Speaking from experience, the American Identity is not more so an identity, but more of an experience that individuals persevere through to result in sophistication. My apprehensive nature dated back to 1st grade, where I attended school in Brentwood.

That school was prodigious in size and students. However, despite the immense amount of students, it was not racially diverse. Approximately, 60% was hispanic, 20% was white, 15% was black, and the remaining 5% was my racial domain, asian. It was very atypical to stumble upon another asian person during my time in class. This made the asian race vulnerable to racial slurs, such as “ching chong” and “dog eater”. One hispanic kid called me “Zipperhead” during recess, and I punched him in the face, which obviously resulted into suspension.

After that incident, I gradually developed into a violent person. I’ve been getting into a lot of fights, and I supposed I have bullied several people now in retrospect. My grades weren’t negligent, but was unsatisfactory to my parents. I struggled during elementary because my derogatory behavior influenced me to procrastinate and misbehave during class time. This type of attitude remained through my elementary years, and my grades suffered due to my attitude and my misbehavior. My apprehensive nature diminished, and my abysmal self gradually appeared due to the influence of my peers.

After I culminated from elementary school, I moved to a smaller charter school. That school was incompatible in size, but was extremely diverse. When I began 6th grade, my violent temperament remained, and I got upset very easily. However, I was friends with a lot of hispanics, and that forced me to keep my temperament under control because I could not overpower them physically. The hispanics had a certain leverage, and it impacted my personality greatly. My violent demeanor diminished, and I became more calm and respectful towards people.

However, my social nature did not change my academic ethics at all. Now in retrospect, my socialization made it worse. I stopped doing homework, misbehaved in class, and frequently disrespected teachers. My persona towards peers were completely different, and I felt like I was accepted into a community. Of course, I would often be a victim of racial slurs, but I took it as a joke every time. I was so preoccupied with the amazing community, that I lost my academic ways. I constantly got scolded by my parents, but I never really changed my work ethics. This continued for my 6th through 8th grade years, and I promised to myself that I would change when I begin in high school. Looking back, I suppose the american identity arose in middle school. Through my life, I began with an apprehensive nature in elementary, and my outgoing personality gradually appeared and still remains to this day. My personality was only shaped due to the influence of my peers. I believe the american identity is being a figure that means something to people. Changing yourself into a principled figure is my form of american identity. This may not apply to everybody, because they want to be “themselves”, but I am satisfied if I bring joy to my peers. From the beginning, I would be personally offended by racial slurs, but now, I learned to not take these insults personally. Through these years, desiring to be a better person is a form of American Identity, and that is identified as the development of your character.

<Timothy Hyungjoo Lee North Hollywood HS 9th Grade>