Identity and the sympathetic

Joker said, “Everybody just yells and screams at each other, nobody’s civil anymore. Nobody thinks what it’s like to be the other guy. ” This is the quote of Joker, who is considered as a supreme villain in Disney. He is an example of a person who has an outstanding identity, and he is so different that everybody is shunning him. He is not wrong, so is everyone, this is just the problem of observing to understand, and accept the difference from everyone. This is one circumstance of argument created by conflict about identity, and in this unit, I have a chance to go more in-depth about this topic, and some categories around it. However, before this unit, I didn’t sit down to think about what my identity is, especially what has shaped me now. From my point of view, I think everyone should know about their identity, and from that, they can choose and fill the things suitable for them. Identity is what defines people’s uniqueness. This is a broad term, but what I'm attempting to say is how a person is different while yet similar to others. It is indeed a comprehensive scale of how we identify each other based on a variety of factors. Such as physical appearance; characteristics; behavior; personality; thoughts; how people express themselves; or what they believe in; and more. Therefore, in this essay, I will go over three artifacts that represent three different aspects of my identity. Firstly, I found that I’m more fortunate than the others at the same age, or even older than me because I know what I want to pursue. The little logo in this picture is the combination of all the things that embody my passion, and it is obviously shown that I’m a music lover. This is something above the iceberg since many of my friends recognized how much I love music. It became an essential part of my life, and has the superpower to make me forget the time. I can listen to music, and do several activities related to music, like dancing, singing, or playing instruments. Sometimes I neglect to study the major subjects, in particular Science, I&S, Math or English just to take meticulous care of my performance in my music class. It is the reason for me to keep working, and get inspiration in life every time I lose motivation, or feel stressed about the anxious things happening in my life. My first priority is to listen to music to “heal my soul”, maybe it’s just temporary but it has helped me a lot. Furthermore, besides listening to the melody of the song, I am particularly interested in the mellifluous message that the singer wants to send within their song. Personally, expressing ideas in words is an art, but expressing ideas in words through music is indeed on another level. In my opinion, it's different from getting immersed in the melody of a song. Because when I really pay attention to the lyrics, every time I listen to it, it brings me different emotions and thoughts when I play the song at different stages in my life. Definitely, these can show that I can not live without music and I can not imagine how my life would be without music. Secondly, without a doubt, I can tell that in my teenage years, and especially during this Covid epidemic, the iPhone is something that is indispensable in my daily life. As well as it also represents me the most explicitly because my abilities are similar to the iPhone features. Since many of them have been shown out and already been used or used regularly by me. Even so, I believe there are some left potential abilities that have not been exploited yet. I don't know where to start, but I know how to deal with them. Also, I'm still on the way to learning and always try my best to up-date myself through the time like an iPhone. Moreover, almost all of my thoughts and perspectives are mostly formed by the iPhone. Because we all know that this era is in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where the technologies have a substantial stride. In addition, I’m not a book-lover, people always say that books are the treasure of knowledge, and I am not denying that. I found I acquire knowledge better through listening, then it will gradually form faith in me. I usually listen to the podcast or watch the blogs on my iPhone to understand and have wider perceptions about certain topics. Additionally, I’m always scrolling on Instagram to get inspiration, along with learning some tips about healing and handling situations that relate to psychology. For instance how to overcome stress/anxiety, what we can say to a friend when they are not feeling good, etc. Ultimately, people only get to know me through my appearance, what I show out, or talk with me whereas no one has understood my real me, and maybe me too. Therefore, I can tell that the iPhone represents my abilities above the iceberg, and also below the iceberg, too. These reasons can prove why I learn the most from my iPhone, and it is also my companion. Last but not least is my recent school, AISVN. AISVN is the third school that I transferred to over my learning years. This is where I have the most lessons for myself and have a great influence on my identity. A part of me is American ideology while I’m learning at AISVN. As I can learn in the IB curriculum, I had the opportunity to form many good characteristics from the IB Learner Profile Attributes. This will help me a lot when I grow up. They are the broad range of skills and traits that are needed when I work and behave as a good citizen, and most of all is for my own. In addition, it also provides an international-mindedness, helping us to think big, and take action for positive change in the world. Furthermore, compared to my peers who are learning at public school, I am way more fortunate than them. I know that the public schools are very strict on learning and chiefly is theory. They usually don’t let the student be creative, and speak up their opinions. About me, I’m not pressured about learning and don’t have the thought that learning is everything. I have to study well, and have a high score so that I can attend a good college, and have a stable job. No! In AISVN, I can experience many different categories, for instance, sports, music, performing, …; or work in big organizations like MUN and Ambassadors. These help me to get to know myself more by having a guess about what my strengths and weaknesses are without being pressured about grades. From that, I can find what my passion is and focus on pursuing it. In spite of studying in an environment that is almost entirely English, still, I’m not fading of Vietnamese culture inside me. I can still keep my Vietnamese manners since I live and communicate most with the Vietnamese community. For instance, my vocative and behaviors will be different based on age or the role in a big family, like elders, adults, peers or smaller kids, etc. Moreover, at AISVN, the school set up several blocks in a week for us to learn Vietnamese, especially subjects like Literature, Geography, and History. Hence, I still have a chance to engage in our mother language, and my love for my country will not be eroded. This is my identity that is above the iceberg because everyone who looks at me or has conversations with me will notice that I’m a combination of American and Vietnamese. They are a bit complex but all of these have formed my characteristics today; make me different from the other one. To conclude, these are the three most important values that have shaped my life recently. I think each individual of us has our own unique identity. Maybe, there is someone that is too different from our perspective, or our usual behaviors but don’t rush to reflect and make judgments on them. Because we don't know “much” about them, and we are not them so we will never know what they had going through. Therefore, be empathetic, try to observe deep enough and long enough to understand each other. Then, our world will be a better place of optimism!