Understanding self
Heather Hibbs
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
Instructor Cosma
April 24, 2016

For this paper, I chose to write about my own childhood. To be honest, I grew up like any average kid, and like most, I had my own individual personality, that which will be discussed later on whether my personality is because of nature or nurture, or what people say the biggest debate in human history. I was born on April 3, 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which I still reside to this day. I was the second child born, of two daughters, of which my sister is four years older than myself. I grew up in a town considered still to be Pittsburgh but was called Homewood, nowadays is a very unsafe area, or what is called the “ghetto”. My childhood was fairly normal, during the summer months we were constantly playing outside, whether it was riding bikes, playing kick ball or even hide and go seek. Back then, neighborhoods were safer, so there really was not any worrying from our parents, and when it was time to go in, all they had to do was call our names. Personally, I was more of the “tom boy” type so I had Matchbox cars and a basketball, etc. I most definitely did not have dolls, unlike my sister who was into playing with dolls and reading books. As I look back, my parents did not encourage many activities other than go play outside. Unless of course I was helping my dad work on the car. Adolescence to me seemed pretty easy going. I kind of turned into the “rebel teen”. People randomly say that I could have been acting out because of my parent’s divorce, but that did not phase me because they were better off apart. After I decided to stay in the house I grew up in with my mother, and my sister left with my dad, he really would not speak to me. Then after a year, my mother drove me crazy so I basically catered to his ego so I could live with