Hassell

Sophie Hassell
Professor Jizi
University Writing 1103
9 October 2015
Self-Authorship Essay
Who am I? Great question. Immediately I picture a tall female, eighteen years old and
awkward in situations. I see that I am white with dark brown hair and freckles. I am a high
school graduate and a new college freshman at the University of North Caronia at Charlotte. I am
shy and friendly, passionate and determined. I care about those around me; I am a friend. I am a
tennis player, but not a very good one. Traveling is one of my loves, history is the other. Looking
back at myself at four years old, I see elements of my existence which have carried through to
present day. When I was a child, I loved being outside, going on adventures, and playing games.
Today, I am still very comparable, I enjoy going to zoos and parks, and I love those late night
family games. Sadly, I am busy and overwhelmed with duties of being an adult that I have no
time for the childhood luxury of free time to get lost in my imagination. I am more of an
introvert today versus the open child I once was. As more responsibility was piled on me, the
more I grew up, leaving the care-free younger me behind as I took on new and exciting
challenges in the adult world.
With the new experiences I gained in life came knowledge and wisdom of the world
around me. My core values circulate around wisdom with knowledge, loyalty, and ethical
practice following close behind. I demand to obtain knowledge in life, because what is the
purpose of living through each day without learning new ideas and information? My experiences
and what I have intellectually acquired through my eighteen years have made me who I am and

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have helped me in choosing who I spend my time with. Loyalty is extremely important to me.
Without knowing I have strong bonds between my friends and family, and that they will never
abandon me, makes my life feel powerful and priceless. Ethical practice is significant in my life
because I am pursuing a career path in business administration. So many business people are
corrupt and greedy for more money. When I enter the corporate world I plan to conduct my
business in fair, ethical ways. The most important value in my life in wisdom. Being able to use
my experiences and information and be able to apply it on a larger scale then my own life is the
whole embodiment of wisdom. I obtained wisdom through the books I read and the shows I
watched when I was younger and even today. I have always taken what I have learned and
experienced and used it to help those around me. My value of wisdom comes from my family
and the diverse and unique lives each side has lived. I have learned so much about different
cultures and have used such information to interact with others and gain new perspectives on life.
My outlook on life and what made me who I am today derives from going through a
period of loss. As sophomore year of high school was coming to an end, one of my friends
decided to stir up some trouble with the group as a hole. She used undisclosed information I had
told her to drag me away from my best friends with her, resulting in everything blowing out of
proportion and me ceasing communication with all my friends. Those girls had been my friends
since elementary school, they understood me and I, them. Knowing that the friendship was over
for good, Summer commenced and I spent my time with the culprit of my loneliness, secretly
loathing her but not wanting to be alone. When Junior year began I was still upset with having
just lost the people I felt comfortable around. Quickly, I began to talk to those I spoke to in class
only from last year. I realized I had a lot in common with many of them. I began to create new
friendships, realizing I did not have to be alone forever. I found my closest friends this year.

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Today, I continue to talk to my friends on a regular basis. Although I experienced teenage girl
drama I would not change anything that had happened. Yes, I still miss my old friends and the
fun we always had but without having lost them I would have never realized how important
companionship is. I recognized it is okay to spend time alone but at the end of the day humans
need friendship. Through experiencing this falling out, I have become more passive, avoiding
drama at all costs and learning how to maintain healthy friendships built on trust.
My love of France also makes me who I am today. I always had a passion for travel and
when I finally got to go to France I was so excited. I had read about all the glories of the country,
ogling over the beauty of the old buildings and abundance of delicacies. The trip began in the
northern countryside of France where I was placed with host family. The girl, my age, taught me
how to communicate with people who spoke a different language. Her town was so picturesque,
the old buildings with cobblestone roads, I immediately fell in love. I thought I was full of awe
but then I saw Paris. Just the simple things made me emotional like the crpe stands and the pain
au chocolat. The nature of France made me so peaceful. Sitting in the gardens on a warm day or
standing on top of the Arch du Trimphe as a cool breeze blows through your hair as you take in
the magnificent city before you are experiences I hold dear to me. I will never forget my time
spent in the beautiful country and I know I will end up back there one day soon. I have become
more admirable to the little things in life, the small treasures and beauty that life offers.
How people see me is very different depending on who you ask. Certain aspects of my
personality comes based on who I am with. My mother sees me as smart and talented at what I
do, but with my teenage year she has also witnessed my independence and impatience in many
situations. My friends have experienced my extreme weirdness, my odd sense of humor, and my
slight sassy ways. To my high school tennis coach, I was extremely competitive and strong

