Self-Identiy Paper
My name is Abbie Maria Dietz and I am going to tell you about myself using three main categories, who I am, where I come from and where I am going. Many life experiences have contributed to how I define myself. My concept of my identity includes both characteristics I use to define myself and those that define my affiliation with certain groups. I am a 34 year old, single white female of Scandinavian descent that is in recovery from alcoholism, attending school full time to pursue a career in Social Work.
I was born on July 3rd 1976, a day shy of the bicentennial celebration for our nation. This is a topic that has come up often in conversations about birthdays throughout my life. It is an association with patriotism that I hold dear to my heart as I have family lineage dating back to the Revolutionary War. I am the youngest child of a blue-collar, two child family and I grew up in a middle-class suburb of Seattle. As children my brother and I did not know we were "poor" but as I grew older I became more aware of the discrepancy between myself and my peers in relation to socioeconomic status. This difference in privilege became profoundly obvious to me when I attended college at Pacific Lutheran University after graduating high school.
For several years after my time at PLU I identified myself as a Lutheran. Today, I find many aspects of organized religion and teachings of the bible to be in conflict with science. I am a big fan of science; therefore I currently identify with more of an atheist perspective on creationism that anything. This topic however is one I plan to continue to study for my lifetime and am quite okay with the potential that I will never find a religious category I fit neatly into.
Currently, I am a full-time student at Yakima Valley Community College in Chemical Dependency Studies. After battling alcoholism for fifteen years I have found my path to sobriety. I am also simultaneously working to obtain my Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences from Central Washington University. Upon completion of these two programs, I plan on getting a Masters in Social Work from either Heritage University or the University of Washington.
Although some areas of my life are currently "under construction", I have a strong sense of who I am, where I've been and where I am going. From humble beginnings, through addiction and turmoil, I have found the value of education to be at the forefront of my life and aim to make a difference in the lives of others through my professional work in Social Welfare.
My name is Abbie Maria Dietz and I am going to tell you about myself using three main categories, who I am, where I come from and where I am going. Many life experiences have contributed to how I define myself. My concept of my identity includes both characteristics I use to define myself and those that define my affiliation with certain groups. I am a 34 year old, single white female of Scandinavian descent that is in recovery from alcoholism, attending school full time to pursue a career in Social Work.
I was born on July 3rd 1976, a day shy of the bicentennial celebration for our nation. This is a topic that has come up often in conversations about birthdays throughout my life. It is an association with patriotism that I hold dear to my heart as I have family lineage dating back to the Revolutionary War. I am the youngest child of a blue-collar, two child family and I grew up in a middle-class suburb of Seattle. As children my brother and I did not know we were "poor" but as I grew older I became more aware of the discrepancy between myself and my peers in relation to socioeconomic status. This difference in privilege became profoundly obvious to me when I attended college at Pacific Lutheran University after graduating high school.
For several years after my time at PLU I identified myself as a Lutheran. Today, I find many aspects of organized religion and teachings of the bible to be in conflict with science. I am a big fan of science; therefore I currently identify with more of an atheist perspective on creationism that anything. This topic however is one I plan to continue to study for my lifetime and am quite okay with the potential that I will never find a religious category I fit neatly into.
Currently, I am a full-time student at Yakima Valley Community College in Chemical Dependency Studies. After battling alcoholism for fifteen years I have found my path to sobriety. I am also simultaneously working to obtain my Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences from Central Washington University. Upon completion of these two programs, I plan on getting a Masters in Social Work from either Heritage University or the University of Washington.
Although some areas of my life are currently "under construction", I have a strong sense of who I am, where I've been and where I am going. From humble beginnings, through addiction and turmoil, I have found the value of education to be at the forefront of my life and aim to make a difference in the lives of others through my professional work in Social Welfare.
