essay on i am we are

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'i am because we are': the african philosophy of ubuntu.

Steve Paulson (TTBOOK)

Rene Descartes is often called the first modern philosopher, and his famous saying, “I think, therefore I am,” laid the groundwork for how we conceptualize our sense of self. But what if there’s an entirely different way to think about personal identity — a non-Western philosophy that rejects this emphasis on individuality?

Consider the African philosophy of “ubuntu” — a concept in which your sense of self is shaped by your relationships with other people. It’s a way of living that begins with the premise that “I am” only because “we are.” The Kenyan literary scholar James Ogude believes ubuntu might serve as a counterweight to the rampant individualism that’s so pervasive in the contemporary world.

"Ubuntu is rooted in what I call a relational form of personhood, basically meaning that you are because of the others," said Ogude, speaking to Steve Paulson and Anne Strainchamps in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "In other words, as a human being, you—your humanity, your personhood—you are fostered in relation to other people."

In practice, ubuntu means believing the common bonds within a group are more important than any individual arguments and divisions within it. "People will debate, people will disagree; it's not like there are no tensions," said Ogude. "It is about coming together and building a consensus around what affects the community. And once you have debated, then it is understood what is best for the community, and then you have to buy into that."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew on the concept of ubuntu when he led South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped South Africa reckon with its history of apartheid. Ubuntu promotes restorative justice and a community-centric ethos. "We have the ability, as people, to dig into our human values, to go for the best of them, in order to bring about healing and to bridge the gap," Ogude said. This idea also extends to our relationships with the non-human world of rivers, plants and animals.

Ogude spoke with Steve and Anne at the first African Humanities Workshop, which took place at the University of Addis Ababa. The workshop was sponsored by the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI). Here's an excerpt from the transcript of their conversation, which you can find on IDEA S, a publication published by CHCI.

Steve Paulson: We've been talking about ubuntu in this legal sense of how to redress wrongs, and I am wondering at the more everyday level, how ubuntu plays out. I'm thinking in terms of what constitutes “a good life.” In the West, that concept seems to be rooted in the concept of selfhood: how I think about, or know, myself or the course of my life and achievements. It's not necessarily defined by my relationship with other people. Is there a different way of thinking about the self in this African tradition you've been describing? James Ogude: There's a sense in which ubuntu as a concept, and the African communitarian ethos, imposes a sense of moral obligation regarding your responsibility for others even before you think of yourself. You must, as the Russian critic Bakhtin would say, look into another person’s eyes and have that person return the gaze. When the gaze is returned, that recognition is what humanizes you. SP: There's empathy built into it. JO: An empathy, yes, there's empathy, there's trust, that is built in this process. That, for me, is the moral obligation that sometimes is absent when undue emphasis is placed on individualism and the self, when it’s “all about me,” and everybody else comes second. Yet, even the West is haunted by other, competing, values such as human rights. There have always been movements in the West that have prioritized the other over the self. That's why all human beings fundamentally have a certain element of conscience even when our societies may push us to be individualistic. A measure of responsibility is part of our obligation, whether it comes to us through religion or a moral obligation of duty to others.

You can read the full conversation on IDEAS .

James Ogude

Who Am I Essay: Writing Tips and Sample

Your “Who am I?” essay is a paper where you describe yourself as a person. Mention what inspires and motivates you, what you love and don’t love, your goals and wishes, etc.

In this article, you’ll learn how to write this personal essay. (And please don’t miss a ready-made example to understand what to describe in your work!)

How to Write a “Who Am I” Essay

You’re that person who knows you best, but writing about yourself is still challenging:

You read a writing prompt for a college application or scholarship , and you aren’t sure if you understand it in detail. How do you know what exactly to mention in your essay? You can’t find words to describe your nature and skills. How do you know if that particular accomplishment or story from your life is worth including?

Stick with us here for practical tips on writing a “Who Am I” essay, with a free template to follow.

How to start?

Ask any writer, and they will tell you that the hardest part of the writing process is to start it. It’s a kind of writer’s block when you stare at a blank screen and don’t know what to write. Below are several ideas that can help you craft a compelling essay about yourself:

• Think about one sentence that would describe you best. (A technique some authors use for inspiration: Answer the question, “What would friends write on your grave?” or “What do you want the world to remember about you?” You can start an essay with that phrase.
• In the introduction, describe yourself in general . (Be truthful and honest.)
• Discuss one or two of your hobbies. (Choose those you’re most passionate about, those influencing your mood — and maybe your skills — most.)
•   Highlight your achievements but don’t boast. ( Be reflective by analyzing and evaluating what you’ve achieved.)
• Add some personality to the essay. (Tell anecdotes, include examples, and be creative to keep readers engaged with your story.)

Short Essay About “Who I Am” Sample

You’re welcome to use the below template from our professional writer for crafting your future “Who am I” essays. Here it goes:

Actionable Tips to Improve Your Paper

Ready to start writing? Consider these helpful tips on crafting a person essay about who I am:

1) Understand your audience

Who will read your essay? Is it a college admission officer who knows nothing about you? Or, maybe it’s your school teacher with some background of who you are? Do you plan to publish your reflection for your social media followers or blog readers?

Depending on the audience, your story may change. Add details about what interests your readers: What would they want to know? Understanding your readers will make your essay more compelling (1). It will be easier for you to engage them and make them emotionally connected to your story.

2) Don’t be afraid to look vulnerable

Allow the readers to see your inner feelings. Sincerity and reflection are the new black, you know. It’s okay to speak about your strengths, weaknesses, or worries to the audience. That’s what differentiates you from other people, thus making you an individual.

Here’s the big secret:

Admission committees appreciate students’ understanding of their weaknesses and areas to grow. Communicate the willingness to change and grow. You’re just a human, after all.

Write about what you want to develop in yourself. Or, tell about life experiences that have changed or influenced you most.

3) Proofread and edit your essay

Once your essay is ready, it’s time to proofread and edit it. Here’s a short checklist of the details to fix if any:

• Grammar and punctuation mistakes (verb tenses, sentence structure)
• Spelling errors and inconsistencies in names or terms
• Incorrect capitalization
• No logical flow or transitions between paragraphs
• Excessive wordiness and repetition
• Biased language
• Too much passive voice and redundant adverbs
• Too sophisticated words and phrases that have simpler alternatives

That’s It: Your “Who Am I” Essay Is Ready

In this blog post, we tried to cover all the core details of personal essay writing. Now you know how to start it, what elements to include, and how to craft it for better readability and emotional connection with the audience.

We hope our 500-word essay example will help you write your perfect story about yourself. If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask our professional writers for help.

References:

• https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/12-strategies-to-writing-the-perfect-college-essay/
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Question of the Month

Who or what am i, the following answers to the question of the self each win a random book..

I am a living, breathing organism signified by the words ‘human being’. I am a material or physical being fairly recognisable over time to me and to others: I am a body. Through my body, I can move, touch, see, hear, taste and smell. The array of physical sensations available to me also includes pain, hunger, thirst, tiredness, injury, sickness, fear, apprehension and pleasure. In this way I experience myself, others and the world around me. However, there is another aspect of me not directly visible or definable. This is the aspect of me which thinks and feels, reflects and judges, remembers and anticipates. Words used to describe this aspect include ‘mind’, ‘spirit’, ‘heart’, ‘soul’, ‘awareness’ and ‘consciousness’. This part of me is aware that I can never be fully known or understood by myself or by others; it notices that although there may be some unchanging essence which is ‘me’, this same ‘me’ is also constantly changing and evolving.

So I am a physical body and an emotional and psychological (or spiritual) being. The two together make me a person. Being a person means that I have virtues and flaws, gifts and needs, possibilities and defeats. I am basically good, but I am capable of evil. I am neither an angel nor a monster. Being a person means that I am a social animal, needing connection, recognition and acceptance from others, while simultaneously knowing myself as isolated and solitary, with many experiences which are never fully shareable with others. However, I also realise that this paradoxical condition is a universal experience, and this enables the emergence of empathy and compassion for others as it affords glimpses of understanding and solicitude, mutuality and intimacy. Being a person means that I am like all other persons, but also unique. It also means that I can never provide a genuinely definitive answer to the question.

Kathleen O’Dwyer, Limerick, Ireland

Human beings are defined by a sense of personality, experiences and reason. We are often inclined to believe that the face we see in the mirror is us, a thing which has developed a personality through experiences. Here the body is merely a tool for the true self, the mind. It is however an error to conclude that the body is not significant for selfhood. Without a body a mind would not be able to make certain types of judgments.

The mind/brain utilizes the body to survive, calculate and function within various social contexts. It also favors order rather than chaos. The mind governing our body assigns mental places to various objects in the world. Through the use of language humanity has come to construct an image of the world that transcends one’s own immediate environment. This has enabled humans to develop complex means of social interaction. Thus we are physical beings capable of having non-physical thoughts that in turn construct and sometimes deconstruct the physical world .

David Tamez, Austin, TX

I would argue that the answer to this question is dependent on the idea of identity. The idea of identity is itself rather problematic in that it’s determined from subjective viewpoints, which can be divided into two types. The first is an internal creation of identity, formed by myself for myself. This is the picture I have of myself. The second is an external creation of identity, formed by someone else. These are the pictures that other people have of me. “I am a fool!” cries the self, while the other labels that person a genius (or vice versa ). Inevitably there will be clashes based on differing viewpoints. While not always so extreme as this example, it must surely be very rare that people will agree entirely on a person’s identity. In the same way that Einstein showed that time is dependant on viewpoint, so I think we can show that identity is relative, and by extension, the answer to the question ‘Who or what am I?’ becomes a matter of who is answering it. The question must then be asked, on what do we base these identities we assign other people or ourselves? It seems that assigning a particular identity to someone else occurs through a process of observation, watching and remembering a person’s actions, then placing a value on the information we have of that person from our past and present encounters. Our view of our own identity places the highest priority on the intentions and thoughts that precede our actions, in contrast to other people’s reliance on our actions. This can mean that the person we consider ourselves to be may not be the person we portray to others.

Anoosh Falak Rafat, Erith, Kent

Philosophy is about generalities, but this question demands particularity: who am I – a particular person in a particular time and place, related in particular ways to others? The usual answers are not of much philosophical interest: Bill, Patricia’s husband, Katy’s father. In each of these identities, however, I find two things: a state of interiority – feelings, thoughts, beliefs and desires with which only I am directly acquainted, and a social role – a relatedness to other human beings. So the question is two-fold: How does it feel to be me? and How do I function in a social context? Each of us must answer these questions for ourselves, but we can share our answers with others. The first-person point of view is an important starting point. We each have a life-story, of what has been and continues to be important to us, what the pivotal events were that brought us to the present moment. By comparing stories, we find such timeless human themes as love and hate, honor and degradation, loyalty and betrayal, inspiration and despair; and we learn how others have handled themselves in situations without ourselves having to undergo them. In this way human culture advances far more rapidly than biological evolution. By taking an ‘objective’ point of view toward our own subjectivity, we can transcend ourselves. We are not bound by chains of habit or instinct; we can see who we are and choose to change it. The ability to examine one’s own experience is something that distinguishes us from other animals. We have, in some measure, the ability to create ourselves. There are limits to what we can make of ourselves imposed by evolution, biology and culture, ut the ability to know those limits and find ways to work within them gives us the unique ability not only to discover, but to decide and create the answer to the question ‘Who am I?’

Bill Meacham, Austin, TX

If you look in the mirror, what is staring back at you? Flesh. Eyes. And underneath that? Bones. Blood. Brain. But then, what makes us different from animals? Is it, with Plato and Aristotle, the ability to reason and live virtuously? Possibly – so a soul, a consciousness. It is perfectly likely that our one defining feature is metaphysical. But higher mammals’ intelligence is too near ours to assume this is our single differentiation: the ability to communicate and love is reflected in dolphins and primates. So it is equally likely that being human comes down to our biological structure – our DNA and physiology – developing certain features that other animals lack, including hormones. Perhaps what we really are comes down to the rather annoying answer, “we are human.” But ‘human’ describes something that we cannot certainly define or grasp. The most we can do is ascertain that we are indeed different, a compilation of our multiplicity: we are evolved animals; the inhabitants of earth; the most widespread of colonists, and the most diverse of species. And when we look in the mirror, to question ourselves and stare at our flesh, our eyes, our bones, our blood, to philosophise and obey our brains – in short, when we define ourselves as human, that is what it is to be a person.

Amy Andrews, Nantwich, Cheshire

Half of our lives we behave like animals. Sleeping, feeding, drinking, pursuing sex and other bodily necessities, we do exactly what baboons, monkeys, and other animals do. Most of the rest of our available time is spend doing what the societies we live in want us to do, namely work to earn enough to pay for those necessities. The little time left over which we could call ‘time out’ is scarcely enough to keep up with what happens in the world around us, if we even are interested.

When I look at the mirror in the morning, the face which stares back at me is not me. It cannot be me, it is too old to be me. I am retired a long time already, and we all change considerably through the years. I call it an evolutionary process; but still, this face I see does not correspond with what I feel I am.

