I believe that the events in my life are shaped by my environment and aid in the developmental of my future, both personally and professionally. I am not positive I would have understood this concept until I was subjected to various adult development theories as part of this course. In this paper, I will provide detail into a few of my key life experiences that aided in my development as an adult and will analyze these experiences utilizing adult development theories such as cultural influences and nature versus nurture. Analysis of the adult development theories from this class allows me to understand my past and establish goals for my future.
I was born in 1976 during a time where old family photos show my parents as happy and loving. However, the photographs do not tell the whole story. There was trouble in my parent’s marriage, and when I was five years of age, my sister was four years of age, my parents announced they were getting divorced. Through the years they have learned to be amicable to each other however at that moment, in the eyes and heart of a five year old, the divorce was anything but amicable. My parents chose to split custody of the children. I would live with my father, and my sister would live with my mother. In that moment I lost the childhood memories of growing up with a mom and my sister, and was forced to resort to every other weekend visits. My dad and I soon learned to be independent, but changes in my family structure, to include my dad losing his job twice, would serve as a negative environmental influence in my life. I visited my mother and sister every other weekend growing up. It was a strained relationship with my mother. Based on my