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This Is Me: Universitatea Petrol-Gaze Ploieşti Master Concepte Şi Strategii de Comunicare Interculturală

This document is a personal reflection by Cristina Adriana Olaru about her identity. She discusses how her identity is complex and multifaceted, shaped by many life experiences and influences. Some key influences include the death of her grandmother at age 10, her high school experience, jobs she has held, and her religious faith. She describes herself as intelligent, pragmatic, and selectively social. Overall, she views her identity as continually evolving based on her experiences and interactions.

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Adriana Stefan
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133 views

This Is Me: Universitatea Petrol-Gaze Ploieşti Master Concepte Şi Strategii de Comunicare Interculturală

This document is a personal reflection by Cristina Adriana Olaru about her identity. She discusses how her identity is complex and multifaceted, shaped by many life experiences and influences. Some key influences include the death of her grandmother at age 10, her high school experience, jobs she has held, and her religious faith. She describes herself as intelligent, pragmatic, and selectively social. Overall, she views her identity as continually evolving based on her experiences and interactions.

Uploaded by

Adriana Stefan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIVERSITATEA PETROL-GAZE PLOIEŞTI

MASTER CONCEPTE ŞI STRATEGII DE COMUNICARE INTERCULTURALĂ

This is me

Profesor : Oana Smoleanu

Masterand : Cristina Adriana Olaru

CSCI, An II, Grupa 7

PLOIEŞTI

2010
This is me

We are always in search of identity, pretending we are defined by this or


that, because we go with a trend or we oppose it. In reality, identity is more complex than
that, it is multifaceted and built in time. Identity is not our name, it is who we are. We can
improve it, but there are traits we can never change. A person can look their entire life for
an identity, and feel they cannot define it completely. This is my case. First of all, I
cannot have a full identity because I am young and there are numerous experiences I have
not had. Secondly, I have a very complicated life, and I feel that I am a part of everything
I do, and I do too much.

If I were to describe myself, I would say I am Adriana, I am 24, and I am


Romanian. I have dark brown hair and brown eyes. I am Christian and straight, and I am
proud of it. But I am sure there are thousands of other girls in the world whose name is
Adriana, who are 24, who have brown hair and brown eyes, and who have more things in
common with me. So I cannot say that this is my identity. It does not make me different. I
probably feel this way because I only associate my identity with my physical aspect or
age in a small degree, as a result of the frequent changes that take place.

As I have mentioned earlier, I believe that my identity is made up by


everything I live. It does not lay in the clothes or make-up I wear, even though I have a
distinctive way of dressing and of applying make-up. My desire is to blend, not to stand
out in a negative way because I am too flashy. If I am to be noticed, then I wish to be
noticed for my discretion and distinction.
The first point in my life that contributed to my being the person I am now
was the death of my grandmother when I was 10 years old. That year I spent very much
time on my own, and I decided to break every single rule my parents had imposed on me
until then. Before that moment, I would take for granted everything they said. After it, I
took my own decisions, which were good or bad, but they were my own, and that gave
them value.

Another important factor in polishing my identity was highschool. I was


lucky enough to go to an excellent highschool, where I met interesting people and I learnt
a great number of things, not only from the educational perspective. It was an honor for
me to go to the same institution where important people studied, it made me feel valuable
and intelligent. It was where I had my first contacts with the world of the adults, the real
world, as I like to name it.

Having a job made me grow further, because along with it came


responsibilities. I was only 19 when I had my first job, and I will never forget my first
day of work. I was too stiff and nervous, and I keep it in mind to avoid being like that in
the future. Now I am more relaxed, I do everything not out of pleasure, but out of duty,
and I do it well enough. When I was younger, I was a perfectionist with high standards,
but as I grew up, I realized you cannot always be perfect, and I have to be more tolerant.
Nowadays, I am acting according to these new principles. I have adapted very well to my
new working environments, and I make a great team with my colleagues. I have the
abilities of a leader, and sometimes I take the reins, but I also know to follow orders when
necessary. Most importantly, I try to have a good relationship with all my colleagues, and
to keep my promises always.

