Identity and Self Branding - Research Paper Example

Identity and Self Branding SECTION MY SUBCULTURE Nationality 2. Gender 3. Religion 4. Stage of life and education 5. Political affiliation SECTION 2: ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPERIENCE 1. Achieved an Award as a soccer player of the year in my senior school 2. Got an Award Scholarship for further studies abroad 3. Most obedient student- presented with an award as the most obedient student. 4. Hardship and struggle for school fees- had difficulty in raising school fees 5. Expectancies as a first born son- Demand of responsibility as the first born son. The personal achievement has been rooted on individual’s behavior in many communities. This, however, is an understatement since achievements in life revolve around a person identity and self-branding. Identity is defined as the conception and perception of one’s self-based on their social or cultural life. Self-branding, on the other hand, is the ability of a person to rank as either well behaved or not based on other peoples opinion. Identity and self-branding, therefore, provide a basic foundation of one’s success or failures based on the challenges encountered through the development. Subculture and personal experience tend to shape ones way of life because it defines consistency of one’s life circle based on cultures and social life. As Muslim, I grew up from a humble background of a family of three. Muslim life like any other has a distinction on responsibilities based on ones gender. Being the first born son and the only son in the family, a lot of responsibilities was bestowed on me. In our culture sons are considered the pillars of the family and are deemed to be providers and protectors as fathers in their marriage lives. Sons are viewed as a way of insurance to the parents since they are believed to in the future take care of their parents. Moreover, families with the higher number of sons than daughters help cut on financial needs as well protecting the family’s honor. The clarity of gender as the subculture is viewed differently according to different tribes in Muslim. There are tribes that value females than males and vice versa. The male qualities shaped my understanding and instilled the knowledge of self-awareness as far as gender is concerned. Religion in my tribe and probably the entire Muslim culture is taken with a lot of concern. Every child in my household was dedicated to prayers that took place at specific times throughout the day. Parents designate duties according to gender where sons were to be taught by their father and daughters by their mothers. My father had great knowledge and understanding of Koran and shared a lot about religion with me. Religious education due to the existence of Maktab was also taught in schools which placed emphasis in the mastering of the procedures and rituals of prayer. Religion provided me with the appropriate skills of understanding the need for obedience and respect for Allah. This further instilled a positive assumption about me by my elders and friends. There are breakdowns of how each life stage was built based on the family type. As the first son in the family, a lot was demanded of me. Taking care of my siblings when my parents were away and ran the family business in my middle age were some of the activities I performed. Education and studies also formed part and parcel of my life stages. My early life revolved around religious education for which was handled by my father most of the time I accompany him to the mosque to worship. In the mosque, a number of Qur’an studies were delivered especially to the young and mastering of the book was a necessity. The whole process and integration of my life into various stages equipped me with the knowledge of problem-solving and modeled me into a responsible being. My tribe traces its origin from Asia and currently settled in Qatar (Arab Middle East). Muslim as a whole is believed to have a heart of helping and caring for people. Our culture embraces the saying ‘it’s better to give than to receive”. This does not mean that my parents were well off and enjoyed making their money just to give it away. The heart of giving in Muslims is a way of accumulating more wealth as a reward from Allah. This act of giving built a strong foundation around me both at school and around my peers. As part of Nationality, Muslims are perceived to have the most respectable attire in the world. Our dress code, therefore, has diminished any judgments that could come from friends and the people around us. Political affiliation is yet another subculture that defines my culture. Though not taken with a lot of concern, politics according to Muslims should lie on Islamic culture and rules and slightly differs with the normal political operation. The whole idea tries to cultivate more on the idea of understanding politics according to Islam ways and what it constitute to be a Muslim. Subculture as an indicator of identity in my community paved ways for my achievements and experiences in life that helped shape my profession as well as opening ways for success. This has further proved as a source of self-branding for me in various places such as work place, school and among my peers. Soccer is considered a fun and enjoyable game in our culture, the one thing that kept me close to my friends was my love for soccer. The position as the top scorer of the year late in my senior school landed me an award for the best player of the year. This achievement coined some new individuals that wanted to identify with me. This was my first award, and its achievement gave me hope to achieve even more things in my carrier. My qualification did not end at the soccer level for I was also an achiever academically. Most of my schooling was coupled with hard work and aiming higher. Following the help I got from both my parents and teachers, I emerged as one of the beneficiaries for further studies abroad at a community college in Philadelphia. This opportunity increased my reputation among my friends and in the school. My internship came so fast owing to my good results at school and outstanding performance. The workplace seemed different based on the structures and the change in environment. The dress code changed and in this setting dressing was taken lightly by the employees and I never thought that was where my chance of award would emerge. A vote as the most presentable internship trainee impinged on me at the united nation empowerment center in Dubai. Though showered with numerous awards and praises some of the experiences I went through weren’t as favorable. There was a time of difficulty in raising my school fees and almost dropped out of school. As mentioned earlier my father back in the day was only a peasant farmer and operated a small business that the family survived on. This did not deter me from working as hard but encouraged me further. My father kept supporting me in every way and with the favor of Allah, I finished my high school Apart from the Hardship experience in raising my school fees, social life as a first born son was also demanding and a lesson as well. Much was expected of me in regards to acting as a role model and portraying high standards of self-discipline. Taking care of my siblings also took most of my time for it was my duty when my parents weren’t around. Two parts have been discussed in the study that are subcultures and personal experience. As far as personally experience is concerned subculture helped shape its achievements. Therefore subculture can be said to be dominant when it comes to the development of one’s branding. Intuitively, as explained in the context I believe I still portray the qualities as outlined and based on my personality, I perceive myself being in a position to helping g people. Branding of oneself may yield positive or negative results. A positive branding increases ones potentiality of being recommended for jobs or position. Moreover, positive branding provides a well and diversified understanding of an individual making people want to identify with them. Negative branding does not, however, make you stand out against your competitors. It’s advisable therefore for us to brand ourselves positively. \ Read More