Autobiographical Essay: Who Am I?

1. Environment: I grew up in a very welcoming orthodox community mainly consisting of orthodox and non-orthodox Jewish men, women, and children. I myself am a white, orthodox, Jewish woman. My neighborhood from before the time I was born until my early young-adult-hood was made up of orthodox Jews until two secular families moved in. Although technically my house is in the Baltimore City boarder my community and school is not split into county and city. Meaning that it does not necessarily matter where you live, you can attend any private school you wished. I go to an all-girl private school that was set up by my community to specifically teach Jewish girls like myself.

2. Social Class Background: Based on level of education, occupation, residence, wealth, and income, I think that my family belongs to the upper middle class. The upper middle class is composed of people who are considered professional, own their own businesses, and are managers. They value deferred gratification (to postpone pleasures for now and save it for the future) and success in both education and occupation. My family values education; you must graduate high school and earn a college degree. We also value deferred gratification along with completing high school and pursuing a college degree. It may be derived from my background that one may assume that I grew up in an upper-middle class home. Both of my parents have graduated college, and my father gradated law school. He also has a Masters in Talmudic law. My father’s employment is as an attorney. Having an occupation of this standard also considered to be one that comes with high social prestige. Many of my neighbors had a high level of education and are well of. For example one of my neig...

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...achieve that success. Whatever it may be.

6. Diversity Consciousness: As I have stated previously, my religion shapes most of who I am and I am a firm believer in many of its teachings including treating others how you wish to be treated. My family comes from all over the world. The only continents my family has never lived is Australia and Antarctica. As result of this, my family has many traditions that most would assume do not fit with our skin color. For example, part of my family is from Spain and Morocco yet all of my family has pale skin and Caucasian features. I myself have been in situations where I was the whitest person in the room and would feel uncomfortable stares and poor treatment along with religious slurs. However, because of my upbringing I just felt like I had to prove that all the prejudice against me and my culture were indeed false.