Running head: SECTION 1 AND 2 PERSON PAPER

Section 1 and 2 Person Paper

Psychology 1100
Megan Best
Salt Lake Community College

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Section 1 Person Paper

Background and Parents
Mary is a 17-year-old female currently in high school. She is the
oldest of 3 children. Her parents have had a rocky relationship and
have been on and off again for 5 years and have just started the
divorce process. Her father is 40 and her mother is 38. The father is
half African American, half Mexican and her mother is Caucasian. They
both have a college degree and work outside of the home. They both
need to work to pay the bills but are not considered poor. The mother
works swing shift as a nurse at the hospital 3 days a week, while the
father works a 8am -5pm desk job, but usually stays late at work. Both
parents are in relatively good shape. The family enjoys sporting
activities together. However, because both parents are not usually
home during dinnertime, nutritious meals are rarely provided for the
children. They live in a neighborhood with a school in walking distance
from their home. Mary was conceived naturally and was a planned
pregnancy. The mother took prenatal vitamins and stayed in relatively
good health. The mother did experience elevated blood pressure and
was under stress with completing school and managing a new
marriage.
Pregnancy and Infant
Hello, My name is Mary. I am a normal 17 year old trying to find
my way through high school. I am the oldest of 3 children and have a

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younger brother and sister. My mothers pregnancy and birth went

well, my mother did not have any complications other than some high
blood pressure. During the pregnancy the doctor told my parents that
my head was measuring disproportionate to my body. They thought I
might have a trisomy-21 or more commonly known as Down syndrome.
This is a condition in which a person has 47 chromosomes instead of
the usual 46, with three rather than two chromosomes at the 21st
position (Berger 2010, Ch. 2, pg. 51). When they were told that this
was a possibility, they went to genetic counseling. Through this
counseling they decided to continue with the pregnancy and I turned
out not to have Down syndrome.
As an infant I was usually happy and easy-going. My mother was
my main caregiver accepts for one day a week a neighbor would watch
me while my mother went to school. My mother mentioned being
affected by postpartum depression after I was born. I was her first child
and she didnt live near any family members and although my father
was helpful when around he worked full time and went to school full
time. I looked up postpartum disease when she had mentioned this. I
found that postpartum depression is, the sadness and inadequacy felt
by some new mothers in the days and weeks after giving birth
(Berger, 2010, Ch. 2, pg. 71). She did recover from this and I had a
normal happy childhood. At the age of 3 I was having a problem with
one of my eyes occasionally turning inwards. I went to an

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ophthalmologist that said I was nearsighted. Neither one of my parents

are nearsighted so the doctor explained that something in my
environment could have affected my Pax6 allele (Berger, 2010, Ch. 2
pg. 73). I had to wear corrective glasses until I was six and then my
eyes had corrected enough that I no longer needed them.
Toddler
At the age of 14 months I definitely fit in stage five of
sensorimotor intelligence. I drove my mother crazy, as I would
repeatedly put things in the toilet and flush to see what happened. I
was constantly taking things apart or dropping things from my high
chair to see what noise they made. According to my high school
psychology book I was in the active experimentation stage (Berger,
2010, Ch. 3, pg. 107). Being a child of an interracial marriage did not
bother me growing up, but my parents came from very different
backgrounds and cultures. Each parent was trying to raise me how
they were brought up. The theory of ethno theory was working inside
each of them but did not correlate with each other. Ethno theory is, A
theory that underlies the values and practices of a culture but is not
usually apparent to the people within the culture (Berger, 2010, Ch. 4,
pg. 133). I think this is where their marriage problem started. Instead
of trying to create their own culture or work with each other they both
were stuck in their ways and thought they had the right way.

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When I was three I was very particular on how certain things

should be especially my food. One day my mother gave me some
pizza, but took off the peperoni first and then handed it to me. I started
crying because I wanted the peperoni. To make me happy she put the
peperoni back on, I still cried and would not eat it because of
something I now understand as Piagets concept of irreversibility
(Berger, 2010, Ch. 5, pg. 171).
My parents did the best that they could with what they were
going through. If I had to define their parenting style I would say they
loved and supported me but did not push me or encourage me. This
would be defined as a permissive parenting style (Berger, 2010, Ch. 6,
pg. 211).

