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Personal Bioecological Model

By: Michelle Mercer

EAR-42-33611, Professor Maria C. Adams

May 30th, 2022

How have major changes throughout my life impacted my development? Immigrating to a new country? Moving homes? Read to find out!

Microsystem & Mesosystem

Microsystem

The microsystem; the things that children have direct contact with. This level has the greatest impact on children's development. What happens if two microsystems interact? Read more to find out!

  • My mother had the greatest influence on me growing up.
  • Having an absent father for the first five years of my life, she was the only one there to guide me during those times.
  • She showed me the importance of independence. To be self-reliant and self-sufficient. To be logical and motivated by reasoning, not emotions.
  • To this day, I value independence more than anything.

My Mother & I

  • Despite being Chinese, an element of my macrosystem, and valuing education, I believe that if not for my friend group I wouldn't have been as motivated pursue things I would've otherwise ignored.
  • This image is from an officer club meet for our club "Give-Back-Garden", where I am a historian. If not for them, not only would I have not likely have joined, but much less have been an officer and made many great friends. They taught me to value new experiences and to step outside of my boundaries.

My Friend Group

My Sister & I

  • When I came to America, I had no friends. I could barely even communicate with my stepdad. My mother was busy working, and so my sister became very important in my life.
  • She is 10 years older than me, so as a result, we didn't have much in common. However, she taught me to value myself. She taught me to not overwork myself and neglect my needs when I end up hyperfixated on something.

Mesosystem

My Mother & Sister

Mesosystem

  • While I have a good relationship with both my mother and sister today, it wasn't like this during my childhood. Because my sister is 10 years older than me, there is a generational gap between us.
  • As my English strengthened and my Chinese proficiency declined, it became more difficult for my mom and I to have things in common, so she would be closer with my sister. As a result, I became scared of interfering.
  • I was scared to join in conversations simply because of how strong their relationship was between each other compared to me.
  • I learned to respect conversations, to remain quiet, and if I spoke, it had to be quick.
  • For the first 5 years of my life, I was fatherless. When I was 5, my mother married my father, who is an American man. Many things changed after that, but when limited strictly to their relationship, there was a massive cultural divide over what they wanted me to do.
  • My mother emphasized education, independence, and hard-work, whereas my dad emphasized doing what I loved. Their clashing ideals led me to also be conflicted and unsure of what to really do.
  • It became a surprisingly positive conglomeration. I had several hobbies (writing, video editing, art, programming) that I pursued in my free time. Now, I want to pursue video editing and computer science as my majors for college. All from the split emphasis on both education, independence, and pursuing what I love.

My Parents' Marriage

Parent-Teacher Relationships

(Stock Image)

  • Unfortunately, my parents have rarely had a good relationship with my teachers. I was never a bad student; I got straight A's, got Honor Rolls, and never got in trouble with staff. However, my parents often complained to my teachers that the material was "too easy", demanding more difficult problems.
  • I began to understand that teachers giving outside material is outside of their curriculum and can be tedious, especially when I lived in a poor district.
  • As a result, I stopped telling my parents about what I learned in school. I stopped telling them about school events, even began to lie about peer relationships to keep them away from admin; even if it meant my own mental well-being was at risk.

Exosystem

Exosystem

The exosystem, a group of social structures that don't directly influence the child but still leave an impact. Dive in to see how my parents' jobs, friends, and social media exposure impacted my development!

My Mother's Online Job

My Father's Job

  • When my mother brought my sister and I to America, it was very difficult for her to find a conventional, sustainable job. We lived in a rural, racist-dwelling city at the time. She never got good education back in China, and her poor English at the time made even minimum-wage paying jobs deny her.
  • As a result, she sought out less conventional methods. She worked for Nu Skin, an otherwise pyramid scheme type market selling skincare products that she manipulated to expand to a Chinese audience where she packaged and resold products by day and night. I watched and helped her package. I watched her struggle with being a mother and sometimes regret coming to America because she was so occupied with improving our lives. All because she had a poor education and couldn't find an otherwise conventional job. It only motivated me to do better in school, so that I can do what my mother never managed to do but always dreamt of doing.
  • When my family arrived at America, my dad was working for the postal service. It was very far from where we lived then, so my dad would wake up before sunrise to leave for work, not returning until late evening.
  • Because I didn't see him often and whenever he got home, he would go to bed early to get ready for the next day. I didn't get to talk to him much until my mother's job made enough to let him retire.
  • For the longest time, I was scared of talking to him, simply because I never got the chance to properly interact with him. While I know that he had no choice but to work, it's without a doubt that his absence from home during those early years of living in America has caused me to naturally be somewhat distant from him.

Social Media

  • Social media has had a large impact on many people's development. In my case, I believe where it differs is that I was exposed to it from a very early age.
  • I pursued many passions and tried new things through learning them on YouTube. I saw how professional artists drew, and grew motivated to learn art myself. I watched how other video editors made short edits of my favorite TV series', and as a result, pursued video editing as well.
  • With it also came the well-known consequences of constant comparison, but I also believe that without it, I wouldn't have discovered the passions I have today. I learned them early on, which is what makes me seen as the "jack of all trades" by my friends today.

Chronosystem

Chronosystem

Moving from China to America

  • This image is of my stepdad visiting my family in China before him and my mom married. Moving from China to America when I was 5 changed my life completely. I'd barely gotten used to Chinese culture before having to adapt to American culture.
  • Moving from a high context culture, where communication didn't need to be explicit and everything felt warm and welcomed, into a low context culture where everyone demanded in-depth explanations for everything.

Moving from Victorville, CA to Eastvale, CA

  • This is a picture of my old house in Victorville, CA, where I lived when I first came to America. It was in a poor, impoverished area.
  • When my mom's business working in Nu Skin boomed, we moved from living in the lower-class to a comfortable middle-class. My parents were no longer constantly stressed about debt, but instead on what car to buy next. What designer purse to buy my sister; what brand of piano I should get; what color pool table to buy for my dad.

Macrosystem

Macrosystem

Middle-class

The macrosystem consists of how cultural aspects affect development.

How does my socio-economic status affect my values and beliefs? What about my ethnicity? Read more to find out!

  • Living in a middle class family has led me to prioritize education and college. I funnel my energy into doing good in my studies and taking AP and college courses to make higher education more accessible and to open more doors of career opportunities in the future.

Chinese-American

  • Being Chinese-American not only in society but at home had left me conflicted when I was younger. My mother, who I identify most closely with, urged me to focus only on education. On the other hand, my father and teachers, all who live by American cultural standards, told me to focus on my passions.
  • "Trust the process", as they say, and they were right. Despite the conflicting nature of these ideals in my youth, it's ended up putting me apart from everyone else. I have passions and hobbies, and I exercise these passions with the will and determination of my mother's Chinese ideals.
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