I am still looking for what Martin Heidegger called ‘Being’. I follow his idea about Dasein . Even living 50% of the time as an ape, I nevertheless feel the facticity of living in space and time, and have always tried to be authentic in my acts and the thoughts which motivate them, seeking an independence of mind and avoiding the general entrapment of following the crowd in the search for the Being of beings. I still consider it a lucky fact to have been ‘thrown into’ a world which is no doubt hostile, repetitive and extremely materialistic, and have accepted nothingness as the ultimate destination of my journey, yet I’m still asking the question ‘why is there something rather than nothing?’ I thought about all of this when I was a young man, and the answer to this question and so many other ones are still out of my reach, and the doubts about meaning of life permeate my mind today as strongly as when I was a student opening my eyes to the basic questions of Being. If this is so, why don’t I know the face in the mirror?

Henry Back, Flagler Beach, Florida

The question ‘Who am I?’ can be answered only specifically. Anything else would be an abstraction that would liken me to others who share such characteristics. But that’s not who I am, that’s what I am. So here is a description of who I am in particular contexts. When I walk in the park, I am Friendly Human. I adopt a stance toward others of smiling, looking at them rather than averting my eyes, nodding and saying “Hello” and so forth. Doing so helps me feel safe and connected with them. Friendly Human is a strategy for being in the world which avoids hostility and harm. It includes deference and yielding. I step aside when encountering someone on a narrow path. By letting them pass, I avoid confrontation and disharmony. I get more enjoyment from the path by letting others have it. They pass, and I get to continue to meander as I wish. When I am Friendly Human I am not Worker, focused on accomplishing a task. I am not Competitor, focused on getting somewhere ahead of someone else. I am not Acquisitor, focused on getting what I want. Nor am I Intimate, focused on loving, understanding and enjoying my mate. I am just Friendly Human – a bit like a dog, but with more autonomy. Worker has a sense of self-importance, pleasure at doing something worthwhile, sometimes angry at obstacles, sometimes pleased at accomplishment. Competitor feels tense, anxious and angry. Acquisitor feels much like Worker, but when combined with Competitor, feels hostile. Intimate feels best of all. When I am Intimate, my guard is down; I delight in things my mate does; I let my thoughts and words flow freely; I bask in the warmth of love. By contrast, Friendly Human is peaceful and relaxed but a bit reserved: I am not anxious, angry or hostile, but neither am I completely unguarded. I keep to myself, engaging others briefly if they wish, or not at all. There is philosophical interest in this only to the extent that it illustrates the human capacity to adopt strategies for being in the world, and thereby define our own answers to the question ‘Who am I?’

Robert Tables, Blanco, TX

I’m a crowd, so I’m a ‘what’. There isn’t an ‘I’. As psychosynthesis says, I’m a collection of sub-personalities. More accurately, this thing is a collection of personalities, some shy, some noisy, pushy, sexy, boring, clever. This is the Many Selves model. The Gestalt view is similar: I/This is the continuous interaction and interrelatedness between myself and the environment of others and objects. Except on this theory there isn’t a ‘myself’ at the core, this I-ness is the constant flux. Even when alone, eyes closed in silence, there’s the flux of sensations and thoughts (coming from where?) In the Many Selves model all these Selves are interrelated, actors with a script they write as the play proceeds, with more parts than actors, so multiple roles are played. The problem is that, mostly we want to believe there is a core self or single I inside the sensations, so we can reinforce our Self Concept: “I am the sort of person who…” A fragmented self-concept is emotionally distressing.

I see the Self as a kaleidoscope. As with the Gestalt and the Many Selves models, the pattern is ever changing. Life and its activities is rotating the kaleidoscope, rather than me. My very limited control is to speed it up or slow it down. The constant ‘me’ I wake up as is the kaleidoscope briefly at rest before the environment begins to turn it. The kaleidoscope’s glitter are the few fixed aspects of me, such as gender, body, culture, etc. What’s new every time is the mood I wake up in or experience. Differences between people are simply different combinations of different bits. His bits are mainly red and angular – a spiky person; hers are mostly greenish and rounded, a softer personality. To a degree I can add or remove bits of glitter, choosing colour and shape, such as changing my behaviours and attitudes. But, as with a real kaleidoscope, this means opening up and getting inside, which we mostly resist. So I cannot say “I am.” I can only say “This thing I call Myself is like the image in rotating kaleidoscope” and “I am a Crowd.”

Tony Morris, Putney, London

To answer this question requires gaining some perspective on oneself. Not capable of devouring huge quantities of texts on Descartes’ cogito , Freud’s ego , Proust’s ‘true me’, Sartre’s ‘non-essence’ or Locke’s personal identity, I choose a different approach, related to a condition I have had since my teenage years: depersonalisation. For those of you unfamiliar with the disorder, it involves losing a sense of self – failing to recognise any physical connection with your own body. Sufferers regularly experience autoscopy, more commonly known as an out-of-body experience. A common technique for getting back in is to list the five senses and write what you are experiencing for each one, hopefully reconnecting yourself with yourself in the process. In more extreme cases sufferers have been known to self-harm, acute pain creating a faster and stronger reconnection.

When I am in a depersonalised state I know two things. First, I know that my physical body can function without my mind being in control, as I can observe this occurring. The body runs on the mind’s residuum. Second, as mentioned, I know that to reconnect I must experience a physical sensation, painful or pleasurable, the more intense the more effective. From this I can deduce that there are two entities present, the conscious and the physical, and the link that connects the two is sensation. So for me, the ‘Who’ is the consciousness and the ‘What’ is the body. But are we still the same person if we suffer from some degenerate disease, mental or physical? I’d like to end with a Joyce quote, which could shed more light on the problem than I have: “I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.”

S. E. Smith, Lancaster

I’m a book. Not literally, of course, but this is the metaphor that I’m going to use, so please bear with me.

I am a particular self. So, what makes a self particular? Its story. That is, the events and objects surrounding it, and its actions on, reactions to, and perceptions of them. You are you because you have lived your life, and I am me because I have lived mine. Even if I had a Siamese Clone we would still have different selves because he would perceive the world from a different viewpoint than me. An important aspect of this story about stories is that the story exists independently of me.

This means that I am a self plus a story. The situation is comparable to that of a book. Books have similar physical elements, like paper, binding, and ink. What makes them unique is the story that they contain. Even if The Iliad has the same font, paper, and glue as El Otoño del Patriarca , they are different books because one is about a Greek struggle and the other a Latin dictator. Likewise, I am different from you because my story is about a guy from Edmond and yours is not. And there you have it. You, me, the creepy guy down the hall – we all have similar selves, but I’m a one-of-a-kind story.

Matthew Hewes, Edmond, OK

I share a large genetic similarity with mice. And like mice I am also made of water and soil. Yet I have opposable thumbs and use language, narratives and imagination for almost everything in life. Because of all that, I think myself superior to a mouse. If I were like most humans I would carry that thought even further, and think that I was either the pinnacle of evolutionary development or the crowning achievement of a divine being’s creation, only slightly less divine than the supernatural being who created me. However, personally, I think none of those grand thoughts. I am a water molecule in an ocean. I am a grain of sand on a beach. I am a linguistic phrase in the novel of time. I am a “ha!” in the middle of a long belly laugh. And these thoughts are more comfortable, less stressful views of me than grand visions of me as the center and purpose of everything. I am a part of everything, but I am not in charge of everything, and that’s a relief. I’m here to do as best I can: my watery, grainy, languagey part of the story society is constantly creating about what it means to be alive. Towards that end I am a thought collector, and I hoard ideas and experiences like a mouse hoards cheese. From my collection I create a story, and with my opposable thumbs and language skills I share it.

Sue Clancy, Norman, Oklahoma

I want to answer your question by paraphrasing the originator of Psychosynthesis, Roberto Assagioli:

I have a body, but I am not my body.

I have emotions, but I am not my emotions.

I have a mind, but I am not my mind.

I have roles to play in life, but I am not any of them.

I am a centre of pure consciousness.

Ray Sherman, Duarte, CA

Next Question of the Month

To celebrate the launch of Mark Vernon’s book How To Be An Agnostic (Palgrave Macmillan) the next question of the month is: What is Truth? The prize is a signed copy of the book. Let us know what truth is and what it’s good for in less than 400 words, please. Subject lines or envelopes should be marked ‘Question Of The Month’, and must be received by 25th July. If you want a chance of getting a signed book, please include your physical address. Submission implies permission to reproduce your answer physically and electronically.

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Essay Samples on Who Am I

What makes me who i am: understanding the self.

What makes me who I am? This question delves into the intricate web of experiences, beliefs, values, and influences that shape the essence of my identity. As I navigate the journey of life, the interplay of my heritage, relationships, personal choices, and aspirations weaves together...

How to Answer "Who Am I?": the Omportance of Self-reflection

The question "Who am I?" is a profound inquiry that invites us to explore our identity, values, and beliefs. While this question may seem simple, its complexity lies in the intricate interplay of our experiences, emotions, and perceptions. Answering "Who am I?" requires introspection, self-discovery,...

• About Myself

Exploring What Makes Me Different From Others

What makes you different from others? This question invites introspection into the distinctive qualities, experiences, and perspectives that shape my identity. In a world marked by diversity, each person possesses a unique combination of traits that sets them apart. This essay will delve into the...

Exploring What Makes You Who You Are

Have you ever stopped to ponder what makes you the unique individual you are? From your beliefs and experiences to your personality and values, the factors that shape your identity are complex and multifaceted. This essay delves into the intriguing question of what makes you...

Describe Yourself: My Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Reflection

Personality is never easily defined. Many people have a hard time describing what they are. They like to think that they have all of these 'perfect' traits, but each one has advantages and disadvantages. Thankfully, personality psychology exists to help. Through various theories and many...

• Personality

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Life in a Mixtape: Describing Yourself Through Songs

In this essay about yourself I will be introducing you to a playlist of songs that represent me leaving and coming back to Humboldt County. The songs I will be showing you to introduce some of my life are, Home by Phillip Phillips, Gravity by...

All About Me: Re-Descovering Personality and Traits

By taking this course I read lots of 'All about me' essay examples. Also I did many different self-assessments to know myself better. I will firstly give an overview on those results. Based on Self-assessment Personality Inventory, my personality type involves introversion, sensing, feeling and...

How to Define Yourself by Chuck Clifton Book Analysis

Who are you? How do you define yourself? These are the questions How to Define Yourself answers using the Stimulus-Space of Time-Response model. Throughout the book, we learn to become better versions of ourselves by Predefining ourselves and carrying out these definitions to Define yourself...

• Being Yourself

Beneath The Layers: Personal Description

When I first got this assignment, I was at a loss as to how to proceed with it. However, as I began to internalize it, I realized that it’s an opportunity to get to know myself better. I look upon this as an opportunity to...

Personal Evaluation: Learning From Struggles

Who am I? Such a simple question to ask but such a profoundly tricky question to answer. Sometimes a person may feel that they have no purpose in life and don’t really know who they truly are. Discovering who you are just takes the time...

An Individual's Thoughts on Self-Discovery

The question is who am I? How do you answer that question when really you don’t know who you are yet? All I know is that I’m Andrea Spencer, a 20 year old adult just trying to figure herself out. Each day I get to...

An Independent Report on Life-Changing Events

Who am I? Can any person tell me who am I just from my name? Can person tell me from reading a background check on my life, what kind of woman I’m going to develop into? I can be a scientist, lawyer, cartoonist, actress or...

• Family Relationships

Examining Socrates Arguments on the Impact of the Physical Appearance

"Who am I? Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. You have to figure out who you are by finding the principles that lie within you. Once you find those principles, you have to live your life by those principles. Before...

• Physical Appearance

Best topics on Who Am I

1. What Makes Me Who I Am: Understanding the Self

2. How to Answer “Who Am I?”: the Omportance of Self-reflection

3. Exploring What Makes Me Different From Others

4. Exploring What Makes You Who You Are

5. Describe Yourself: My Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Reflection

6. Life in a Mixtape: Describing Yourself Through Songs

7. All About Me: Re-Descovering Personality and Traits

8. How to Define Yourself by Chuck Clifton Book Analysis

9. Beneath The Layers: Personal Description

10. Personal Evaluation: Learning From Struggles

11. An Individual’s Thoughts on Self-Discovery

12. An Independent Report on Life-Changing Events

13. Examining Socrates Arguments on the Impact of the Physical Appearance

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Who Am I, Who Are We?

How do children and teens come to understand who they can become.

Posted November 24, 2020

How we construct and understand who we are shapes how we interact with each other, how we parent our children, what we teach and how we educate them, and the kinds of laws and policies we enact. From this view, identity scholars can begin to imagine the ways that we can leverage identity to shift who we are becoming in the direction of a more equitable and humane society .[1]

Who am I? It is a universal question; a question shared by humans across the globe, one we’ve all asked ourselves in some form or another. As a developmental psychologist, I am primarily interested in how children and teens come to understand who they are and can become. When do they begin thinking about the self and its social significance? How do they go about answering this question? What kinds of events, experiences, relationships, and contexts influence their answer?

