
About Me

IDENTITY
"When you know yourself, you are empowered.
When you accept yourself, you are invincible."
- Tina Lifford
DRIVING QUESTIONS:
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What makes me who I am, good and bad?
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How much control do I have over my identity?
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How do I define my identity for myself and others?
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Have aspects of my identity changed over the years?
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What are the different roles I play in my daily life?
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Has my identity ever led to conflict, internal or external?
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Why are certain things not a part of my identity?

There are hundreds - if not thousands - of pieces that add up to make you who you are. Some of those factors are within your control: they are chosen by you. However, many are not. Part of your identity is embedded deep in your DNA, and thus is perhaps unchangeable and predetermined. Simply stated, our identity is ultimately ours to change, accept, and develop.
Aristotle (a wise old dead guy) once said, "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." As you move toward the middle and then the end of high school and the beginning of whatever comes next, most of you probably try or have tried many different identities on. That's what this stage of life is often about, really. Finding and creating yourself and your place in this big, crazy world. The work of identity, however, is not unique to you or people your age. We are all of us - everyone in the world - on this adventure and in this struggle together to be well and truly understood.
As our work in this unit will show, the journey towards knowing and accepting yourself (and others) is often full of surprises, disappointments, victories, doubts, fears, setbacks, and - most importantly - growth. After all, it takes courage to be who you really are, to be seen.
So, who are you? Who do you want to be? And, looking at the bigger picture, who does the world need you to become?
POSSIBLE TEXTS
RESOURCES
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16 Personalities Quiz
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Who Am I? - Visual DNA Quiz
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"My Youth in 27 Records" - mentor text version (PDF of original magazine pages)
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Enneagram Personality Test
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Thumbprint Self-Portraits - examples collected, mentors for "handprint" writing
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"The Secret History of Thoughts" - Invisibilia podcast episode
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"The Multiple Personalities of Multilingual People?" - audio excerpt from NPR Latino USA
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Six Word Memoirs - inspiration and mentors for your writing
VIDEOS
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"3 ways to speak English" - TED performance by Jamila Lyiscott
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"Is There A Real You?" by Julian Baggini (TED Talk)
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"Personal Identity: Crash Course Philosophy" by Hank Green
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"To This Day Project" by Shane Koyczan
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Time Magazine Behind the Photo:"The Falling Man" - interview with Richard Drew
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"The Names" by Billy Collins - the poet performs the poem for PBS
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"My People Die Young in This Country" - speech about indigenous rights by journalist Stan Grant
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"The Danger of a Single Story" - TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie
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"6 steps to crossing anything off your bucket list" - TED Talk by Ben Nemtin of The Buried Life
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"Why our screens make us less happy" - TED Talk by psychologist Adam Alter
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"Changing of the Guard" - footage of ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery
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Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches - animated adaptation of children's book