Self-Analysis My environment was not very stable growing up. The definition of “dysfunctional” definitely comes to mind when looking back on the family unit that I was raised with. However, I do recall that watching how others around me socialized and interacted taught me that there were other ways of living and loving and I was determined to learn them. From an early age, I learned in bible school to treat people the way I wanted them to treat me, ie. The Golden Rule. I also learned that regardless of how I was treated in my home life by my siblings and parental figures, I could CHOOSE to treat others differently. I always knew that the way my father believed he should speak, interact, care for and discipline us was not the right way. As a child, I watched my neighborhood friends interact with their families, and it opened my eyes to how a normal family treats one another. For instance, I recall a certain neighborhood boy who always smelled on the school bus. Other children were so cruel to him; I would listen to them taunt him every day. One day, I stood up and socked one of his bullies in the nose. From that day forward, Wyatt Burkett and I built a friendship based on loyalty and mutual respect. It is surprising that my ability to stand up for my beliefs caused more people to respond to me and become my friend. I learned that you have to stand up for what you know in your heart is the right thing to do and people will respond to that socially. According to Kegan and Lahey’s 3rd level of consciousness, The Socialized Mind was formed in my early years based on my interpersonal environment and also by how I identified more closely to the loving relationships I witnessed in other’s environments. There was a time when I was younger that I thought my mother was a wonderful, hard-working, loving person. I just never understood why I never saw her and why she never