Among developmental psychologists, Erik Erikson is considered the godfather of identity theory. He devised the Eight Stages of Man [sic], articulating how humans form a clear, meaningful, and generative sense of who they are across the life course. Erikson’s theory about the development of self was simultaneously a theory about society. Identity, he wrote, is “a process ‘located’ in the core of the individual and yet also in the core of his [sic] communal culture.”[2]

In my research, I conduct interviews, one-on-one research-based conversations, with young people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds about who they are, who they aren’t, and who they want to become, what is important to them and how they understand what society expects of them. I’ve interviewed and listened to close to a thousand young people over the past decade and each of their stories reveals a lot about their individual experiences and specific identities, their challenges and resilience , but collectively their stories reveal a story about who we are as a society.

The following quote is an excerpt from an interview with Devin, a 14-year-old Black boy who participated in one of my studies about identity. We were part-way through the interview, discussing various aspects of his developing identity and how he sees himself. I asked him about his racial background, specifically his understanding of being Black in America.

Onnie: What are some of the good things about being Black, things you like about it?

Devin: I’m just glad to be Black you know, even though there’s like a lot of stereotypes … like, Black men really don’t like to grow up, either they’re like drug dealers or gang bangers, or end up dead or something like that, or end up in jail. No, since I’m Black I feel like I gotta, you know, achieve somethin’ other than that, you know? I’ve got goals to do.

Devin likes being Black. It is an important and positive part of his identity, which research shows will support positive developmental outcomes, like his academic aspirations, achievement, and well-being.[3] Identity is the foundation for healthy and productive ways of being in the world. But more than his individual sense of identity, Devin, like so many of the adolescents I have interviewed over the years, situates his identity in the societal context in which we live: “I’m just glad to be Black you know, even though there’s like a lot of stereotypes.” For young people, particularly those who are from systemically marginalized and minoritized social groups, forming a positive view of who they are that counters society’s negative stereotypes, is psychosocial resource, an inner strength that can offset societal harm.

Devin’s response also shows us why and how identity matters for the kinds of pathways young people travel. Devin responds to a question about what he likes about being Black with an explicit and spontaneous reference to his future, his goals and aspirations of who he wants to be. He also expresses a fear of becoming “nothing”—of not being or doing anything of value or significance to society (drugs, gangs, in jail, dead). Society has created a story about young people like Devin and he knows the story well: the story is that he, by virtue of his being Black and male in America, lacks the capacity to become anything of value or to contribute to society.

Yet, the human being’s desire to “be”, to form a clear and meaningful sense of self in the world is persistent. Philosophers, theologians, and scholars across disciplines have written for centuries about the human yearning for a life with purpose and meaning.[4][5][6][7] Devin’s response reminds us that growing up in a society defined by structural oppression and dehumanizing stereotypes threatens this basic human need. As a result, young people must contend with being told, implicitly and explicitly, by the prevailing ideologies of white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism that they possess nothing of value because of their identities.[8]

And contend they do. Devin refuses to accept society’s stories and in response to this threat, he expresses a deep assertion to be.

“Like they say Black men probably won’t make it, but I know I’m going to make it and even if I don’t make it, I’ll still try to do something. I just can’t — it’s not me, I just can’t be nothin’; I’ve got to do something.”

When we ask young people to answer the question “who am I?” we hear how inextricable it is from the question “who are we?” as a society. Devin knows what “they” (society) say about him and Black men and boys, but he resists this narrative. The capacity for resistance—to reject oppression—is a human capacity.[9][10][11] Authentic social relationships and direct socialization of counternarratives can nurture this resistance among young people and adults alike.[12][13][14]

Listening to young people describe who they are is like looking into a social mirror that reveals to us who we are as a society—and the image, as Devin shows us, is not all that admirable or desirable. Yet, their resistance and refusal to accept these narratives of oppression in their own lives gives us hope—and the motivation to (re)shape who we are becoming as a society.

[1] Rogers, L. O. (2018) . Who am I, who are we? Erikson and a transactional approach to identity research. Identity , 18:4, p. 291. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2018.1523728

[2] Erikson, E. H. (1968). Youth and crisis . New York, NY: WW Norton & Company, p. 22.

[3] Rivas-Drake, D., Seaton, E. K., Markstrom, C., Quintana, S., Syed, M., & Lee, R. M. Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity in adolescence: Implications for psychosocial, academic, and health outcomes. Child Development, 85, 40–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12200

[4] Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle . New York, NY: Norton.

[5] Frankl, V. E. (1963). Man’s search for meaning . New York, NY: Washington Square Press.

[6] Maslow, A. (1962). Toward a psychology of being . Princeton, NJ: D Van Nostrand. https://doi.org/10.1037/10793-000

[7] Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology , 53:1, 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80

[8] Rogers, L. O., & Way, N. (2018). Reimagining social and emotional development: Accommodation and resistance to dominant ideologies in the identities and friendships of boys of color. Human Development, 61, 311-331. https://doi.org/10.1159/000493378

[9] Gilligan, C. (2011). Joining the resistance . Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

[10] Turiel, E. (2003). Resistance and subversion in everyday life. Journal of Moral Education , 32, 115-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724032000072906

[11] Tuck, E. & Yang, K. W. (Eds.) (2014). Youth Resistance Research and Theories of Change . London: Routledge.

[12] Rogers, L. O., & Way, N. (2018). Reimagining social and emotional development: Accommodation and resistance to dominant ideologies in the identities and friendships of boys of color. Human Development, 61, 311-331. https://doi.org/10.1159/000493378

[13] Ward, J. V. (2018). Staying woke: Raising Black girls to resist disconnection. In N. Way, A. Ali, C. Gilligan, and P. A. Noguera (Eds.) The crisis of connection: Its roots, consequences, and solutions . New York University Press.

[14] Way, N. & Nelson, J. D. (2018). The Listening Project: Fostering Connection And Curiosity In Middle School Classrooms . New York: NYU Press.

Onnie Rogers, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology and human development and director of the Development of Identities in Cultural Environments (DICE) lab at Northwestern University.

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How to Write Who Am I Essay

“Who am I?” Human beings are the only creatures on the planet who can ask themselves this question. Other animals don’t have problems with self-identity. Lions, dolphins, and zebras don’t ask questions. They just try to survive in this cruel world. But we can’t live without inventing problems regularly. That’s why the question, “How should I write my essay about who I am?” is so popular.

In truth, we like digging in our heads and souls, looking for answers. We genuinely believe that our actions and feelings have a logical explanation, and every habit or trait has its root. Maybe we’re doing everything right. Maybe we care too much. Yet, we are here not to debate but to find out how to write my college essay about “Who Am I.”

First, let’s figure out when to write my assignment on the “Who Am I” topic.

When do you need a “who am I” essay

In short, you might need a “Who am I” essay for college, for work, for your bio, or simply for yourself. When you write it for yourself or for your bio, you don’t have any particular purpose but self-analysis. Sure, there are no concrete rules or requirements, and you can write it the way you want (or pay for essay to get qualified help and save your time).

But when it comes to work or college, everything is a bit more complicated. Your “Who Am I” essay can become a part of the application process or job interview. An employer or an admissions committee can look closely at your personality through your writing. Your essay has to convince them that you’re the best candidate for the scholarship or the job. Thus, you need a few tips on how to write my personal statement to make a good impression.

10 “who am I” essay ideas to amaze your readers

We’re sure that your personality is outstanding, and colleges and companies should fight for your excellence. But they don’t know about it yet. Even the sweetest candy and the most interesting books needs a bright cover to be noticed, right? Make your “Who Am I” essay sample so brilliant that nobody can resist the temptation to meet you personally and learn more about you.

1. Be honest, but delicate

Admissions officers and hiring managers read many CVs, application essays, and cover letters. Do you think they can’t distinguish lies from truth? Don’t even try to add some fake facts to your essay. Firstly, some data is easy to check. Secondly, your life is exciting enough without any fantasies. Finally, you have a conscience, right? Being honest but delicate is also a good tip for writing an expressing opinion essay .

2. Write about your passion

When you write about something you really like, your essay is filled with positive energy. Thus, it makes a good impression on the readers. If you’re going to apply for the position of interpreter, you don’t have to write about learning languages. For example, you can emphasize that the best about this profession is communicating with people if you really enjoy a social life.

3. Share an interesting story

When you compose a “Who Am I” essay, not just for yourself, ensure it will interest your audience. Your childhood memories can be priceless for you and your parents, but they’re not likely to interest the admissions officers unless you were an extraordinary child. If you don’t know how to write about your life interestingly, it is better to get our help. For example, you can ask us, “ Write my APA paper ,” the writer will present your story to grab the admission committee’s attention. Moreover, the expert will write the paper using the chosen format.

4. Switch on your creativity

“Who Am I” essay samples don’t belong to the academic writing category, so forget the rules! Of course, not all the rules. We still don’t recommend you use jargon or contractions. However, you are not limited to the standard critical essay format or specified sources. Moreover, you don’t even have to quote anybody, as the only person who has a right to express his opinion about you is, actually, YOU!

5. Use make-up

Not real make-up, for sure. You’d use metaphorical make-up. Hide or smooth your weaknesses and highlight your strengths. That’s what professional make-up artists do! Your inner beauty and qualities can also be emphasized!

6. Tell them more

Both hiring managers and the admissions board know everything about your academic achievements or work experience from your CV or resume. You don’t have to share this information again in your essay. Your task is to give them something more and to show them what kind of person you are. A human being is not just a bunch of numbers and facts! Numbers and facts are more suitable for a formal paper. By the way, you can learn how to write a formal essay by checking out our blog.

7. Avoid boasting

Nobody likes upstarts. Sure, you have to demonstrate your positive qualities and achievements to make a good impression. But it doesn’t mean that you should sound arrogant. Readers should understand that your victories aren’t a gift or luck but the result of hard work and self-development.

8. Show your perspective

Admissions officers and hiring managers are interested in your thinking process. A “Who Am I” essay requires no additional sources or quotes. Your thoughts are enough to create a brilliant piece of writing. Don’t try to be someone else! Your personality is worth seeing. However, if you don’t know how to show your personality in writing, get our help by leaving a “ write my paper for cheap ” request.

9. Think about the impression

Being honest and being yourself are very good principles when we talk about how to write “Who Am I” essay. However, you should always keep the balance between frankness and a positive impression. If you choose to write about your mistake or failure, mention how this negative experience has made you a better person. Imperfections make us unique, but in your essay, they should look charming and interesting, not abominable.

10. Demonstrate your potential

Don’t forget to mention your plans for the future. Smart people always think about perspectives and opportunities. If you write a “Who Am I” college essay, explain how you can contribute to the development of the college community. When it comes to a job interview, you can mention how you want to improve the working process or how your skills will help this company to grow.

These 10 tips will guarantee the success of your essay! We know that general recommendations are not enough for you – you can either request write my paper for me help, or continue learning our guide.

So, don’t hesitate! Move on to the list of good and bad topics for your “Who Am I” essay for college or work!

“Who am I” essay ideas to write and to avoid

We should remind you one more time that we’re talking mostly about essays for college or work. When you compose an essay exclusively for self-analysis, it doesn’t matter what topic you pick. But when you need to impress someone, you should be more careful with your choice. Below, you’ll find a list of “Who Am I” Essay Ideas that you should and shouldn’t use for your writing.

5 good topics for a “who am I” essay

• Achievement

That’s classic. If you don’t seek originality and want to choose a time-tested option, this topic is perfect for you. Of course, there is one necessary condition: you need a really meaningful achievement to write about. Baking a cake or getting a high GPA is not enough! It should be something impressive like climbing Mount Everest or saving the planet from an alien invasion. So choose wisely!

• Fixed mistake

If there is one topic even more impressive than a personal achievement, it is a fixed mistake. People love stories about falls and rises because we enjoy dramas. In your “Who Am I” essay sample, you should not only tell about your failure and your solution. The most important here is to underline how this situation has influenced your character, values, and worldview. Explain to your readers how this mistake has made you a better person.

• Dramatic change

Headings like “From Accountant to Famous Artist in One Year” or “A Life-Changing Journey to Africa” always attract our attention. Audiences like miraculous changes. When we read such stories, we start believing that something similar will happen to us and change our lives forever. Look back at your life. Who or what is responsible for the most dramatic twist of your fate? Maybe this story is worth sharing.

• Leadership experience

Both colleges and companies are looking for leaders. No one likes sheep, and everybody wants to see a shepherd as a part of their community. Of course, it is impossible to build a good team exclusively from leaders. However, if you feel like you can bring people together and give them the right directions, write about this quality in your “Who Am I” essay. Provide a real-life example in order not to sound baseless.

• Questioned belief

Doubts are an indispensable part of life, especially for people who learn new things about the world around them every day. For example, you’ve always believed that men are braver than women.

5 bad topics for a “who am I” essay

• Other persons

We know that you love your parents, your teachers, and other great people around you. However, they are not the ones who are going to enter the university or apply for the position of manager. It’s you! So, please, write about you! Of course, you can mention other people, but they should never be the main characters of your “Who Am I” essay.

• School achievements

School is far from real life. If you’re applying for college, you don’t have much choice, because your school years are the only period you’ve already lived through. Yet, if you are around 30 years old, don’t write about your school life in the essay. It was a long time ago! We’re sure that you’ve had much more exciting experiences than history tests or bullying.