Adolescence
While I was in middle school my parents separated for the first
time. This was a stressful time for me. I had just started a new school,
which was stressful enough and then to have my parents separate just
added to my stress. As this stress built up I started becoming more
conscience about my body image. My body image issues started to get
worse as stress at home and school increased. By the age of 16 I was
diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Which is an eating disorder
characterized by self-starvation (Berger, 2010, Ch. 9, pg. 319). I joined

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the swimming team and had practice 2 hours a day, after swim
practice I would usually go for a 3 mile run. I didnt start over
exercising to lose weight, but more to get away from the stress of the
house. Being an athlete and underweight my secondary sex
characteristics came later than most of my friends. This added to my
self-consciousness of my body (Berger, 2010 Ch. 9, pg. 317), all of
these things I was and still am going through have affected my
development.
Social
I have a good group of friends however I havent told them much
about what I am going through. They know that my parents are getting
divorced but they do not know about my eating disorder. My social
network is what keeps me going. I am not popular but I have a few
very close friends. Friendship leads to psychosocial growth and
provides a buffer against psychopathology (Berger, 2010, Ch. 8, pg.
293). If I am not on the swim team or running you can find me with my
friends. Since I am the oldest child and my parents are gone a lot my
friends are at my house most of the time. In our group of friends there
are about 10 of us that usually hang out every weekend. Among us
there are both males and females. It seems that we each have
someone we like and a few of us have become a couple. I have just
started dating seriously. Some of my friends that have been dating
longer have already had sex with their boyfriends. I am in a serious

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relationship but my Christian background and morals have kept me

from being more intimate with my boyfriend. Luckily he is
understanding and has the same set of morals.
Conclusion
I know this is only the beginning of my life, but so far it has been
very confusing, exciting and depressing all at the same time. Being
able to look back after taking a psychology class has helped me
understand why I am the person I have turned out become. From
conception to high school I have had many experiences both good and
bad.
Chapter Two
I survived adolescence and have continued on with my life.
Looking back it is funny how important I thought that high school was.
While I was there it seemed like the only thing that mattered. Once I
graduated high school I attended college in a different state them my
parents lived in. I wanted to start my own adventure. I was in the
emerging adulthood state of my life and was ready to find my selfidentity. The time I spent at college I pondered what I believed in
religiously, politically and what I wanted my career to look like. I had
some internal conflictions with two of Eriksons stages. The first being
industry vs. inferiority. Anorexia hasnt been a major problem for me at
the present moment however I think I have taken the feeling of being
in control with anorexia and put that focus into perfectionism. I am

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very self-critical of my college work and want everything to be perfect.

This fits in with the industry vs. inferiority complex. The other stage
that is closely related is the generativity vs. stagnation in regards to
fear of failure (Berger pg. 409).
During my sophomore year in college I started seriously dating
with the intent to find a spouse. I quickly learned as Erikson noted that,
each relationship demands some personal sacrifice, including
vulnerability that brings deeper self-understanding and shatters the
isolation caused by too much self-protection (Berger pg. 411). My first
couple of relationships did not last long, because I was not willing to
become vulnerable. Growing up and watching my parents get divorced
and fight I was not going to let my self get in a position where
someone could hurt me that badly. I realized after trial and error that
this was not going to work if I did not open up to others.
Even though I was in a different state then the rest of my family I
still kept in contact with them regularly. I would call or text them
weekly and let them know I was doing well. I was luck enough to have
two parents who were able to help pay for college. This reduced the
stress of trying to work and go to school. I learned the importance of
family connections once I was out on my own and even though I had a
hard time growing up in my family situation I still realized they were
doing the best they could.

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My last semester of college I met my husband. We dated for 1

year before getting engaged and then had a long engagement. I
wanted to make sure I finished my degree before getting married. We
both graduated and started our careers.

