Running Head: If You Dont Know, Now You Know

If You Don't Know, Now You Know

Jalen Vinson
Carman Ainsworth High School

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Abstract:
Throughout this paper, I tell you about my life, family, and heritage. I also tell you about
how i think i was affected by my environment and influence from my family. Through to the end
I tell you how I feel the different psychological perspectives i have been influenced by, without
knowing about them. Along with that, I tell you about how I feel about me as a person today.

Family History:

I was born at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI, on June 22nd, 1999. My mom was

twenty three years old when she had me. My mom and dad weren't together while I was growing
up, so I didn't really know my dad.
I come from a very diverse family. On my mom's side, my great-great grandma, Hattie,
was an Native American, African-American and Caucasian woman, who married an African
-American farmer named Joe. When they married in the 1920s, she was 13 and he was 19 years
old. Something that I found interesting is that on Ancestry.com, my great-great grandmother is
labeled as mulatto on the censuses from the early 1900s. They had 11 children together. In
1976, my great-great granddad was murder by his roommates two caucasian sons, because they
wanted the land that he owned in Arkansas. I think family issues like that are what make a family
grow stronger. My great grandmother, was the second to last child. She was born in 1941. I am

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close to her, she kept me while my mom worked when I was younger. On my dad's side, my
great grandfather was a Caucasian man. My great grandma was French, Native American and
African American. My grandmother, Linda, was born on September 25, 1941. My grandfather,
Dennis, was born on April 7, 1941. His ancestry is traced back to Louisiana. His father was a
man of Cherokee descent and his mom was African-American. He has a TON of siblings.
When I was younger, I was not the most well-behaved child. I was rambunctious,
talkative, had a slight case of ADHD and I didnt think before I said or did something. Looking
back today, I have realized that I gave my mom such a hard time! Once a week, she would get a
call saying that I wasnt listening and I wouldnt sit down or fighting. Around the age of 7, I
didnt understand why I was having such a hard time listening. Looking back, I can remember
being bullied because I was a little chubby, goofy kid with glasses. It was hard dealing with that,
on top of having an issue controlling my anger. It was a recipe for sugar cookies that came out to
be oatmeal raisin cookies, AKA: a disaster.
Being that my parents were not together, I didn't meet my dad until I was 8 years old.
When I met him, I gained a gang of siblings (10), all ranging in age from 23 to 6. Now that I am
older, I feel like I missed a lot of memories with my dad's family, because I didn't start
interacting with them until I was about 14. That affected me emotionally, it made me sad and
angry. I blamed my mom and my dad; I was too young to say I wanted to hang with my siblings.
I felt (and still do feel) like it is up to them to put the madness to the side and do what's best for
the children.
When I was in elementary, I used to see a Psychologist. I had anger issues that stemmed
from bullying. It's not that I was angry, I was just sick of everyone's

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bulls(ugar)h(oney)i(ced)t(ea). Being picked on is not fun. I try to keep myself away from people
that make fun of people in a malicious manner, because I know everyone is different and we all
go through different struggles. Throughout of MS and HS, I was/am a generally happy
individual, but everyone gets sad sometimes. I try to keep myself happy because tomorrow's not
promised.
Where Ive grown up has had an affect on who I am socially. Growing up on the North
Side of Flint, it was not the nicest area, but I had a satisfying childhood. Just because I grew up
in an African-American home doesnt mean I wasnt exposed to many different people and
cultures. Growing up, my grandmother would take me to work with her. Her boss was
homosexual. My moms uncle is married to a Filipino woman. When we moved over here by the
school, I began meeting middle eastern families and i learned that they arent all bad people
because they are different, along with homosexuals. Being that I was exposed to different
sexualities and ethnicities, that is a reason I dont judge. I dont care what you are, as long as we
can get along well. I do believe all people have a purpose on this planet.

Introspection:
In recent years, I think i have grown into an understanding, young man. The behavioral
perspective is the theoretical perspective in which learning and behavior are described and
explained in terms of stimulus-response relationships (oct. 6, 2016). Ive grown tremendously
over the years. I used to be a troublemaker. Today, I try hard to stay out of trouble, because i
know that i have no reason to have conflict.
Going to Carman Ainsworth has made me more understanding of different cultures,
because we are a very diverse school. Ive been introduced to Asian, African, Hawaiian and

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Middle Eastern people just to name a few. I have more of an understanding of what individuality
now. It may be overused, but everyone is NOT the SAME! Going to Carman has shown me that.
Along with that, I feel that I am very social. I never have a problem greeting anyone, even if I
didnt know them.
Friends have said that I am Goofy and entertaining (2016, 10, 6) or friendly and
amazing (2016, 10, 6). I cant help but agree. I think that a key to my happiness is keeping
people with good, positive energy around me. I am a firm believer that my social environment
affects how my mood is.
Am I proud of who I am? Yes. Is there room for improvement? ALWAYS! I think I am
an amazing human being, but that doesnt mean I cant improve. I want to be someone that
everyone knows they can come to for anything, because I will listen. I wanna be the GREATEST
HUMAN TO WALK ON EARTH.

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References:
Snell, Shenill (2016, 10, 6) Personal Interview
Vinson, Geraldine (2016, 10, 4) Telephone Interview
Vinson, JuWanda (2016, 10, 3) Personal Interview
Rushing, Taras Sr. (2016, 9, 30) Telephone Interview
Rushing Linda (2016, 10, 3) Personal Interview
Rushing, Dennis (2016, 10, 2) Personal Interview
Weston, TyAijia (2016, 10, 6) Telephone Interview
Arterberrie, Mary (2016, 10 6) Telephone Interview
Biggs, Khalil (2016, 10, 6) Telephone Interivew
Hurst, Melissa (2016, 10, 6) Behavioral, Cognitive, Developmental, Social Cognitive &
Constructivist Perspectives,
http://study.com/academy/lesson/behavioral-cognitive-developmental-social-cogn
itive-constructivist-perspectives.html