Being philosophical is not bad when you have a philosophical conversation. But it’s not good when you have to write about yourself! You’re not a philosophical concept. You’re a real person with real problems, real friends, and real actions. Your aim is not to find the meaning of life in your essay. Your task is to show your personality.

• Sports victory

If you aren’t a professional sportsman, your sports victories are not interesting to anybody. Just face it! You can be proud of the winning goal or your personal record, but your employer or admissions committee doesn’t really care. They want to learn more about your goals, principles, professional experience, and personal qualities.

• Religion and politics

It’s a bit old-fashioned to claim that these topics are not for the dinner table, especially when you have dinner with a group of close friends. It’s totally fine to talk about faith, elections, and religion among your pals. However, it is still unacceptable for the application process. You don’t know the person who is going to read your writing very well. He or she might have an extremely different worldview. So, don’t take the risk of hurting their feelings!

That’s enough instruction for now, guys! There is another efficient way to teach you how to write “Who Am I” essay in addition to writing assistance from our cheap essay writing service . We’ll give you a nice well-written example so you’ll have a good template for your own writing.

“Who am I” essay example

You can use our sample to learn how actually a “Who Am I” essay outline should look. In your own essay, you don’t have to divide the text into separate sections by subheadings. We’ve added them to our sample only for comfortable reading. We kindly ask you not to plagiarize our text. Enjoy reading!

“Who Am I” Essay: Introduction

When do people become adults? What is the moment when they cross the line and leave their careless childhood behind? I think that it’s not the easiest question to ask. However, I considered myself to be an adult, even though I’m only 21 years old for a good reason.

“Who Am I” Essay: Main Body

The first time when I thought that I was an adult was when I moved out of my parents’ house and entered the university. I left my small native town behind and became a rightful citizen of the capital. I felt so independent and free but not for long. You see, everybody needs money to live independently. At that time, my only income was my parents’ money. So, it was too early to call myself an adult. But I wanted that so much!

Later, I got my first real job. For a couple of months, I felt really adult because I started to earn my own money. Unfortunately, my first serious job was not well paid. I understood that I had to move out of the dorm as I was not a student anymore. I had no other choice but to ask my parents for financial support to rent an apartment. I was so disappointed as I had lost my right to call myself an adult again.

Since one year ago, my whole world has changed. I’ve got a new job, and I’ve found many interesting and amazing people who inspire me every day. My life is great and full of bright and positive emotions. But it has also become much harder. I think a lot about my career, my private life, my plans, my skills, and other numerous things. I don’t dream about my future as I used to when I was a child. I think about the future, and I really worry about it.

“Who Am I” Essay: Conclusion

Now, I understand that I don’t want to be an adult, because that means to be the only person who is responsible for my life and success. Ironically, I think that exactly this understanding is what makes me an adult.

“Who am I” essay writing steps infographic

We hope that you’ve learned how to start a “Who Am I” essay and how to make it brilliant from our guide. We are glad to share this information with you, as we strongly believe that all people should have the opportunity to look inside themselves and provide a proper self-analysis. Moreover, you should know how to present your strengths and impress your hiring manager or admissions officer. Finally, you can use our guide when you write a bio for your blog or social media profile.

Can you see now how helpful this guide is? Anyway, we’ve done our best composing it. Now, it’s your turn to work a bit and amaze the world with your outstanding writing.

Pro help with “who am I” essay writing

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Why I Am Who I Am?: Self Assessment Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The youth is the period when a person asks the question “Why I am who I am?” oftener than earlier or later in life, and the reason is that the answer to this question allows for determining the goals and perspectives for the future. It is important to answer this question at the stage of choosing a career, a college to enter, and a place to live among other important milestones (Akdeniz and Stark 36; Sedikides and Brewer 12-18; Van der Werff et al. 627). When responding to this question, I should state that I am who I am because of the impact of my family’s values and traditions, social norms and widely accepted moral norms, as well as my vision of education and career.

The first important aspect that predetermined my development as an individual is family values and traditions. My parents and relatives influenced my vision of the world, my approach to treating other people, and my interest in learning and developing myself. In my childhood, I always knew that my relatives love me, my opinion is respected, and my needs are addressed. In this supportive environment, I learned the importance of keeping faith with close people, setting goals, and achieving them. My parents also demonstrated how important it is to be honest, persistent, and motivated.

The second factor that contributed to my personal development is moral norms and principles adopted in the society where I live. In spite of being focused on the values followed in my family, I also interacted with my friends, peers, and educators in a specific environment, and these surroundings also taught and formed my personality. I learned how to communicate with other people with the focus on respect and integrity. I also learned how to be empathetic and sensitive. Furthermore, I became more flexible and tolerant, and I view these qualities as associated with maturity.

The third point that is considered as influential in the context of my development is the accentuated role of education and career in my society. In my childhood, I began to understand that knowledge is one of the individuals’ powers (Friedman and Schustack 87; Reichard et al. 138; Tyler et al. 78). Thus, I started to pay more attention to learning and setting goals for my education. Later, these goals became formed as specific objectives for the career progress. As a result, now I can describe myself as a goal-oriented, self-educated, self-regulated, highly motivated, and skillful person who has a personal development plan for the future.

I should conclude that I am who I am because of a range of factors. Still, it is possible to determine the most influential ones among these aspects. I believe that my care environments and surroundings significantly influenced my vision of myself and goals while leading to the development of a person who is adapted to live in the modern world, who follows moral norms, and who values family traditions.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I would like to thank you for all your support and help provided throughout my life. Your support is extremely important for me because it is hard to overestimate how critical it is to understand that there are always people who believe in me. You are always ready to listen to me, provide a piece of advice, say something encouraging, and help see the path to follow. When I say that your support is important for me, I mean all kinds of it because your investment in my development is difficult to be measured or valued.

I also wish to thank you for all life lessons I could learn from communicating with you, spending much time together, observing your behaviors and reactions in different situations. I believe that parents can contribute to the development of their children when they act as the best examples for them. Thus, I can state that you were the best role models for me because it is problematic to learn without imitating somebody. Since I could imitate your attitudes to life and behaviors, I could succeed. What is more important is that you taught me how to be a happy person, and this was the best lesson for me. I have learned how to cope with stress and issues that seem to be unresolvable, how to pursue my goals, how to value other people’s opinions and advice, how to not only seem to be independent but also be independent and responsible for one’s actions and decisions.

I also want to thank you for your efforts to make our house the best place to live in. Moreover, you created a wonderful world for me, and I am still sure that our family is the best and friendliest one among all others. I am proud to be your child. It is rather difficult to mention all the points for which I am grateful, and I apologize for that. However, I want you to know that each part of my life is influenced by your example and your energy.

Works Cited

Akdeniz, Can, and Jonas Stark. The Self Improvement Book: A Guide Book for Success and Personal Development . Best Business Books, 2014.

Friedman, Howard S., and Miriam W. Schustack. Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research . Pearson, 2016.

Reichard, Rebecca J., et al. “Believing Is Becoming: The Role of Leader Developmental Efficacy in Leader Self-Development.” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies , vol. 24, no. 2, 2017, pp. 137-156.

Sedikides, Constantine, and Marilynn B. Brewer, editors. Individual Self, Relational Self, Collective Self . Psychology Press, 2015.

Tyler, Tom R., et al., editors. The Psychology of the Social Self . Psychology Press, 2014.

Van der Werff, Ellen, et al. “I Am What I Am, by Looking Past the Present: The Influence of Biospheric Values and Past Behavior on Environmental Self-Identity.” Environment and Behavior , vol. 46, no. 5, 2014, pp. 626-657.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Myself / Who Am I

Who Am I Essay Examples

An individual i’m going to be.

I’m 18 years old, I recently graduated from high-school. I am the eldest and first person to go to college in my family. Honestly, a couple of reasons why I decided to go to Metro State was that it looked like a good - academically...

The Concept of Self-identity

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What is the Importance of Knowing Yourself

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A Philosophical Narrative of the Self: Reflections and Insights

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I am what I am

The word “I” is a very convenient construct. It is the most basic representation we assign ourselves. As an utterance directly related to its speaker, “I” is a tidy form of closure. When we say “I”, the many ways we describe ourselves are subsumed within a singular physical self, a body on which one’s nationality, sexuality, ethnicity, race, religion, class, and gender happen to fall. It is this singular “I” around which we construct our identity. But unlike “I”, identity is not a singular notion. As a combination and variation of numerous social, biological and psychological traits, one is and can be many things. The quest to better understand one’s self, to locate a root cause for one’s manner of being, does not end with the discovery of essential characteristics. These simply become the terms from which we begin to negotiate and challenge our place in the world.

persona brings together seventeen artists who conceive of identity as a set of distinguishing, not delimiting, characteristics in which one might lose rather than find one’s self. More than an examination of those characteristics which one would consider fundamental to their being, the artists in persona suggest that the essence of an individual lies beyond these characteristics. In fact, none of these characteristics, be they biological, as is sex, social as are nationality and religion, or a combination of both, as is race, are fixed so as to exist beyond relativity and therefore change. We are who we are not because of but in spite of these characteristics which may serve as a misleading articulation of the self. If identity is achieved with the discovery of irreducible characteristics, then the artists in this exhibition represent a moment when those characteristics as signifiers of the self may be challenged, chosen or changed. Depending on the circumstances, one may not be what one appears but perhaps something other which better expresses or represents the self.

The signifiers of self quickly form a chain whose links are thought to be inextricable. It is not so much the links themselves but their relationship to one another, particularly their order, which has recently been called into question. The relationship between gender and sex is a perfect example. The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably. But if we recognize male and female as biologically determined and therefor part of a natural order, and the terms masculine and feminine as social designations, then an important distinction can be made. When sex and gender are interchangeable, our social designations are presumed to be an extension of a biological or natural order. Where masculinity and femininity reside, however, is relative, in which case male and female are not always equated with those terms in a respective manner. Rather than rely on a natural order to secure their meaning, masculinity and femininity can be applied according to the context.

Although the discrepancy between sex and gender has a strong presence throughout persona, the possibility to become Other exists for all aspects of one’s being. According to the findings of these artists, “I” ought to be reconsidered, not so as to replace it but to better understand it as containing shades of “we.” With this in mind, Popeye would surely have to lengthen his tautological epithet to “I am what I am but that’s not all that I am. I am much, much more.”

Essay Sample: Who Am I?

26 March, 2020

7 minutes read

Author:  Richard Pircher

This essay sample is written by Handmadewriting staff as an example of a reflective essay. It will demonstrate how to craft such an essay step by step on a simple yet popular topic.

The question of who am I seems to be the simplest question one can answer. Yet, when I took the time to try and figure out Who am I, I found this question is the one that requires critical thinking. In general, the answer to this question is that I am a regular person who loves spending quality time with the people I appreciate.  In addition, I dedicate myself to completing my duties, and I have a dream of becoming a great person. However, there are so many other things that make me a person. I always try to use every opportunity to have more free time for my hobbies.

For one to be a great person in life, it is critical that they ask themselves this question, especially given that it is a question that helps a person be in a position of evaluating themselves. Overall, the question of who am I is possible to give an answer by categorizing the general characteristics of an individual’s life into three divisions.  The three categories are spiritual, personal traits and how I perceive life and the society around me.

Me as a Spiritual Identity

In terms of the spiritual division, I would consider myself as a relatively spiritual person basing on the life that I have been nurtured through. The matter is that all my life, I have been raised up by parents who are staunch Christians and who have taught me the importance of leading a spiritual life. When I was young, I could describe my life to be majorly guarded by religion since what I remembered most of the time is going to church, singing gospel songs and praying.

Whenever I was in trouble, I never thought of any other solution rather than to pray to God for help. For example, I was taught in my early life that God was the solution and provider of everything that mankind ever needed. As a result, I have lived to believe this up to now. Moreover, I can also attest that it’s through religion that all my morals are based. Nonetheless, it will be a lie if I say that I still hold spirituality dear as I used to when I was growing up. And to be honest, it’s dismal for me to admit it.

As one grows and discovers many things around the world, especially during the teenage period, we start questioning the very ideals we were taught, and in my case, spirituality. In other words, my high school moments changed me a lot. Though I eased on the issue of divinities, I still try to hold spirituality dear to me, and I can confirm that I am more independent in making spiritual decisions compared to when I was young. This is due to the shifts and turns that have taken place in my life since I was young. From my religious journey, I deemed it important to learn other religious views in order to be familiar with some of them. I strongly believe that it is very wrong to spread rivalry among religions.

Furthermore, I feel like we all have the right to worship in any dominion or religion we consider to be the closest to heart and soul. Through my study of different religions, I have become a person who loves and always supports diversity in different sectors.

Me as Personality

Regarding my personality, I think that I am a very friendly person deducing from how I relate to my peers, children and older people. Personally I like being optimistic, and I like talking about positive things in life since I believe that people have the capacity to do great things as long as they believe in themselves. Among other things, I am slow at judging people on the decisions that they make. Besides, I like treating people equally since I believe everyone has the right to be perceived so. But still it this does not mean that I am a very indulgent and naive person.

