Backpack Paper

Backpack Paper
Grand Canyon University: COM 100
03/15/2015

Write a 500-750 words paper that discusses these influences on you and your identity or selfconcept. Include the following:

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1. Who are you and what are you, honestly?

I am a Partner, a lover, a Father, a son, a brother, a friend. I am a Christian and am not ashamed
of my religious views. I am also proud of my heritage as I am half Cherokee on my fathers side
and half Sioux on my mothers side.
2. What do you currently think and feel about yourself?
I consider myself to be caring and supportive of others. I am kind-hearted and am willing to give
of myself, my time or my possessions in order to help another in need. I am not a political person
in nature, however, I am strong supporter of our individual rights and freedoms. As Christian I
have changed my life and outlook for the better. I realize that life here on Earth is what you make
of it and we are all faced with choices that direct and influence our individual lives. I further
contemplate my choices as they will have an effect on my afterlife and currently effect my
friends and family. I thank God I am not the person I used to be, I am comfortable with who I am
today but continually strive to be a better person a more Godly man.
3. What experiences have affected the development of your self-concept?
As a child I was born club footed and spent many year in and out of hospitals having surgery,
during this time I also had Lymphoma and was a St Judes child. This had a great impact on my
life in many ways. It made me more compassionate of others pain, feelings and emotions. It
turned me into a fighter and made me a stronger individual. Spending so much time in a hospital
also allowed me to see life and death and I learned to pray early on and built a strong relationship
with the God of my understanding. I also learned early on the importance and strength found in
the bond of family and have carried that into my adult life.
4. Who has influenced the development of your self-concept?

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There probably has been too many influences in my life to name them all but the most important
ones would be my Mother Elizabeth, my two sisters Anna and Berti, my brother JD, a woman we
lovingly called Big Momma, my pastor Pastor Keyes, and my Son Will. Those named
previously are the ones who had most influence as I lived with and had daily contact with.
People like those I went to school with, neighborhood friends growing up and local communities
I resided in throughout my years have also played a part in influencing my thoughts and choices.
5. What would you consider to be the major influences in shaping your self-concept?
I think the most important influence in shaping my self-concept would be my faith and my
beliefs. I am a Christian and believe in the Bible. I try to live by the Ten Commandments and to
the best of my ability. I try to treat others as Id like to be treated. I admire and follow a few
athletes that use their popularity to assist and encourage people to be better individuals.
6. What aspects of your current self-concept do you appreciate?
I appreciate that I am a motivated, giving and caring individual. I genuinely care about my fellow
people. I will listen to people share their problems or situations, I will offer advice without
judgment. I will try to help others by offering my services without any expectations in return
knowing that one day I will be rewarded. I will part with or give up something if I feel there is
someone who needs what I have more than I do. It may be something I can replace or have more
than I need.
7. What aspects would you like to change?
If I were to want to change something about myself I would choose to change my health and
specifically my weight. I would want for myself to be more disciplined in my food choices and
my cooking. I would like to have a more biblical outlook on my body, to treat it as a temple. As I
have aged I have knowingly become slack with my health. I do not eat healthy or well, I do not

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pay attention to portion control, calories, starches or fats. I have recently looked at old pictures
and have seen how I have let myself go and I now have a new commitment to try harder. I now
value my health as I do my life.
8. What stands in the way of changing your self-concept?
I am disabled, I have chronic pain and arthritis in my ankles and knees and hip. It is hard for me
to get around, and I had grown accustomed to using it for an excuse when I have really gotten
comfortable being lazy. I just this month bought a gym membership at the local YMCA and have
a personal trainer. I have come to the conclusion the only one who is able to change me is me.
The hardest thing with the new process of change is realizing it took a long while to get where I
am and the reversing process back to health will not happen overnight. I need to be kind and
loving with myself and allow myself the time it will take. In the mean time I praise and
acknowledge my efforts.
9. How does your current self-concept affect the ways in which you communicate?
I dont feel that it hinders me in any way. I feel that it allows me to have a compassion for those
who are struggling with health issues and those who are going through changes. I feel that it has
given me more determination to face things head on and to share this. I often tell people that not
dealing with things in the beginning will only make it harder when you are faced with it again
down the road. I also try to convince others that you are never alone when dealing with an issue
first I encourage everyone to pray and ask Gods assistance and then remind them that there are
numerous people facing many challenges and the more people like myself can communicate
their challenges the more it can influence and encourage others.

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Define perception and explain how perception influences communication in general. This
includes defining the key components of perception and providing one to two scholarly
references to support your explanation of its role in human communication.
We learned in this weeks lesson the way in which someone uses body language, facial
expressions and the tone in which something is said have a big influence on how a listener
perceives a message (Alder). Words in general have no meaning except for the context in which
they are used. We derive our information from the deliverer and how they present to us. Our
perceptions are based on our senses and past experiences, things we like or have disliked, as well
as things we want or need (DeVito). I also liked learning about responsibility and attribution. I
never really thought about why I feel certain ways about the actions of others, until I learned that
my opinions and views had a lot to do with how I perceived their intentions. There are factors
that are involved with intentions like if they were intentional, unintentional or if they always
behaved the same way in every situation

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Reference:
Adler, R. B., & Rodman, G. R., & duPr, A. (2014). Understanding human communication (12th
ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
De Vito J., 2009. The interpersonal communication Book, 12th Edition, Pearson, NY