Adulthood
Adulthood covers four decades, from age 25 to 65 (Berger pg.
419). Graduating from college, getting married, buying a house and
working was the American dream or so I thought. Becoming an adult
was not as much fun as I had imagined. All of the sudden I had to
figure out my ecological niche (the particular lifestyle and social
context that adults settle into), and find employment that fulfilled
Maslows level of success and esteem (Berger pg. 478). When we first
got married our concern was just paying my husbands student loans,
bills and our house payment. Also during this time my mother was
remarried. She found a nice man that she dated for a long time. I am
happy that she is remarried because I was starting to worry about her
emotional well-being.
At the age of 26 my husband and I decided to start trying for a
baby. At first we were going to just let things happen, however after 1
year of not being able to get pregnant I decided to see a doctor. It
turns out due to my anorexia in high school I could not conceive a child
on my own. We discussed our options and decided to try some assisted

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reproductive technology (ART) in the form of in vitro fertilization (IVF)

(Berger pg. 423). The first two round of IVF did not work and it took a
toll on our marriage. I felt like I wasnt a good spouse because I
couldnt provide children for my husband. He was stressed dealing with
my mood swings from all the hormone shots. We decided to try one
last time and we conceived twins. Raising children of my own was
different than anything I expected. The sleepless nights, temper
tantrums, rebellion, and talking back were harder than I ever thought.
However, the little hugs and kisses, long meaningful talks, consoling a
hurt child and watching them grow up was so enduring that it was all
worth it.
As my twins started junior high my husbands father passed
away. His mother whom was relatively independent started showing
signs of dementia. We decided we had room in our home to have her
live with us. We had now entered what is called the sandwich
generation. This is described as the generation of middle-aged people
who are supposedly squeezed by the needs of the younger and older
members of their families (Berger pg. 477). At first this was a great
opportunity for our children to get to know their grandmother. She was
still able to help around the house and continued her social outings.
However, as her health declined she needed more and more care. My
husband and I both worked full time and could not give her the care

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she needed. After several years of her living with us we moved her to a
memory care unit close by.
Not long after my mother in-law moved out my twins left to
attend college. For the first time in 18 years we were considered empty
nesters. As we entered middle age I started to notice wrinkles and
changes in my vision. I also started going through the dreaded
menopause. Menopause is the time in middle age, usually around age
50, when a womans menstrual periods cease completely (Berger pg.
424). I was having a rough time with this until I found hormone
replacement therapy (HRT). HRT has made menopause much more
bearable and I have had great outcomes in my energy levels, mood
and libido.

Late Adulthood
As my husband and I continued to age we were conscious about
our health and level of activity. Even though we were getting older we
felt healthy and happy. I would consider us to be in the category of the
young-old group. This is when we were healthy, vigorous, financially
secure older adults who are well integrated into the lives of their
families and communities (Berger pg. 499). With my husbands mother
being diagnosed from Alzheimer disease (AD) I was always consciously
looking for signs in him. AD is the most frequent type of dementia and

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is partly genetic (Berger pg. 518). I even went as far as researching

this disease and know the stages. It begins with forgetfulness and
personality can change as well. Every year these symptoms worsen.
This forgetfulness can start to become dangerous. The final stage is
when a person with AD needs full-time care (Berger pg. 519).
Both my husband and I worked most of our adult lives and were
able to contribute to a 401K as well as some savings. We used to travel
a lot, but as our bodies are aging we have stayed closer to home. To
keep ourselves from becoming bored we volunteered often throughout
our community or our grandchildrens schools.
At the age of 89 my dear husband passed away. It was difficult
for a long time. I still miss him, but because of our carful planning and
life insurance policies, I was not effected financially. I had a good
support group with friends as well as our children. I did sell my home
and moved into a town home where I didnt have to take care of a
yard.

Final Word
As I lay here close to my own death I have had time to reflect on
my own life. It didnt go how I had planned. I had many trials in my life
that were not easy, but made me stronger. I learned through traditional
schooling as well as life events. I was able to marry and have my own
children that also reproduced giving me grandchildren. My life span has

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taken me to my 93rd year of life. I can happily say I have lived a full,
happy and healthy life, with many successes as well as failures.
However, if it werent for those failures I would not be the person I am
today.

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References
Berger, K. Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth, 2010. Print.

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