When I am wrong, I become angry, just like anyone does, and there are moments whereby I find it hard to manage my anger. Therefore, I can assert that this is the greatest challenge that I am facing. That’s why I am doing my best to learn how to make rational decisions when I am angry. I have healthy self-esteem, I am confident, and I do not easily shy away from talking to people either individually or in a group. Generally, I can say that I am a kind and loving person – someone who always advocates for the right things to be done in society.

Me as an Insightful Person

Lastly, speaking of my perception about the world and the society around me, I think that I am an open-minded individual who believes that the world is a good place to live in, only it has been destroyed by people. Therefore, it is our call as human beings to do out best and make contributions to turn the world into a much better place. I believe that change starts with an individual, but many people are afraid of this change. When evaluating the society I am living in, I believe that its imperfections is a result of human acts. Hence, a solution to the faults within the contemporary society can be implemented by teaching children to become people of integrity when they grow up. All in all, everything of the above mentioned is me – it is what I stand for.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Cultural Identity — My Cultural Identity: Who I Am

My Cultural Identity: Who I Am

• Categories: American Identity Cultural Identity

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Words: 1059 |

Published: Jan 28, 2021

Words: 1059 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Defining my identity, cultural patterns, dimensions of culture, cultural bias.

• What do Americans value? | Information for refugees and immigrants. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://therefugeecenter.org/resources/american-values/

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Who Am I Essay

500 words essay on who am i.

The population of the world now is more than a whopping seven billion. In spite of such a massive population, one important fact remains that each person has their own unique personality and individuality. Let us focus on personality and individuality with this who am I essay.

                                                                                                                                Who am I Essay

My Inspiration

I am a young boy who is still learning in life. Furthermore, I won’t go deep into revealing personal information, like where I come from, which school I went to, my age, and the identity of my parents. The reason for this is that although these factors represent me, they certainly do not define me.

So, what exactly are the qualities that define me or for that matter anyone else? Well, these qualities are character and persona. As such when writing about oneself, one must stick to talking about one’s character and personality.

I consider myself an ambitious person who has big dreams in life. Moreover, doctors have always been my inspiration and I wanted to become one myself.  Also, my father is a doctor himself so I had the opportunity of observing a doctor closely.

I came to realize that doctors have a really busy life. This I can certainly say with conviction as I have seen my father sacrifice his free time in order to save lives at hospitals. Most noteworthy, my ambition is to become a successful doctor in future and save the lives of people.

My Personality and Beliefs

I am an ambivert person by nature. This means I enjoy socialising with people but not too much. I also prefer to spend time alone as I find comfort in my own company.

This nature of mine has proven to be helpful when it comes to studies. This is because I have the patience to study for long hours.  Moreover, for a subject that is too difficult, I and my friends take part in a group study.

Spending time alone, I have the habit of engaging in activities like reading a book or learning to play a musical instrument. Furthermore, I am a religious person who strongly believes in God. My belief in God certainly boosts my self confidence .

I feel sad that in the modern era, many people don’t believe in God. I, on the other hand, certainly do believe in the existence of a superpower that controls the entire universe. Most noteworthy, my belief in an all-powerful creator has helped me become a better person.

The important thing to remember is that a God-fearing person is likely to be good. The reason for this is that such a person would act righteously due to the belief that God is always watching.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Who am I Essay

‘Who am I’ is an extremely important question that every individual must find an answer to. Furthermore, to find the answer, people must reflect and ponder on themselves and their surroundings. Most noteworthy, those who have the answer to this are able to live a life of happiness and contentment.

FAQs For Who am I Essay

Question 1: What is the meaning of who am I?

Answer 1: The concept of who am I refers to one’s identity. Furthermore, identity is the all-encompassing system of relationships, values, experience, memories, feelings, and thoughts that define who a person really is.

Question 2: What is meant by true self?

Answer 2: True self is also known as real self, original self, or authentic self.  Furthermore, all of these terms refer to the most honest aspect of a person. In other words, true self is an individual’s most authentic version keeping aside all the pretensions, affectations, and masks.

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Harvard’s Institute of Politics Announces Fall 2024 Resident Fellows

Introduction

CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School today announced the appointment of six Resident Fellows who will join the IOP for the Fall 2024 semester. The fellows bring diverse experience in politics, elected office, polling, journalism, and economic development to address the challenges facing our country and world today.

"We are thrilled to welcome this Fall's cohort of Resident Fellows to Harvard to engage and collaborate with our students and community, and to get their thoughts and insight in the final few months of this year's historic election. Their diverse experiences will no doubt inspire our students to consider careers in public service and prepare them to provide essential political leadership in the months and years ahead," said IOP Director Setti Warren .

"We are excited to have such a remarkable group of Fellows at the IOP this Fall. They bring varied perspectives on how to best approach some of our country's most consequential challenges, and I am confident our students will gain important insight into the fields of politics, civic engagement, journalism, and more," said Michael Nutter , Chair of the Institute of Politics' Senior Advisory Committee, and former Mayor of Philadelphia.

"We are thrilled to welcome the incredibly accomplished members of the 2024 Fall Fellows Cohort as we begin the fall semester prior to the incredibly important U.S. election. As we close out the 'biggest election year in history,' our world remains in the throes of a major period of democratic backsliding. American voters, including many Harvard students, will once again face the possibility of reactionary backsliding and threats to fundamental rights. Closer to home, we are keenly aware of the threats to free speech on campus. While this semester will bring renewed challenges to and debates concerning those fundamental rights, we are hopeful that study groups will remain a source of vibrant, productive, and gratifying discussions on Harvard's campus. In that spirit, this semester's cohort of Fellows will bring in critical perspectives from the varied worlds of governing, policymaking, polling, reporting, and campaigning to equip students with the tools necessary to create a better tomorrow. We are confident that this cohort of Fellows will help this program to remain a bastion of freedom of speech and civil discourse on Harvard's campus," said Éamon ÓCearúil ‘25 and Summer Tan ‘26 , Co-Chairs of the Fellows and Study Groups Program at the Institute of Politics.

IOP Resident Fellows are fully engaged with the Harvard community. They reside on campus, mentor a cohort of undergraduate students, hold weekly office hours, and lead an eight-week, not-for-credit study group based on their experience and expertise.

Fall 2024 Resident Fellows:

• Betsy Ankney: Former Campaign Manager, Nikki Haley for President
• John Anzalone: One of the nation's top pollsters and strategists, and founder of Impact Research, a public opinion research and consulting firm
• Alejandra Y. Castillo: Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
• Asa Hutchinson: Former Governor of Arkansas and 2024 Presidential Candidate
• Brett Rosenberg: Former Director for Strategic Planning, National Security Council and Deputy Special Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, Department of State
• Eugene Scott: Host at Axios Live, and former reporter who has spent two decades covering politics at the local, national and international level, including at the Washington Post and CNN

Brief bios and quotes can be found below. Headshots are available upon request.

Betsy Ankney Ankney is a political strategist with over 15 years of experience on tough campaigns. She has been involved in campaigns and Super PACs at the national and state level and played a role in some of the biggest upsets in Republican politics. She has been an advisor to Ambassador Nikki Haley since 2021, serving as Executive Director for Stand for America PAC and most recently as Campaign Manager for Nikki Haley for President. After starting with zero dollars in the bank and 2% in the polls, the campaign defied the odds, raised $80 million, and Nikki Haley emerged as the strongest challenger to Donald Trump. Ankney served as the Political Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2020 cycle. She advised senate campaigns across the country, working directly with candidates and their campaigns on budgets, messaging, and fundraising. Prior to her work at the NRSC, Ankney managed multiple statewide campaigns, including Bruce Rauner for Governor in Illinois and Ron Johnson for Senate in Wisconsin. For her work on Ron Johnson’s race, she was named “Campaign Manager of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants for 2016. Ankney got her start in politics at the 2008 Republican National Convention and served in various roles at the Republican National Committee as well as on multiple campaigns and outside efforts. She serves on the boards of The Campaign School at Yale and The American Association of Political Consultants. She is from Toledo, Ohio and attended Vanderbilt University.

"I am honored to be a part of the fantastic program at the Harvard Institute of Politics. As we enter the final stretch of one of the wildest and most unpredictable election cycles in modern history, I look forward to having conversations in real time about our political process, what to look for, and why it matters." – Betsy Ankney

John Anzalone Anzalone is one of the nation’s top pollsters and messaging strategists. He has spent decades working on some of the toughest political campaigns in modern history and helping private-sector clients navigate complex challenges. He has polled for the past four presidential races, most recently serving as chief pollster for President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. In that role, he helped develop the messaging and strategy that drove paid communications, major policy rollouts, speeches, and convention thematics. He has also polled for the campaigns of President Obama and Hillary Clinton, and has helped elect U.S. senators, governors, and dozens of members of Congress. Anzalone works with governors across the country, including current Governors Gretchen Whitmer (MI) and Roy Cooper (NC). He polls regularly for the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Senate Majority PAC, and AARP. With more than 30 years of experience in message development and strategic execution, he has been called on by key decision-makers, executives, and CEOs to provide counsel in a changing world and marketplace. He has extensive experience using research and data to break down complex subjects into digestible messages that resonate with target audiences. He grew up in St. Joseph, Michigan, and graduated from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is married and has four children, two dogs, and lives in Watercolor, Florida.

"After a 40-year career in politics I am so excited to give back by sharing and mentoring politically active and curious students, but also to have an opportunity to learn from them myself. During the next three months we will be living the 2024 elections together in real time. There is nothing more exciting than that regardless of your political identity." – John Anzalone

Alejandra Y. Castillo The Honorable Alejandra Y. Castillo was nominated by President Biden and sworn in as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development on August 13, 2021, becoming the first women of color to hold this position. Ms. Castillo led the Economic Development Administration (EDA) between August 2021-2024 through an unprecedented moment of growth and opportunity. As the only federal agency focused exclusively on economic development, she guided EDA’s the implementation of over $6.8 billion dollars in federal funding, powering EDA and its mission to make transformational placed-based investments to support inclusive and equitable economic growth across America. Spanning over two decades of public service and non-profit work, she has served in three Presidential administrations --Biden, Obama and Clinton. Her career has also included a drive to shattering glass ceilings and providing inspiration to multiple generations of diverse leaders. Castillo is an active member in various civic and professional organizations, including the Hispanic National Bar Association, the American Constitution Society, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations. Castillo holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook; a M.A. in Public Policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin; and a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law. A native of Queens, NY., the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

"I am excited to join this Fall semester IOP Fellowship class and have the opportunity to engage with students and faculty members across the University. The IOP fellowship presents a great forum to discuss and evaluate the future of U.S. industrial strategy and economic growth in light of the historic federal investments in place-based economic development during the last three years. I am honored to join my colleagues in making this an exciting and informative semester for students." – Alejandra Y. Castillo

Asa Hutchinson Governor Asa Hutchinson is a former Republican candidate for President of the United States. He served as the 46th Governor of the State of Arkansas and in his last election, he was re-elected with 65 percent of the vote, having received more votes than any other Republican candidate for governor in the State’s history. As a candidate for President, Hutchinson distinguished himself as an advocate for balancing the federal budget, energy production and enhanced border security. He also was a clear voice for the GOP to move away from the leadership of Donald Trump. Hutchinson’s time as governor is distinguished by his success in securing over $700 million per year in tax cuts, safeguarding the retirement pay of veterans from state income tax, shrinking the size of state government, creating over 100,000 new jobs and leading a national initiative to increase computer science education. The Governor’s career in public service began when President Ronald Reagan appointed him as the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1996, he won the first of three consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his third term in Congress, President George W. Bush appointed Governor Hutchinson to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as the nation’s first Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Border Protection. He is a former Chairman of the National Governors. He grew up on a small farm near Gravette. He and his wife, Susan, have four children and seven grandchildren. Governor Hutchinson is currently CEO of Hutchinson Group LLC, a security consulting firm.

"After 8 years as Governor it is time to teach and mentor. I am honored to have the opportunity this fall to share my experiences and perspective but to also learn from the students and my colleagues who will also be resident fellows at the IOP. The timing is historic with our democracy facing a critical choice this fall as to the direction of our country." – Asa Hutchinson

Brett Rosenberg Rosenberg is a foreign policy expert who has served in the White House, Department of State, and Senate. During the Biden Administration, Rosenberg was the inaugural Deputy Special Coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, President Biden’s and the G7’s flagship program designed to meet infrastructure needs in low- and middle-income countries. At the White House, Rosenberg served on the National Security Council as Director for Strategic Planning, working on shaping and realizing approaches to issues spanning from international economics to Western Hemisphere engagement, as well as helping to write the National Security Strategy. Prior to her service in the Biden administration, Rosenberg was Associate Director of Policy for National Security Action, where she remains a senior advisor. Rosenberg began her career in Washington as a legislative aide to then-Senator Kamala Harris, where she advised the senator on a range of domestic and economic policy issues. Rosenberg is a Nonresident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and her writing has appeared in outlets including Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New Republic, and McSweeneys. She received her A.B. in History from Harvard College and her PhD (DPhil) in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

"What a privilege it is to be part of this incredible community in this incredible moment. I can't wait to learn from the students, faculty, and other fellows as we dive in together to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and the world." – Brett Rosenberg

Eugene Scott Eugene Scott is a host at Axios Live, where he travels the country interviewing political and policy leaders. He was previously a senior political reporter for Axios covering 2024 swing voters and voting rights. An award-winning journalist, Scott has spent two decades covering politics at the local, national and international levels. He was recently a national political reporter at The Washington Post focused on identity politics and the 2022 midterm election. Following the 2020 presidential election, he hosted “The Next Four Years,” then Amazon’s top original podcast. He also contributed to “FOUR HUNDRED SOULS: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019,” which topped the New York Times’ bestseller list. In addition to writing, Scott has regularly provided political analysis on MSNBC, CBS and NPR. Scott was a Washington Correspondent for CNN Politics during the 2016 election. And he began his newspaper career at the Cape Argus in Cape Town, South Africa not long after beginning his journalism career with BET News’ “Teen Summit.” Scott received his master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and his bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media. He is a D.C. native and continues to live in the Nation’s Capital.

