I have found that through reading chapter two, my childhood/adolescence has definitely made me who I am today. Not to say I did not experience a good childhood, because I certainly did, but I dealt with some issues that I have been reflecting on lately. 

       My parents were very loving and caring towards me on a regular basis, and I could always count on them to be there for me no matter what. There were some moments however where I felt that one parent was being overly critical. I would say that the parenting style that was most often used was the authoritarian style. It did shock me to read the common results. Fear, vulnerability to stress, moodiness, and apprehension all sounded very familiar in my life. Even when I read that a lack of purpose was also a common result, it made sense. Now I would like to believe that I have improved in that area since I know what my goal is and where I want to go with my life. It did indeed take me a while to really figure it out, or even more so, do something about it. I feel that my fears of change and what lies ahead were always stopping me from reaching my potential. Constant thoughts of possible failure or working so hard for something and having be in vain haunted me. 

        I was able to relate to Helen's story. There have been multiple times in my life where I felt I had to be perfect and that I would purposely avoid trying to do new things, because I was afraid of failing. I am working on trying to improve that to this day. It is a challenge to work on something you have been accustomed to doing for so long. It almost becomes a bad habit, but it needs to be done. I strive to progress in life, so that's what I must do. Like Helen, I have continued my education and am very thankful that I did take the steps to do so, but I cannot say that it is easy for me to push aside the feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. It is an on-going process. 

       I was shocked while reading about the ego-defense mechanisms. I found myself thinking of examples in my life where I had used each one. Compensation and fantasy really fit well. Performing on stage is one of my favorite activities. I used to think that if I could force myself to perform in front of others, that I would be able to overcome my fear of shyness. This would help me to be more confident in front of others. Therefore, I became involved in the theater in school and outside of school. Believe it or not, it did help to some level. I realized that I could make myself confront my fears to overcome them. If I could not succeed in that more social area in my life, then I would attempt to do so on stage. Fantasy also played a huge part. I admit I was a bit of a day dreamer. I would imagine myself becoming famous and accomplishing all this great goals. It's a lot of fun to do so, but doesn't do any good for your future if you don't work towards these goals. If fear is stopping you from that, then that is a problem. 

        The Steinberg article brought up my curiosity about what does really make adolescents more prone to risk taking then adults. Of course I wasn't much of a risk taker compared to some other kids my age, but I have seen this in some of the adolescents I worked with at subway. What is even more interesting to me is that sometimes it seems there are some exceptions as well. My father in particular is always willing to take huge risks. He would climb to the top of a mountain and stand on the edge even if a bunch of people were yelling at him to get down because of the danger. I see now why this could be so. As a child he was not allowed to do certain things as a kid, especially the typical things that a child would enjoy. I speculate that this is why he now wants to make up for it in his adult life.