Most of my work evolves in the creative and intellectual areas, and this can
be said to be my trademark. I have always been full of ideas and too talkative. But I also
have this capacity of turning everything funny and getting away with it when I blunder.
The hours spent reading and documenting have certainly had their influence on me, as
well as the people I have met. The way I see it, identity is like one of those disco globes
covered in hundreds of glass pieces. The core belongs to me, but it is also a mixture of
everything and everyone I deal with. The surface is polished by external factors.
Psychologically speaking, I am very intricate, and I am the one to admit it.
When things are not complicated, I turn them that way. I am generally a calm, cerebrally-
governed person, but one time a month I am extremely emotional, and therefore easy to
hurt to irritate. Sometimes I wake up with an incredible thirst for life, with the desire of
being better and of achieving great things. In spring I feel as if I were flourishing, all the
strong colors and the incenses make me feel that way. Almost every day, I am confronted
with situations where I have to make quick choices and to comfort someone. Sometimes,
I feel that the emotional burden is too big for me alone, but I will myself to go on. In the
last year or so, I have a deeper understanding of life. I became very close to religion, and
that made me have a completely different perspective on life and everyday happenings. I
strongly believe in the Christian doctrine, and in the fact that God watches over us. It
might sound silly, but I have felt His help at various moments. When I have a problem, I
begin by praying, and then I try to solve it the best way.

If I were to set myself into a typology, it would be achievement, because I


always live up to the choices I make about my identity. I always stand by my ideas, and
defend my point of view. Even when I am wrong. When I decide something, I consider
the advantages and potential disadvantages, so that I know beforehand what awaits me.
This way, I have no regrets and I am not upset if I fail, because I knew from the
beginning it could happen. What makes me happy is the fact that I tried. I am not one to
accept defeat easily, though. Sometimes I try to cheat and turn the result in my favor.
Sometimes it works. It is probably the result of the manipulation strategies I have studied
or learned about. Since I can remember, I have manipulated people into doing what I
want, the easy or the hard way.

From a social point of view, I would describe myself as selectively


adaptable, and, at the same time, secluded. There have been events in my life that proved
me how wrong one can be about friends, and the lesson I learnt was not to be so gullible.
I can adapt to people coming from different environments, but only when I want to. As a
result of the education I have had, I am very selective when it comes to the people I
interact with. My circle of acquaintances includes people from politics, from the public
life, but also simple people, who have been less successful in life. I have noticed along
the years that I get along with boys better than girls, and that girls are jealous or envious
of me without having a solid reason. Boys seem to me more reliable, and more helpful.
However, lately I prefer the company of a very few people instead of that of many,
because I can discuss important topics with them. I have always been of the opinion that
it is better to have a couple of friends whom you can count on unconditionally than
having a dozen friends who refuse you under whatever pretexts.

Generally, I am perceived as an intelligent person. However, there have


been times when I was criticized for my ideas. They are not liked by everyone, because
not everyone can understand me. I am open to the new, to the original, to what others
reject for a reason or another. I am very pragmatic and I have a dose of cynicism, and I
never fight for lost causes. I do not always look for my own benefit, but I am satisfied
when some form of payment, moral or material, comes along the way. A simple “Thank
you” or “I like what you did” can brighten my day.

I am known for my relaxed attitude, and for encouraging everyone to


follow their heart. One of my guiding principles is that when one feels like doing
something, one should do it then, because later it might be too late.

I am aware that I am a person with qualities and flaws, and, consequently, I


have a self-esteem just in the right amount. I do not take it for granted that I am perfect or
brilliant, I know everything is a gift and I am only the instrument. Maintaining a moderate
degree of self-esteem helps me in the relationships with the others. I believe in myself,
but I try to be as objective as possible about my capacities.

An interesting detail about myself is that I have two names, and I


developed two personalities to match each. I am called both Cristina and Adriana. If I
were to make the distinction I would say that Cristina was the girl in me, who followed
the norms, who studied hard and who was naïve about every aspect of real life. She lived
in a fluffy world of her own, where everything was pink. On the other hand, I associate
the name Adriana with work, and with my maturing. She is a responsible woman, one
who is perhaps too cynical, but this is the consequence of the experiences she has been
through.

The best part was saved for the end. It is the part where my nationality, or
lack thereof, comes to the surface. I am one of the hamburger generation, and as such I do
not have a strong national consciousness. I have lived my childhood in a post-revolution
country, I have suffered privations, but I have also had access to more than the
generations before mine. Globalization is not a concept, but a reality, and we have lost
our identity as a people. Personally, I am against it, I think that we have valuable
traditions and great things to offer, we only lack good PR. On the whole, my opinion of
Romania and Romanians is negative, and I try as much as I can to be different from the
pattern. First and foremost, I need to please myself and match my standards. And barely
then I consider if it is worth following the norms of the society. Contemporary Romanian
society promotes non-values and wrong examples, and I strongly disagree.

All these details about myself, and some others, create my identity. This is
me. Adriana, 24, aspirant, believer, dreamer, imperfect, picky, occasionally greedy, lover
of arts, documentary watcher, traveler, daughter, girlfriend.

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