"Learning from and with the professionals that visited the IOP during my time on campus was one of the highlights of my time at the Kennedy School. I am eager to help lead students in understanding the press and this country as we navigate the final weeks of arguably the most consequential election of our time." – Eugene Scott

Additional information can be found here .

About the Institute of Politics Fellows Program The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School was established in 1966 as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The Institute’s mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non-partisan basis to inspire them to pursue pathways in politics and public service. The Institute blends the academic with practical politics and offers students the opportunity to engage in current events and to acquire skills and perspectives that will assist in their postgraduate pathways.

The Fellows Program has stood as the cornerstone of the IOP, encouraging student interest in public service and increasing the interaction between the academic and political communities. Through the Fellows Program, the Institute aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn from experienced public servants, the space to engage in civil discourse, and the chance to acquire a more holistic and pragmatic view of our political world.

For more information on the fellowship program, including a full list of former fellows, visit: iop.harvard.edu  

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How to Write Who Am I Essay

Table of Contents

You might think of this task as rare, but you’d be surprised to learn how many times people are asked to write a who am I assignment. If you thought that writing an essay about yourself was only given at school or as part of an admission application, you are very wrong. The who am I question is asked many times in a life of a person, both for work and studies.

Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself

Naturally, the instructions, requirements and rules will differ based on the situation, so you might want to note them down before you get started. However, there are some things that are common and apply to all essays of this type. So, in addition to the instructions you should look at and control while writing, there are some tips that will help you make the process easier.

Follow a Structure

There’s no better way to follow a structure than by producing a quality, organized who am I essay outline beforehand. This outline will help you organize your content and the structure, with it providing the reader with a coherent, understandable and concise explanation of who you are.

Choose a Main Line

What does this mean?

It means that you need to have a focus in your essay. Whether it is a thing you enjoy doing, a relationship you want to discuss, or a key feature of your own character – this has to be present throughout the entire essay.

Select a Style

What style are you planning to use in your writing? Your story cannot be too varied. We recommend using artistic techniques of the literary genre, such as allegories, metaphors, etc. You can even use humor to make the essay more interesting for the reader.

Be Objective

The goal of this essay is to reveal the personality of the writer. But, this doesn’t mean that you should brag about your traits and fail to mention the negative characteristics. We are all humans, so naturally, no one is perfect. Trying to camouflage this behind your greatest traits can leave a bad impression. So, attempt to be objective in your writing.

Postpone the Revelation

One great idea in essay writing is to postpone the intrigue, the revelation. To keep the reader interested until the very end, keep something to yourself until you get there. Introduce it at the start, but do not go explaining it completely right away. Do it gradually and finish at the conclusion.

Who Am I Essay Samples

Now that we’ve shared some short tips for students who are asked to write such essay, it is time to present you with an excellent example of what this essay should look like. Whether you need it for college or for high school, one of the best ways to learn something is by seeing good examples of it.

Consider this sample your secret assignment helper in writing your own who am I essay. The example is written by experts of AssignmentMasters essay writing service .

Example of Who Am I Essay Introduction

People keep asking me the same question: who and what are you? It was not so long ago that I understood that I don’t have a clear answer to it. At least not yet. I am a human being, so I am as complicated as the next guy. But, my complications are nothing like those of the other guy. They are completely unique. I find some happenings admirable and very pleasant, while others find them terrible. The things they see as great; I can see as outraged. I guess it is all a piece of the puzzle that is called personality. Perhaps this essay will demonstrate mine.

Main Body of the Who Am I Essay Example

To be able to answer the question about who I am, I began with asking people around what they think of me. I am not certain that this helped me get a correct picture, and in some way it confused and worried me, but it certainly gave me a different perspective of myself. What others see in me is something I often know of, but sometimes fail to notice. The latter applies to my errors, which I believe is only natural.

I am an animal lover, a technology addict, and a person who is really fond of travelling. In fact, I am so connected with dogs and other animals, I find it outrageous that I cannot ask them about their opinion about me. So, what’s left for me was to ask my friends and family. And not so long ago, I did.

When I spoke to my computer science teacher and shared my love of technology, she evaluated my work as above average. I expected much more from her, but it surely got me motivated to become better. She simply said: ‘There is plenty of room for improvement, but if you continue with the same enthusiasm, I see a bright future for you.’

As it turns out, I accept things quite literary. With her argumentation, I got it clear that I am not as great as I believed, but my love of technology can be seen instantly. I saw no reason to reconsider my chosen path and my hobbies. As it turns out, I am on the right path. But, I am either not talented, or not attentive enough.

That is when I talked to my father. To tell the truth, my father is my idol and the person I trust most, so naturally I approached him with my troubles. I went to him asking if I should try to pursue something else since this is not a thing I am great at, or try more. To my surprise, my father was completely on the side of the teacher. But, not in a bad way.

This is when I learned some things about myself. My father explained to me that a single barrier or complaint does not mean that I should give up. I never gave up easily as a child, so why would this make me?

He said that it doesn’t mean that my teacher was wrong. On the opposite, he believed that my potential was far from what I showed in life. Apparently, I am ‘too careful to show my strengths’. By trying not to make an error, I don’t take enough risks. I follow guidelines as given and rarely stray from them. It is not my biggest trait, but I do find dedication and persistence to be a good thing. At least I did until this point.

My mother sees my inability to show my computer knowledge as laziness. I do not agree with her, but it is an opinion I gladly accept. Sometimes people see you as you wouldn’t want to see yourself. That does not make their opinion wrong.

Example of Who Am I Essay Conclusion

So, what’s the final say? Who am I?

I am not the greatest or the worst. I am human and I need to try harder. I am a great representative of the humans of my time and my generation. I realize that, in some cases, my strict policy to follow rules and instructions is stopping me from being great. To be truly seen by a teacher, I should work on my own in addition to working with the class. The true potential is built not only by curriculum, but by personal efforts, too.

Did this example and the tips above helped you find the answer to this question? It is now time to sit down and write it. We hope that your essay is a revelation of the greatness that you are!

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Who Am I Essay : How to Write it?

Home / Blog / Who Am I Essay : How To Write It?

Introduction

Writing a ‘who am I’ essay is indeed a difficult task. We often dig into our heads and souls to look for an answer to “who am I.” Most of us have faith that every action and feelings have a logical explanation. Also, we think that every habit has its own root. Somewhere in our subconscious, we have a feeling that we are doing everything right. Therefore, writing a flawless and unbiased ‘Who am I’ essay is almost impossible.

Hence, when you plan to write a ‘Who am I’ essay, you need to figure out certain things and find out how can you be unbiased. It is compulsory, especially when you need to regulate your thoughts and decide how to move ahead with the write-up and establish who you are.

Why do you need to write a ‘Who am I’ essay?

You can be assigned with the task of writing a ‘Who am I’ essay at any point of your academic career. You may need to write an essay for your job, bio or college application essay. When you write an essay  for yourself, it will be about self-analysis. There is no purpose or concrete rules and regulations for writing the essay.  However, you need to be focused and decide how to craft the essay and make sure it precise.

In case of a college application essay or bio-data, everything is a bit more complicated. Your essay has to be convincing enough so that the admission committee understands your expertise.

To impress the supervisor or the job interviewer, you need to follow the guidelines of writing an essay on the topic ‘Who am I’. Read on to know how you can write an essay with a proper self-analysis so that you can impress your supervisors.

5 simple ways to analyse yourself

As you know that a ‘who am I’ essay is all about self-analysis. Thus, before writing  the essay, it is important to know the ways of self-analysis. It is not a very easy task. Read on to know the 5 effective steps of self-analysis.

• Assess your self-esteem :   Before analysing yourself, you need to find out and realise your self-esteem. When you try to understand your self-esteem, it becomes easier for writing.
• you to understand who you are. While realizing yourself, you will slowly understand that much of what drives behavior and self-perception is the result of subconscious attitudes and beliefs. You need to figure out your perspective like how you see yourself. Unless you realize your value, you cannot analyse yourself.
• Understand your personality :  To understand your personality, you need to find out the category that you fall in. There are 5 traits of personality, namely “Extraversion, neuroticism”, "Conscientiousness," "Agreeableness," and "Openness to Experience.”. These 5 personality traits reflect the general component of your character. You need to take a minute to find out which category you fall into. When you understand the personality trait, it will be easier for you to express who you are.

Figure 1: Personality Traits that You Must Know

• Evaluate your thinking pattern :   It is very important to evaluate your thinking pattern when you want to do a self-analysis. Evaluating how you think and express is very important to judge your characteristics. When you know your thinking pattern, you can easily understand your shortcomings and work on them accordingly.
• Focus on your life goals :   When you need to write an essay on ‘Who am I’, you should be focused on your goals. Your life goals will help you to understand who you are. This is essential for self-analysis.  Use your essay to explain your goals and write why you set such goals in your life.
• Analyse your achievements :   To do a self-analysis, it is important for you to analyse your achievements. This will help you to express yourself in a better way. Your achievements are the biggest strength, and these are the best source for self-analysis.

Once you are done with the self-analysis, you can easily write an essay on the topic ‘Who am I’. Follow the tips discussed below to make your paper flawless.

6 best ways to write a brilliant ‘Who am I?’ essay

You have to believe that your personality is outstanding and you are the most deserving candidate. To make the admission committee agree to your opinion, you need to make your ‘Who am I’ essay brilliant to the extent that the committee doesn’t give a second thought before choosing you. Here are some of the amazing ideas to write a brilliant essay.

• Be yourself:  The first criterion of a fabulous ‘who am I’ essay is to be honest. Always remember that if you provide fake information about yourself in the essay, it can be the biggest turn-off. You should be honest and provide original information only.
• Be particular about your passion:  When you have to write an essay about yourself, how can you forget to write about your passion? When you write about something you love, it automatically elevates the quality of your essay. You can add your experience and feelings in the essay so that your application essay reflects your passion.
• Give importance to stories:  When you draft an essay on the topic ‘Who am I,’ you need to make it interesting to your audience. Sharing personal and interesting stories is a great idea.  When you do that, you never have to think about impressing your supervisor.
• Explore your creativity:  When you need to write about yourself, you can forget about the rules. ‘Who am I’ essays are not academic essays to be exact. Thus, there is no need to maintain any format. You can switch on your creativity and express your opinion. You can be ‘YOU’ by using creativity to write the assignment.
• Don’t take to boasting:  You need to remind yourself that nobody likes upstarts. You need to demonstrate your qualities and achievements to make a good impression. You should not boast about yourself to the extent that you sound arrogant. Readers should understand that your achievement is the result of your hard work.
• Focus on your potential:  Use your essay to highlight your potential. The admission committee should know what you are good at. You should also mention about your future plans and explain how studying in the college is important to you.

These are some of the unique steps to write an essay on self-analysis. Are you looking for a sample essay? Here is an example of a ‘who am I?’ essay.

Sample of a ‘Who am I?’ essay

Who am I? I am yet to know

I have never given much thought to who I am. People say I am an extrovert. However, those who don’t know me will always think I am shy and reserved. My friends have a different opinion altogether. According to my friends, I am very talkative and outspoken.

I was a problem child in my school. My mother says I have always given her sleepless nights because I stayed awake in the hours of the night. I never loved to study and I was a very poor performer. I always wanted to be a singer and a composer.

My passion was music and I sang all day long. My father thought I would fail in exams. I never failed in my exams, but my world was different from others. I inherited my granddad’s love for singing. He was my best friend. He used to gift me albums of Bob Dylan and John Lenon when I was very young.

I love music more than anything in the world. I listen to every form of music, starting from Pop to Jazz. Taylor Swift is my all time favourite. I wanted to be a successful singer like her. My biggest fear is not achieving my dream. I went on to believe that I would not make it as a successful singer and my passion will be unfulfilled.  

Little did I know that one always needs a friend, philosopher and guide who can make you realise that you have the potential.

One day, when I was humming a tune, my best friend listened to it and said that I have the potential to be a singer. He was my inspiration and always encouraged me to take up singing as my profession.  

Presently, I am following my passion and I have joined music classes. Along with that, I am also learning to play acoustic guitar. I aim to be a singer one day. Now, I aspire to be a part of Leeds College of Music so that I can fulfil my dream of becoming a singer and music composer one day.

If I have to answer the question ‘Who am I,’ my answer would be that I want to be a passionate musician. Music is in my soul and I can never stop singing until my last breath. I hope I will accomplish my ambition and establish myself as a great singer.