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willed, ready to fight for the win. These people in my life have brought out different aspects of
my personality, enabling me to become the individual I am today. Without their support and
attitudes toward me I might not be the confident and unique girl I am proud to be.
My core character strength is my kindness and generosity. Since I can remember, I have
always been a kind person willing to do anything for the people around me. Being kind and
generous gives me a euphoric feeling knowing I made someones day better in some way. During
the Spring of this year, my friend came out to me, informing me she has had a girlfriend. Their
long distance relationship had prevented them from meeting, limiting their time to video chatting
and texting. Knowing the separation was making my friend miserable, I utilized my kindness and
generosity and offered to drive her up to Boston to finally meet her partner in person. We took
the trip in one day, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. I knew then that I got
my kindness and generosity from my mother. No matter what my mother is doing is will always
drop everything for family or for her friends. Its an amazing feeling knowing you have helped
someone or performed a good deed. My friend has thanked me countless of times for being so
generous for driving her the long distance and I would do it again for those in my life.
I am an individual who firmly stands for my beliefs. I believe in freedom and equality for
all, regardless of race, religion, sexual identical, gender, etc. For my entire life I have witnessed
countless acts of hatred towards those whom are different in society. When I was young, I could
not comprehend why people thought certain ways of life were dishonorable or inhumane. As I
aged I was no longer shielded from the horrors of the news a media but saw the disgusting truths
of the world we live in. I have grown up with very diverse and unique people in my life. My
parents taught me to never judge someone based upon the color of their skin or their spirituality.

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Freedom and equality is a right for all humankind. I believe that with acceptance of those who
having differing attribute from ourselves, peace can finally be brought to our planet.
So, who am I? I am a very complex and unique individual. Before analyzing myself in
detail I had imagined myself to be a simple being with little to write about. I see now that even
though my life has not been as intense as others, I am still distinctive person with my own
memories, emotions, values, and beliefs. Old memories have been reopened and my stories told.
I am surprised at all the information and aspects of myself I was able to gather and write about.
Because of this writing I have grasped my true self and seen my growth into adulthood. I am able
to understand what I need to do in the years to come to make sure I stick to who I am, and not
change into something I am not.

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Self-Authorship Essay Who I Am Now

I.

Writers responsibility:
I went about writing my Self-Authorship Essay by going through the many pieces
I had composed in class. Going through these short writings I was able to
compose a narrative, incorporating any ideas from the writings in my journal with
additional memories I recounted during writing. Writing this essay was very
emotional, in a good way. I remembered many aspects of my youth that I had
forgotten or had not though about in a long time. Also, I felt satisfied while
writing because I was able to share who I am with those who do not know me

very well.
During the writing process I made many choices while deciding which details I
would be including in the final product and which did not enhance my piece. I
also had to make the choice of how personal I wanted to get in my essay and how

comfortable I was with sharing aspects of myself.

The writing process in general went well. I knew a lot about who I was before
writing this essay and the information I discovered intrigued me to explore my

new discoveries more.

I was very surprised about how much I was willing to share in my writing. I am
usually a very private person who does not share personal aspects with anyone. It

shocked me to see how open I have become as a result of this essay.

As you read my piece I would like to know if what you read about me correlates
to your first impression of who I was.

II.

For Revisions:

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For the most part I did not make many changes in my essay. When I reread my
writing I found little tidbits and details to add to enhance the story, but other than

such I did not make any drastic changes.

The peer process presented no issues. My group members responded very quickly
with my revisions and provided me with interesting feedback and questions.
When I read the questions posed by my group mates, I returned to the sections in
which their questions came from and added information in order to answer them.
This helped me include more detail and explain myself even better in my final
draft.