The Construction of Adolescence

In this week's reading, I found about 10 or 11 vocabulary words that I found important to the main focus of the article. These words include: theoretical thinking; tested knowledge; theoretical imagination; construction of adolescence; co-constructive perspective; meeting of the minds; interpsychological development; scaffolding; zone of proximal development; reciprocal transformation; and applied developmentalists. I believe that most of, if not all these words are essential to know in order to understand the construction of adolescence. Even though most of these terms are and can be used in a school setting, they can also be used in any setting of youth in society, whether it be their home life, extracurricular activities, and much more. In the article, Nakkula and Toshalis primarily focus on the aspect of authoring life stories. They say "... contributions to this constructive process are anything but random. The order and magnitude of coauthorship are critically important, even if the particular authors and their evolving roles cannot always be determined in a convenient manner" (Nakkula and Toshalis, 7). This means that it takes several different people to create an individual and shape them during adolescence, whether it be for the better or for the worse.

When coming up with my list of 10 people, I feel like I had a lot to think about. Even though I'm only 22 years old, I've been through a lot of things, one huge thing being my two open heart surgeries at two weeks old and seven years old. I also factored in things that I am most passionate about in my life, the biggest thing being my love for theater. With both of those being said my list is as follows: my mother Betty, my father John, my sister Rachel, my grandmother Ann, my great aunt Mary, my girlfriend Gianna, my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Campbell, my child care teacher Mrs. DiSano, my theater director Andrea, and my theater executive director Ann.

I have chosen to focus on my great aunt, Mary. My Aunt Mary is one of the most generous people that I have ever met in my life. She has always been generous towards my entire family as long as I can remember. My Aunt Mary has been one of my greatest supporters ever since my grandmother, her sister Ann passed away in 2006.  She has supported me throughout all three big aspects of my life (health, school, and theater) as well as many more aspects. She has been a watchful protector and silent guardian as I've gone through my life, making my own decisions, whether or not they were good ones. She has not only been one of the greatest coauthors of my life, but also an inspiration that I hope to become like one day. Here's to the best second grandmother anyone could ask for!