycling. Blinking eyes represent all the experiences that make me who I am. When I think of them now, they seem to flash by. Finally, the three images on the very inside tie into my confusion about who I am. My identity seems to be a jumble of random things I have mentally accumulated throughout my time here on earth.

I am working to keep in mind that who I am, or what I observe myself to be, can be changed. My previous prejudices and assumptions that are a part of my worldview, and therefore a part of my identity, are not solid like Grandma’s pound cake. They are much more fluid, like a packet of impatiently made jello. But the longer I wait to address them, the more time they have to solidify. 

In conclusion, identity is fluid, people are smart, and worldview will haunt me for the next 60 years. I hope you enjoyed this post and I’m sure we will be seeing each other again soon. 

The end