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Republican Donors, Do You Know Where Your Money Goes?

By Juleanna Glover

Juleanna Glover is the chief executive of Ridgely Walsh, a corporate consultancy, and a former adviser to many Republican officials.

We long ago blew past any meaningful controls on political giving in American elections. Now we should focus on the rules governing political spending, which are in equally terrible shape. For that we can blame the Trump campaign and the federal government’s feeble enforcement efforts.

Anyone who has spent time reviewing Donald Trump’s campaign spending reports would quickly conclude they’re a governance nightmare. There is so little disclosure about what happened to the billions raised in 2020 and 2024 that donors (and maybe even the former president himself) can’t possibly know how it was spent.

Federal Election Commission campaign disclosure reports from 2020 show that much of the money donated to the Trump campaign went into a legal and financial black hole reportedly controlled by Trump family members and close associates. This year’s campaign disclosures are shaping up to be the same. Donors big and small give their hard-earned dollars to candidates with the expectation they will be spent on direct efforts to win votes. They deserve better.

During the 2020 election, almost $516 million of the over $780 million spent by the Trump campaign was directed to American Made Media Consultants, a Delaware-based private company created in 2018 that masked the identities of who ultimately received donor dollars, according to a complaint filed with the F.E.C. by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center . How A.M.M.C. spent the money was a mystery even to Mr. Trump’s campaign team , according to news reports shortly after the election.

All but 18 of the 150 largest expenditures on a Trump campaign’s 2020 F.E.C. report went to A.M.M.C. None of the expenses were itemized or otherwise explained aside from anodyne descriptions including “placed media,” “SMS advertising” and “online advertising.” F.E.C. rules require candidates to fully and accurately disclose the final recipients of their campaign disbursements, which is usually understood to include when payments are made through a vendor such as A.M.M.C. This disclosure is intended to assure donors their contributions are used for campaign expenses. Currently, neither voters nor law enforcement can know whether any laws were broken.

A.M.M.C.’s first president was reported to be Lara Trump , the wife of Mr. Trump’s son Eric. The New York Times reported that A.M.M.C. had a treasurer who was also the chief financial officer of Mr. Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner signed off on the plan to set up A.M.M.C., and one of Eric Trump’s deputies from the Trump Organization was involved in running it.

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Sample Essays on “Who Am I?” How to guide, with Outlines

Published by gudwriter on November 23, 2017 November 23, 2017

How to Write an Essay About Yourself

Many students, from high school to college level, do not know how to describe themselves. They mix up ideas as they do not really know what they need to include in their writing. The main aim of a who am I essay is to make the reader understand who you are and what you believe in. Remember, the essay doesn’t have to be always about the positive side- you can include your weak points as well in a creative way. You can also write about what makes you unique (unique skills, character, etc). If you need help, college admission essay writing services is available to assist you.

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Striking the balance makes your essay realistic and convincing.

Character : What are your character traits? Which habits define you?

Values : What is your value system? Here, you need to include things that inspire you. It is here that you state your beliefs, motivations, principles, and inspirations. The reader expects you to have either staunch stands on certain things and this is the part where you make them know. Do not highlight radical points, though.

Skills : What aptitudes do you have? And, what is the level in each skill? This may include communication, computer, education, languages, leadership, or anything else you find worthy.

Achievements :

Life experiences that influenced your life

Perhaps you would like to read an essay sample on what makes you unique ?

Who Am I Essay Example 1 Outline

Below is a layout you should follow when writing a personal essay to impress your professor.

• Hook – The Question – who am I?
• Brief summary: Well, I know quite much about myself: I am a social, kind, respectful, and principled young man.
• Thesis : I am a kind, friendly, respectful, and principled young person.
• Point : Social
• Illustration : Meeting new friends
• Logic : Makes me dynamic
• Thesis relation: A cheerful, social and accommodative person is how many people know me.
• Point : Respectful and law abiding
• Illustration : Want to get along with everyone- both juniors and seniors. Car seats, polite character
• Explanation : I know the limits
• Thesis relation : Every day, I want to be known as a person who is respectful even to those who least deserve it.
• Point : Hobbies
• Illustrations : Sports, chess, music
• Explanation : Clear my mind, get healthier.
• Thesis relation : Sportsmanship has taught me to be fair other people, diligent and focused.
• Point : I am not perfect- when I don’t hit my targets, obvious opposition from people who don’t love progress. My love for novelty makes me uncomfortable with normal rules.
• Illustrations : My mum says I am selfish and that I always want everything to go my way. Yet, I’m still the person you will find in doing voluntary community work to help people.
• Explanation : I guess my self-esteem is too high for people to put down. This rubs feathers with people who stand my path to success.
• Thesis relation : I’d be a liar to say I am a genius, flawless or immortal- and that’s who I am.
• Restatement of thesis
• Summary of essay
• Signing out

Easily create engaging speeches that will express yourself confidently and fluently, all thanks to our innovative free speech writer generator .

Who Am I Essay Example 1

Who am I? Describing oneself is one of the most complicated tasks. In most cases, we always define ourselves using institutions, other people, or activities. Well, I know quite much about myself: I am a kind, friendly, respectful, and principled young person.

First, I am a sociable person. I love to meet people and make new friends. It’s not that I am an extrovert. However, I always work towards getting along with people. Of course, there are times I enjoy being alone for meditation . However, being around people makes me feel comfortable. I like to utilize every chance I get to make new friends. Interacting with people from different parts of the world makes me a diverse person. I am one of those people who believe that there is richness in human diversity. I am not quite selective of who I socialize with. A cheerful, cordial, and accommodative person is how many people know me.

Second, I am kind and respectful. Well, I appreciate that there is a thin line between being social and respectful. I want to treat everyone – junior or senior- with utmost reverence. In this regard, I am quite a listener. This didn’t start yesterday- I have always loved to give up my seats to elders in the train since I was young. Again, I am firm and at the same time polite. I love to make my points in a way that won’t hurt those around me. I always desire to be respectful even to those who least deserve it. Being respectful does not subtract anything from me after all.

Third, I have a great affection to team play. Well, I probably got this trait from my life as a sportsperson. I have been a school captain in Team Handball and Badminton. Today, I still participate in these games as a coach. I’m adherent to chess and I could become a grandmaster in the next few months. Sports and competitions have trained me to be fair, diligent, hardworking, and focused. As my hobby, chess clears my mind while athletics make me healthy. I’d definitely not tell who I am without mentioning sportsmanship. Actually, sports largely define me.

I am not perfect, though. I can be moody when I don’t hit my targets. My love for novelty makes me uncomfortable with normal rules. My mum says I am selfish and that I always want everything to go my way. Yet, I’m still the person you will find doing voluntary community work to help people. I guess my self-esteem is too high for people to put down. This rubs feathers with anyone who stands on the path to success. I’d be a liar if I said that I am a genius, flawless or immortal- and that’s who I am.

Anyway, it may be a little difficult to explain who I am. However, there are qualities that are an outright depiction of me. Respect, principles, sportsmanship, and leadership are some of them. As a quick learner, I love to change every behavior that doesn’t make me a better person. The desire to be good to everybody has made me who I am today and I intend to keep it that way.

Personal Essay Example 2 Outline

Introduction.

I give a description of myself in relation to my family background, personality, and how I view life.

Paragraph 1:

Family background

• Revolves around strong Christian faith since my parents are staunch Roman Catholic faithful
• I was born in Chicago, Illinois 21 years ago and I am the third born in a family of four children.
• I am a female of African American origin and I am very proud of my cultural background and family values

Paragraph 2:

My personality

• I am outspoken and like socializing and making new friends
• I value respect and believe it is two way
• I am hard working

Paragraph 3:

My view of life

• All humans are equal regardless of their cultural, racial and religious backgrounds as well as gender
• I am liberal in that I am open to learning new things such as new cultures, religions, and even languages
• Divergent views should be tolerated

I can summarize myself as someone who is respectful, accommodating, and open minded. I appreciate that as a human, I need others for my life to be complete. I believe my personality and world views are matching and thus I find life more sociable and interesting.

Personal Essay Example 2

My family background revolves around strong Christian faith since my parents are staunch Roman Catholic faithful. I was born in Chicago, Illinois 21 years ago and I am the third born in a family of four children. I am a female of African-American origin and I am very proud of my cultural background and family values. Like my parents, I have developed the habit and routine of going to church every Sunday in line with Christian doctrines. As a matter of fact, all the members of my family value attending Sunday masses wherever they may find themselves. I grew up in a working-parents family and I have grown to live in harmony with my siblings.

Regarding my personality, I am one person who is outspoken and likes socializing and making new friends. The number of friends I have in college is uncountable because I have no boundaries when it comes to building relationships. That notwithstanding, I value respect and believe it is two way. I expect that anybody I interact with should show me the same level of respect I show them irrespective of their background or status in the society. I am hard working because my parents taught me to loathe laziness since it is the beginning of poverty and miserable life. To me, respect and hard work go hand in hand. Working hard respectfully has opened many doors for me so far in my life.

My view of life is that all humans are equal regardless of their cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds as well as gender. This is why I have friends whose cultural and other backgrounds are diverse. I am also liberal in that I am open to learning new things such as new cultures, religions, and even languages. For instance, I can speak fluent French and Spanish yet I am American. I also believe that divergent views should be tolerated because this is part of enhancing human diversity. My parents had once tried to stop me from being too open minded but I persisted with it. Being open to new things, in my view, amounts to being accommodative to human diversity.

In conclusion, I can summarize myself as someone who is respectful, accommodative, and open minded. I appreciate that as a human, I need others for my life to be complete. When I show that I care for and accommodate different views, I find it easy working with others. I have thus managed to evade suffering any form of racial or cultural profiling because people find me easy to deal with. I believe my personality and world views are matching and thus I find life more sociable and interesting. It is my intention to continue leading this fulfilling life.

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Personal Essay Sample 3 Outline

I am a faithful Christian who is open-minded, friendly, and action-oriented.

Paragraph1:

In spite of being a staunch Christian, I am open to other people’s ways of worship and generally to other people’s way of life and opinions.

• I can listen to and understand what other people say and treat it as their opinion to which they are entitled whether or not I agree with it.
• I am able to live amongst people of various cultures.
• However, I do not let other people’s views or cultures affect my own.

I am a friendly person who highly values friendship.

• I have the habit of forming strong friendships both in our neighborhood and at school.
• I have quite a number of friends from various backgrounds because I do not choose friends based on their cultural backgrounds.
• I believe in genuine friendship and as soon as I detect that one is not a true friend, I drop them.

I follow my decisions and promises with actions as I believe that it is through actions that one can solve their problems and meet their life goals.

• I keep to my decisions once I make them.
• I have been able to accomplish many of my life’s endeavors especially in my academic life.
• I also know that keeping promises is one of the best ways of keeping relationships alive and healthy.
• I normally do all it takes to keep a promise irrespective of who I make it to.

I am an open-minded Christian who values relationships and I act on my decisions and promises. I am accommodative to diverse views and opinions even when they sharply contrast with mine. I pursue my life goals and keep relationships through action.

Personal Essay Sample 3

As a person, I feel growing over the years has significantly changed who I am. I have had to see and experience many things that I did not get to see in my childhood. I have also met many different people and visited many places. Some of the perspectives I held about people and certain things have certainly changed. In addition, I have undergone significant personal growth which has seen my personality transform as well. I have also become more decisive in my actions and in my relationships with others. I am a faithful Christian who is open-minded, friendly, and action-oriented.

In spite of being a staunch Christian, I am open to other people’s ways of worship and generally to other people’s way of life and opinions. I can listen to and understand what other people say and treat it as their opinion to which they are entitled whether or not I agree with it. This way, I have been able to learn a lot from others and widen my view of life and humanity. I am also able to live amongst people of various cultures. However, I do not let other people’s views or cultures affect my own as much as I may be accommodative to them. This is because I believe that the world has enough space for everyone to practice their own cultures and share their opinions without interfering with others.

I am also a friendly person who highly values friendship. From my childhood, I developed the habit of forming strong friendships both in our neighborhood and at school. I have carried this habit to my adulthood and I have quite a number of friends from various backgrounds because I do not choose friends based on their cultural backgrounds. However, I believe in genuine friendship and as soon as I detect that one is not a true friend, I drop them. To me, a friend should be like family that is always there for one in their better and tough days and moments. Out of this belief, I have helped a number of friends both in and out of school and shared with them some of my innermost secrets. I too have benefited from the loyalty of these friendships.

Further, I follow my decisions and promises with actions as I believe that it is through actions that one can solve their problems and meet their life goals. This virtue has helped me accomplish many of my life’s endeavors especially in my academic life. For example, since my middle school level, I decided that I would not consume television content during examination periods but maximally concentrate on the exams. I have kept to this decision and have thus posted good grades all through because I always have enough time to prepare for exams. I also know that keeping promises is one of the best ways of keeping relationships alive and healthy. I normally do all it takes to keep a promise irrespective of who I make it to. I do keep even as simple a promise as that of sharpening my younger sister’s drawing pencil every morning before she goes to school.

