Identity Development in a Global Age

Because of my research orientation and personality perk of being incessantly curious, I am often quite progressive in my thinking. I see things not as they are but as they could be and love to empower others to do the same.

Although I enjoy being accepted, I am not afraid of being singular to help lead change in a positive way.

And I believe that now more than ever, we must recognize that we cannot delay the process of embracing radical changes which first require critical self-inspection.  So this portfolio was created with the essence of my own self-evolution. I hope this will be a tool that expresses more than an academic requirement or social media profile. In fact, I have the option of making all of my social media accessible through this one site, which I may plan to do in the future. Additionally, I took the opportunity to integrate faith and learning here, as it is an essential aspect of my identity, that should not be overlooked even if not required.

Overall, I attempted to summarize who I am becoming in my journey as an individual and life long learner.

I observed that this assignment has helped me to recognize my identity and development of strengths and areas for growth in this global age. 

This personal journey has given me an outward perspective.

So now as I consider that we are living in a global era, where the flux of an ever-changing society cannot be stymied by outdated and traditional modes of operation, I recognize that we can no longer exist in a networked, technologically advanced world by brick and mortar means alone. We must stop ourselves from saying "I don't know how to do this" and the accompanying fear that halts us from taking a plunge into a deep mysticism of the unknown. Burn and crash though we might, we must be willing to fail and repeat the process until we learn how. But we can no longer suffer ourselves the loss of crucial moments in our lifetime by an unwillingness to try.

While being ushered into an unknown future, we may be whisked blissfully away if we refuse to accept and embrace the change that the newest generation has now established. 

If we fail to keep pace with inevitable and ensuing changes, there's always early retirement or the possibility of switching career fields completely.

But what we can no longer do, is to pretend that we can remain idle and on the back end of leading out in higher education.

The field itself demands that we recognize the need to change and experience growth for ourselves first and foremost, and then make outward movements to assist others in our society.

When cemented in a state of resistance to change, we are truly crippled by a lack of self-awareness and an objective looking at our own perilous state, in this our here and now.

So, we must ask ourselves:


Who are we really - in this global era?

Are we agents of change?

Or are we paralyzed by a fear to optimize all the nuances of our personal experiences and ratified envisioning of a new globalized technologically-advanced society?

If we allow fear to consume us, we will become less than inspirational - handicapped and dwarfed, until we wither away - While the world watches silently, and yet moves on.