Questions About Me

1. How important have your early childhood experiences and relationships been in shaping who you are today?

My childhood experiences have greatly contributed to the person I am today. My personality reflects the free spirit that I was as a child; a child that would always ask questions and possess good intuition. An experience that I remember the best would be the birth of my younger sister when I was seven years old. At first, I was very unhappy with her entrance into my only-child world, but soon developed a healthy relationship with her. If I did not have her there as a child, I would never learn that the world does not revolve around me. The relationship with my sister has also taught me that cooperation and caring for others is an integral part of life itself. I have become a role model for her, and take that role very seriously since I want her to be able to follow in my footsteps.

2. Explain how the following factors have influenced who you are today: religion, ethnicity, gender, hometown/state, country.

Living in River Vale since I was five years old have greatly influenced who I am today. I feel as though I live in a bubble where I do not have to worry about finances or high crime or any other problems that are evident in other communities. As a young woman, my father thinks it is important for me to be very independent and pursue a career that will make me self-sufficient. He always tells me that I need to be independent in the future, but still rely on my husband for family support. There are not as many restrictions for the careers and decisions that women make nowadays; however there still tends to be inequality amongst the genders. Also, since I come from an Italian family, traditions are of extreme importance. We are all Roman Catholic so every holiday is meant to be celebrated with family and food. My uncles are extremely over protective of me because they hold very high standards for my future endeavors. They are very supportive of everything I do, and also tend to say exactly how they feel.

3. To what extent do you believe that you have made the important choices for yourself that have made you who you are today? To what extent do you feel that you are “the master of your own destiny?”

At this point in my life, I do not feel as though I have made many “adult decisions” just yet. Yes, I am in the process of preparing to further my education and pursue a career in my future, but I have not encountered a scenario where I have made a life changing decision. I do feel that I have a lot of control over my destiny because I am very driven as a person and will go after something that I want. But, I also think that fate cannot be controlled and causes things to happen for a reason.