I am an open-minded Christian who values relationships and I act on my decisions and promises. I am accommodative to diverse views and opinions even when they sharply contrast with mine. I pursue my life goals and keep relationships through action. I also have many friends since I believe that genuine friendship is highly beneficial to humans. This personality and values enable me to live a fulfilling life as I am capable of accomplishing my goals and at the same time live harmoniously with others.

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The False Narrative of Settler Colonialism

The rise of an academic theory and its obsession with Israel

O n October 7 , Hamas killed four times as many Israelis in a single day as had been killed in the previous 15 years of conflict. In the months since, protesters have rallied against Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. But a new tone of excitement and enthusiasm could be heard among pro-Palestinian activists from the moment that news of the attacks arrived, well before the Israeli response began. Celebrations of Hamas’s exploits are familiar sights in Gaza and the West Bank, Cairo and Damascus; this time, they spread to elite college campuses, where Gaza-solidarity encampments became ubiquitous this past spring. Why?

The answer is that, long before October 7, the Palestinian struggle against Israel had become widely understood by academic and progressive activists as the vanguard of a global battle against settler colonialism, a struggle also waged in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries created by European settlement. In these circles, Palestine was transformed into a standard reference point for every kind of social wrong, even those that seem to have no connection to the Middle East.

One of the most striking things about the ideology of settler colonialism is the central role played by Israel, which is often paired with the U.S. as the most important example of settler colonialism’s evils. Many Palestinian writers and activists have adopted this terminology. In his 2020 book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine , the historian Rashid Khalidi writes that the goal of Zionism was to create a “white European settler colony.” For the Palestinian intellectual Joseph Massad, Israel is a product of “European Jewish Settler-Colonialism,” and the “liberation” referred to in the name of the Palestine Liberation Organization is “liberation from Settler-Colonialism.”

Western activists and academics have leaned heavily on the idea. Opposition to building an oil pipeline under a Sioux reservation was like the Palestinian cause in that it “makes visible the continuum of systems of subjugation and expropriation across liberal democracies and settler-­colonial regimes.” When the city of Toronto evicted a homeless encampment from a park, it was like Palestine because both are examples of “ethnic cleansing” and “colonial ‘domicide,’ making Indigenous people homeless on their homelands.” Health problems among Native Americans can be understood in terms of Palestine, because the “hyper-­visible Palestine case …  provides a unique temporal lens for understanding settler colonial health determinants more broadly.” Pollution, too, can be understood through a Palestinian lens, according to the British organization Friends of the Earth, because Palestine demonstrates that “the world is an unequal place” where “marginalised and vulnerable people bear the brunt of injustice.”

Although Israel fails in obvious ways to fit the model of settler colonialism, it has become the standard reference point because it offers theorists and activists something that the United States does not: a plausible target. It is hard to imagine America or Canada being truly decolonized, with the descendants of the original settlers returning to the countries from which they came and Native peoples reclaiming the land. But armed struggle against Israel has been ongoing since it was founded, and Hamas and its allies still hope to abolish the Jewish state “between the river and the sea.” In the contemporary world, only in Israel can the fight against settler colonialism move from theory to practice.

T he concept of settler colonialism was developed in the 1990s by theorists in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., as a way of linking social evils in these countries today—such as climate change, patriarchy, and economic inequality—to their origin in colonial settlement. In the past decade, settler colonialism has become one of the most important concepts in the academic humanities, the subject of hundreds of books and thousands of papers, as well as college courses on topics such as U.S. history, public health, and gender studies.

Read: The curious rise of settler colonialism and Turtle Island

For the academic field of settler-colonial studies, the settlement process is characterized by European settlers discovering a land that they consider “terra nullius,” the legal property of no one; their insatiable hunger for expansion that fills an entire continent; and the destruction of Indigenous peoples and cultures. This model, drawn from the history of Anglophone colonies such as the U.S. and Australia, is regularly applied to the history of Israel even though it does not include any of these hallmarks.

When modern Zionist settlement in what is now Israel began in the 1880s, Palestine was a province of the Ottoman empire, and after World War I, it was ruled by the British under a mandate from the League of Nations. Far from being “no one’s land,” Jews could settle there only with the permission of an imperial government, and when that permission was withdrawn—­as it fatefully was in 1939, when the British sharply limited Jewish immigration on the eve of the Holocaust—they had no recourse. Far from expanding to fill a continent, as in North America and Australia, the state of Israel today is about the size of New Jersey. The language, culture, and religion of the Arab peoples remain overwhelmingly dominant: 76 years after Israel was founded, it is still the only Jewish country in the region, among 22 Arab countries, from Morocco to Iraq.

Most important, the Jewish state did not erase or replace the people already living in Palestine, though it did displace many of them. Here the comparison between European settlement in North America and Jewish settlement in Israel is especially inapt. In the decades after Europeans arrived in Massachusetts, the Native American population of New England declined from about 140,000 to 10,000, by one estimate . In the decades after 1948, the Arab population of historic Palestine more than quintupled, from about 1.4 million to about 7.4 million. The persistence of the conflict in Israel-Palestine is due precisely to the coexistence of two peoples in the same land—­as opposed to the classic sites of settler colonialism, where European settlers decimated Native peoples.

In the 21st century, the clearest examples of ongoing settler colonialism can probably be found in China. In 2023, the United Nations Human Rights office reported that the Chinese government had compelled nearly 1 million Tibetan children to attend residential schools “aimed at assimilating Tibetan people culturally, religiously and linguistically.” Forcing the next generation of Tibetans to speak Mandarin is part of a long-­term effort to Sinicize the region, which also includes encouraging Han Chinese to settle there and prohibiting public displays of traditional Buddhist faith.

China has mounted a similar campaign against the Uyghur people in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. Since 2017, more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in what the Chinese government calls vocational training centers, which other countries describe as detention or reeducation camps. The government is also seeking to bring down Uyghur birth rates through mass sterilization and involuntary birth control.

These campaigns include every element of settler colonialism as defined by academic theorists. They aim to replace an existing people and culture with a new one imported from the imperial metropole, using techniques frequently described as genocidal in the context of North American history. Tibet’s residential schools are a tool of forced assimilation, like the ones established for Native American children in Canada and the United States in the 19th century. And some scholars of settler colonialism have drawn these parallels, acknowledging, in the words of the anthropologist Carole McGranahan, “that an imperial formation is as likely to be Chinese, communist, and of the twentieth or twenty-­first centuries as it is to be English, capitalist, and of the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries.”

Yet Tibet and Xinjiang—­like India’s rule in Kashmir, and the Indonesian occupation of East Timor from 1975 to 1999—­occupy a tiny fraction of the space devoted to Israel-­Palestine on the mental map of settler-colonial studies. Some of the reasons for this are practical. The academic discipline mainly flourishes in English-­speaking countries, and its practitioners usually seem to be monolingual, making it necessary to focus on countries where sources are either written in English or easily available in translation. This rules out any place where a language barrier is heightened by strict government censorship, like China. Just as important, settler-colonial theorists tend to come from the fields of anthropology and sociology rather than history, area studies, and international relations, where they would be exposed to a wider range of examples of past and present conflict.

But the focus on Israel-­Palestine isn’t only a product of the discipline’s limitations. It is doctrinal. Academics and activists find adding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to other causes powerfully energizing, a way to give a local address to a struggle that can otherwise feel all too abstract. The price of collapsing together such different causes, however, is that it inhibits understanding of each individual cause. Any conflict that fails to fit the settler-colonial model must be made to fit.

I srael also fails to fit the model of settler colonialism in another key way: It defies the usual division between foreign colonizers and Indigenous people. In the discourse of settler colonialism, Indigenous peoples aren’t simply those who happen to occupy a territory before Europeans discovered it. Rather, indigeneity is a moral and spiritual status, associated with qualities such as authenticity, selflessness, and wisdom. These values stand as a reproof to settler ways of being, which are insatiably destructive. And the moral contrast between settler and indigene comes to overlap with other binaries—­white and nonwhite, exploiter and exploited, victor and victim.

Until recently, Palestinian leaders preferred to avoid the language of indigeneity, seeing the implicit comparison between themselves and Native Americans as defeatist. In an interview near the end of his life, in 2004, PLO Chair Yasser Arafat declared, “We are not Red Indians.” But today’s activists are more eager to embrace the Indigenous label and the moral valences that go with it, and some theorists have begun to recast Palestinian identity in ecological, spiritual, and aesthetic terms long associated with Native American identity. The American academic Steven Salaita has written that “Palestinian claims to life” are based in having “a culture indivisible from their surroundings, a language of freedom concordant to the beauty of the land.” Jamal Nabulsi of the University of Queensland writes that “Palestinian Indigenous sovereignty is in and of the land. It is grounded in an embodied connection to Palestine and articulated in Palestinian ways of being, knowing, and resisting on and for this land.”

This kind of language points to an aspect of the concept of indigeneity that is often tacitly overlooked in the Native American context: its irrationalism. The idea that different peoples have incommensurable ways of being and knowing, rooted in their relationship to a particular landscape, comes out of German Romantic nationalism. Originating in the early 19th century in the work of philosophers such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried Herder, it eventually degenerated into the blood-­and-­soil nationalism of Nazi ideologues such as Richard Walther Darré, who in 1930 hymned what might be called an embodied connection to Germany: “The German soul, with all its warmness, is rooted in its native landscape and has, in a sense, always grown out of it … Whoever takes the natural landscape away from the German soul, kills it.”

For Darré, this rootedness in the land meant that Germans could never thrive in cities, among the “rootless ways of thinking of the urbanite.” The rootless urbanite par excellence, for Nazi ideology, was of course the Jew. For Salaita, the exaltation of Palestinian indigeneity leads to the very same conclusion about “Zionists,” who usurp the land but can never be vitally rooted in it: “In their ruthless schema, land is neither pleasure nor sustenance. It is a commodity … Having been anointed Jewish, the land ceases to be dynamic. It is an ideological fabrication with fixed characteristics.”

In this way, anti-Zionism converges with older patterns of anti­-Semitic and anti­-Jewish thinking. It is true, of course, that criticism of Israel is not inherently anti-­Semitic. Virtually anything that an Israeli government does is likely to be harshly criticized by many Israeli Jews themselves. But it is also true that anti-­Semitism is not simply a matter of personal prejudice against Jews, existing on an entirely different plane from politics. The term anti­-Semitism was coined in Germany in the late 19th century because the old term, Jew hatred , sounded too instinctive and brutal to describe what was, in fact, a political ideology—­an account of the way the world works and how it should be changed.

Wilhelm Marr, the German writer who popularized the word, complained in his 1879 book, The Victory of Judaism Over Germanism , that “the Jewish spirit and Jewish consciousness have overpowered the world.” That spirit, for Marr, was materialism and selfishness, “profiteering and usury.” Anti-­Semitic political parties in Europe attacked “Semitism” in the same way that socialists attacked capitalism. The saying “Anti-­Semitism is the socialism of fools,” used by the German left at this time, recognized the structural similarity between these rival worldviews.

The identification of Jews with soulless materialism made sense to 19th-century Europeans because it translated one of the oldest doctrines of Christianity into the language of modern politics. The apostle Paul, a Jew who became a follower of Jesus, explained the difference between his old faith and his new one by identifying Judaism with material things (­the circumcision of the flesh, the letter of the law) and Christianity with spiritual things—­the circumcision of the heart, a new law “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Simon Sebag Montefiore: The decolonization narrative is dangerous and false

Today this characterization of Jews as stubborn, heartless, and materialistic is seldom publicly expressed in the language of Christianity, as in the Middle Ages, or in the language of race, as in the late 19th century. But it is quite respectable to say exactly the same thing in the language of settler colonialism. As the historian David Nirenberg has written, “We live in an age in which millions of people are exposed daily to some variant of the argument that the challenges of the world they live in are best explained in terms of ‘Israel,’” except that today, Israel refers not to the Jewish people but to the Jewish state.

When those embracing the ideology of settler colonialism think about political evil, Israel is the example that comes instinctively to hand, just as Jews were for anti-Semitism and Judaism was for Christianity. Perhaps the most troubling reactions to the October 7 attacks were those of college students convinced that the liberation of Palestine is the key to banishing injustice from the world. In November 2023, for instance, Northwestern University’s student newspaper published a letter signed by 65 student organizations—­including the Rainbow Alliance, Ballet Folklórico Northwestern, and All Paws In, which sends volunteers to animal shelters—­defending the use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This phrase looks forward to the disappearance of any form of Jewish state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, but the student groups denied that this entails “murder and genocide.” Rather, they wrote, “When we say from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, we imagine a world free of Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-­Blackness, militarism, occupation and apartheid.”

As a political program, this is nonsensical. How could dismantling Israel bring about the end of militarism in China, Russia, or Iran? How could it lead to the end of anti-Black racism in America, or anti-Muslim prejudice in India? But for the ideology of settler colonialism, actual political conflicts become symbolic battles between light and darkness, and anyone found on the wrong side is a fair target. Young Americans today who celebrate the massacre of Israelis and harass their Jewish peers on college campuses are not ashamed of themselves for the same reason that earlier generations were not ashamed to persecute and kill Jews—because they have been taught that it is an expression of virtue.

This essay is adapted from Adam Kirsch’s new book, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice .

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