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My Adolescent's Life Story

University of People

EDUC 5420: Adolescent Development

Dr. Augustine Panchoo

September, 9th 2021

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A Discussion of Your Personal Experience During Adolescence

Adolescence is a pivotal developmental period in which youth begin to form an

enduring sense of personal identity and agency about themselves (Pajares and Urdan, 2006).

In this developmental transition to adulthood, adolescent experience rapid changes in the brain

and body, often at different rates and is a time for healthy exploration of identity and learning

independence. It can also be a stressful or challenging for teens because of these rapid changes.

(Youth.gov, n.d.). Looking back at the writer’s adolescent life, I will tell you about my personal

experience during my adolescent, make its connection to the theory and its implication to the

educational setting.

I was born in a family of Arab descent but we are Indonesian citizens. I am the second

of six children; two girls and 4 boys. When I was in the second grade of elementary school, my

parents divorced after many fights between them since I was maybe five years old. The ordeal

at that time was not easy for us, because we were told to choose between mother and father. Of

course, we all especially I chose to live with my mother but unfortunately my two youngest

siblings were taken by my father. It is not a beautiful moment to remember because divorce is

not the end of everything. My father often came with the excuse of seeing his children but with

anger and shouts. Likewise, my mother, because she was upset with what happened to her

marriage, she took it out on us by telling us all the bad behavior of my father. For me, my

father's image is no longer positive.

The way I was raised was very conservative and full of limitations because it was

influenced by the way my mother was raised. I didn't grow up like kids my age. I became a

quiet child and chose to lock myself at home. In elementary school, I was left behind by the

other children and always received counselling until middle school. I have school friends but

no regular group of friends I can play with because my mother doesn't let me play outside. All
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I can remember is that I had to drop out of school after high school because my grandmother

believed that women didn't need to have a higher education. After high school, I was asked to

do some short courses on girl life skills and once I was ready, I was proposed to marry.

Moreover, my mother was not sent to school. Even so, she became a very intelligent woman

who was able to do many things but not related to education. Luckily one of my uncles helped

me and enrolled me in a small high school in my city, although it was a bit late.

It influenced how I transitioned into a teenager. I don't have self-confidence but try hard

to be. In high school, I met many good teachers who opened my mind and started thinking

about my future. As a teenager, I was not allowed to access any print media that showed what

teenage life really was and my mother never talked about it openly to me. I was blind to the ins

and outs of it until I got my first period when I was in 3rd grade of junior high school, my

friend taught me how to handle it. My physical appearance also makes me less confident with

all the pimples covering my face. I had this until I was in university and was often the subject

of ridicule by my close friends.

A Discussion Connecting Your Personal Experiences to Theory

Adolescents are in a stage of development during which the brain becomes more

specialized and efficient. Learning experiences and environmental influences play key roles in

this process. Learning and development are inextricably intertwined; these dual processes

shape patterns of neural connections during adolescence (Loschert, 2019). This statement has

been proven in my experience. Along with the background of my story above, I persevered and

firmly decided to continue to college. The biggest influence didn't come from friends or family,

but from the teachers at my high school. Since high school, I have had academic achievements.

Learning is my escape from turbulent and confusing emotions. I can describe myself as strong
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on the outside but actually fragile on the inside. I appear on the surface as a smart person, active

in organization and good at communicating, but when I'm alone I cry more.

I was also very dependent on people's judgment at the time. Anything that came to my

ears, would change my thinking and I eventually followed suit. This condition has carried over

to the present day. This contrasts with Erikson's opinion that most adults are not bothered by

questions of identity and focus only on the inside of their comfortable work and civic affairs.

But this should not be taken as a guarantee that we have exceeded or neglected what we foretold

in our youth odyssey (Erikson, 1970). In other words, I am facing a very serious identity crisis.

Demographic changes affect psychological development which tends to cause adolescents to

be unstable in taking opinions. In my case, my parents' divorce and my mother's strict

upbringing meant that I didn't have the opportunity to socialize widely.

Today’s youth experience many of the same challenges and discoveries that young

people did in previous generations but I think it also harder due to the development of the

technology and lifestyle. If previously, adolescent like me had struggle more on facing internal

issues, like family matter, friends or school. Meanwhile, today the spread of technology and its

impact on adolescence is clearly global, with youth in remote corners of the world connected

to one another and with information about how their more and less affluent peers are living

elsewhere or vice versa. Through instant messaging, palm pilots, multiple portals to Internet

chat rooms, multiplayer games and other diversions, teens need not be alone. They can connect

with people and information like never before, so problems can arise in a variety of ways

(Mortimor & Larson, 2002).

A Discussion of Educational Implications

In my late adolescent stage, my psychological development was still the same but

instead of making it a hindrance in achieving my dreams, I focused more on how to get out of
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the shackles of the past. It doesn't always go well, but I can use my experience to understand

my students in class.

Increasingly, educators are becoming aware of the impact that school culture, learning

environment, and learning experiences affect educational outcomes. Findings from recent

neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychological research provide a deeper understanding of

why school culture is important to every student and why it is so important for adolescent

students to learn in a safe, supportive, and culturally responsive environment. A variety of

environmental factors - from community values and social expectations to poverty, prejudice,

and injustice - affect classrooms, schools, and student learning. The learning environment has

also expanded to include digital technology as today's youth increasingly use online spaces to

learn and build relationships. Last but not least, by understanding the full range of cultural and

environmental factors that affect adolescent learning, educators and leaders can support

adolescents as they learn to navigate increasingly complex social and political systems, leading

to their academic and postsecondary success (Loschert, 2019).

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References

Adolescent development. (n.d.). Youth.gov. https://youth.gov/youth-topics/adolescent-

health/adolescent-development

Erikson, E. H. (1970). Autobiographic notes on the identity crisis. Daedalus, 99 (4), 730-

759. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20023973

Loschert, K. (2019). Science of Learning: What Educators Need to Know About Adolescent

Development. Alliance For Excellent Education. https://all4ed.org/wp-

content/uploads/2019/09/05-SAL-What-Educators-Need-to-Know-About-Adolescent-

Development_FINAL.pdf

Mortimer, J. T., & Larson, R. W. (Eds.). (2002). The changing adolescent experience:

Societal trends and the transition to adulthood. Cambridge University Press.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.470.9408&rep=rep1&type=

pdf

Pajares, F., & Urdan, T. (2006). Adolescence and

education. https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/AdoEd5.html