Personal Development

Every person throughout the life undergoes different stages of personal development. For example, when babies arrive in this world, they are helpless, tiny creatures who cannot exist without due care and support of adults. Somehow, with the proper care, nurturing and other factors in the next 22 years, they grow up, become conscious, independent adults who can take care of themselves and help other people as well. The process of becoming older is a wonderful time when children find out the basic knowledge about the surrounding world and form different traits of character that in mix with innate qualities create a unique story of personal development. And I was not an exception. Of course, I have my own history of my development from childhood through adolescence and into the present time.

I was born in Cameroon, a small Country in the continent of Africa. I grew up there until I was thirteen then I moved to the United States of America. Growing up in Cameroon, I faced many challenges, which have made me into the girl I am right now. I have been in the United States for almost 9 years now. I spent part of my childhood years in my country Cameroon and the rest here in the U.S. I do not remember much about my childhood but in this paper, I will try to explore and explain the main stages and moments of my life.

When I was an infant, as everyone in this period, I was not able to take care of myself. However, it seems to me that I was very busy person, because there were many new things around me which I wanted to explore. My mother remembers  that I was extremely active and one of my favorite activities was to touch and lick everything that I saw around me. My first steps I did at the age of 12 month and it provide me with an excellent opportunity to discover new things.  However, I remember that in the age of three just walking was not enough for me, because I wanted to do everything that adults did. I wore my mother’s skirt and shoes and imitated her behavior. These moments have etched in my memory because I have many photos from that time. Moreover, my relatives always with a smile remind me about it. Therefore, the main problem of my infancy and early childhood was the impossibility to behave like adults and it was the first challenge that I had experienced. This challenge rewarded me with such trait of character as shyness, reticence, as I was afraid to show my feelings to other people and talk with different strangers since that.

In the preschool period, I remember that studying was my favorite occupation. It brought me a lot of pleasure to draw different simple pictures, learn by heart short rhymes, sing funny songs and read small words. Moreover, together with my friends, we explored different laws of nature and every discovery made me extremely happy. For example, I remember that one day we learned that it was very easy to let sunbeams with the help of mirror. We had been playing in this game almost two years. Moreover, when I was 5 years old I began to understand that I was a beautiful girl, I needed to know more, and nursery school could not provide me with it. Therefore, I began to understand that such a small space like the house, the neighborhood and nursery school was not enough for me. I wanted to go to real school and it was the second period of challenges in my life. This period, in comparison with the first one, was more difficult because I clearly understood what I wanted and I knew that for the 5 years old child it was impossible. I cried many nights and asked my mother to enroll me to primary school. This age crisis rewarded me with such traits as determination and patience.

 At the age of 6, my dream came true. However, at primary school everything was much more difficult than I had expected. The primary school required a lot of attention, patience and concentration in comparison with nursery one, which provided more opportunity for entertainment. To make it clearer, first, I want to start with explaining the peculiarities of the educational system in Cameroon, because it played a major role in my relation to school and in further studying at the USA. In Cameroon, the educational system differs from the US educational system. In Cameroon, there is a nursery school for two years, primary school for seven years, college and the university. I started going to nursery school at the age of four, then was primary school and I had finished first two years of college before I moved to the USA. At school, I was an active child. My siblings say that I was full of beans. I had a lot of energy for studying and for the entertainment as well. Moreover, I had the energy for playing with my little brother as I was babysitting him while my mother was working on the farm. On the other hand, mother’s permit not to help her planting or bridging made me a little bit lazy. Therefore, the years of studying at Cameron school and college awarded me with such positive qualities as a sense of competence, concentration, energy, restlessness, ability to overcome obstacles, and some negative ones as archness and laziness.

 At the age of 13, I had experienced the most difficult period in my life. In comparison with previous crises, it was the most difficult one. It seemed to me that my life ended and nobody could help me. It was the time of realizing that I was not a child anymore, however not an adult as well and the greatest turnover in my life had happened. I had to leave Cameroon, my hometown, where I had many friends and came to the U.S, where I did not know anyone. It was difficult for me to integrate, because I did not understand well the peculiarities of the new culture and American – English language. Moreover, it was hard for me to adapt to the new school system. However, everything started to change for the better when I began studying at school in the USA, because I found many friends there. My classmates were friendly and they helped me to overcome many difficulties, which I faced there. They helped me to understand that the most important things in the life of every person are friendship and mutual support. The period of adolescence awarded me with such qualities as friendliness and sense of personal identity.

At the period of young adulthood, the most important task for me was the career choice. Fortunately, I have made the right choice. I am completely satisfied with my education at college. In addition to it, I have formed loving, friendly relationships with many people during the period of young adulthood that is my achievement as well.

Using my own life experience, I can define the boundaries between childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Boundary between childhood and adolescence is about at the age of 13 while between adolescence and adulthood is about at the age of 18.. However, every person has an individual development according to the principles of bringing up, traditions and so on, that is why there are no concrete age when you grew up, as it is different for everybody. .

To sum up, the story of my personal development consists of different stages, challenges and outcomes. Al these altogether have made me whom I am right now and have formed me as a unique personality.

Related Free Research Essays