Based off my ranking I found it challenging to describe myself with the words given. In
my mind, I had a set of words at the ready. After examining the list, I realized that my words
were completely different from the ones listed, so I had to find words that were similar or words
that I felt better described myself.
The word I felt related the most to my reflected appraisal is quiet. Depending on the
people I am surrounded by I can find myself silent. Around very few people do I define myself
as talkative. To be specific there are only 3 people I find I can be myself around. Due to how I
was raised, it’s hard for me to accept people and see them as a true friend.
I chose nervous as the word to talk about in the discussion of social comparison.
Growing up I found myself nervous rather than confident most hours of the day. But in the 8th
grade I met someone who, still to this day, I have never been nervous around no matter the
situation. Even when they are wrong, they are completely confident. I’ve always wondered what
was going on in their mind for them to never show their fear, happiness, or sadness on the
outside. A situation where I saw this tested was in the 10th grade when I had a class with him. It
was a normal day until our teacher collapsed in front of us. Me and the rest of the students were
hysterical, we didn’t know what was going on. My best friend sprung up and aided the teacher he
knew exactly what to do since our teacher was having a seizure. He directed the rest of us on
what to do, and really calmed us all down. I didn’t even see him break a sweat. That moment was
one of the most nervous moments in my life because I thought my teacher was going to die.
In conclusion from the words and the entire assignment I learned more than I thought I
would about myself or at least how I feel others view me. Reflected appraisal and social
comparison are two great topics on the path of discovering who you are. Looking at the words
my best friend described me as, I feel good. At times I thought he viewed me as the complete
opposite. I have more confidence approaching certain things. I was honestly nervous writing this
paper , this is the first time I talked about that day and it felt good to finally talk about.