Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . Page 1

My Favorites . . . . . . . . . Page 2

Parents Letter . . . . . . . . . Page 3

My Family . . . . . . . . . Pages 4-6

Religion Pages 7-9

My Friends . . . . . . . . . Pages 10-12

Beauty . . . . . . . . . Pages 13-14

Memorabilia . . . . . . . . . Pages 15-16

Humor . . . . . . . . . Pages 17-18

Essay . . . . . . . . . Pages 19-28

Favorites

Elementary School
Movies: Star Wars, King Kong,
Foods: lasagna
Activities: Karate, Basketball, Football, Track











Middle School
Movies: Rambo, Saving Private Ryan, 300
Foods: Chinese Food,
Activities: Kayaking, Basketball, Track, Cross Country










High School
Movies: Devils Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes, Eurotrip
Foods: Toaster Strudel, Captain Crunch, Chipotle, Salisbury steak
Activities: Skiing, Shooting, kayaking, Cross Country, Track

Introduction

My name is Daniel Johnston; I was born on August the 2
nd
1996 in Washington DC. I
went to Beall Elementary School for grades one through five, Julius West Middle School for
grades six through eighth, and now I currently reside at Richard Montgomery High School, and
have now been going here for three years. I have run Cross Country, and Track for RM for the
past three years now, and I plan to graduate senior year and go on to college. I have a younger
brother named Ben, a younger sister named Leah, and a dog named Jack. This project had
allowed me to really go in depth and learn a lot about myself, and reflect on my past life.





Memorable Events

One of my best childhood memories that came to mind would be my familys week long
trip to Disney World. The trip took place back in the 6
th
grade, over Thanksgiving break. At this
age, this could have been the single most important trips that I had ever been on. It was my
first time on an airplane, and it was about a three and a half hour flight to Florida. During our
stay there we visited all of the different parks, and attempted to ride all of the good rides. Even
though this trip happened quite a while ago, there were some things that stuck out from the
trip. The first would be the place we stayed at, which was called the Caribbean Beach resort
which had a small water park, and an all you could eat breakfast. After eating dinner one night
at a 1950s styled drive in theater, we came out to a spectacular sight of lights, blanketing all of
the store fronts and fake snow falling from the roofs. At this time my grandma had torn her
ACL and required the use of a wheelchair which allowed us to get in front of all the rides that
she went on, which were not very many since she did not like rollercoasters. Overall the trip
was a great experience, however one of the worst parts about leaving was, when we arrived
back home none of us were wearing appropriate clothing, and it was very cold when we arrived.

A more recent trip that was very memorable to me was my trip to Colorado. This trip
occurred two summers ago with my kayaking team. This summers Junior Olympics were being
held in Colorado, and even though our team usually drives to our races this time we were going
to have to fly. This was now my second ever flying experience, and this time we were flying
into a different time zone, which did screw me up quite a bit when we got there. The flight
took about four hours, and by the time we landed there it was around midnight. Since there
were around 17 of us including our two coaches, one parent, and fourteen paddlers we rented
out this huge cabin house about an hour away from Denver. The next day we got up and
headed to race course where all of the different events were being held. However due to high
water levels the course had to be moved to a different location about 45 minutes from our
house. Besides the racing, during our stay we visited the city of Boulder, bought knives at
Spyderco, and ate bison burgers. We also saw Harry Potter 7, but no one thought that it was
any good and our one coach Borko, from Slovakia said that it was his worst experience in
America so far. A good majority of the time however was spent practicing, and near the end of
the trip most of our time was spent racing. Racing was split up over several days and
incorporated several different races, including a relay race, a downriver race, a traditional
slalom race, and a freestyle competition. The relay race had all of the competitors split up into
groups and required them to go down the course, make a gate on the way down, hand off the
boat to the next person, and then that person would run the boat back up to the top of the
course and repeat. The downriver race had us start at the top of the river, and they would send
down one person at a time on timed intervals and that person would have to paddle as fast as
they could for about 4 miles down the river. During the freestyle competition people would
have their chance to go into the hole and try to perform as many tricks as possible as the time
allotted. At the end of the competition our team did very well overall, and we won the team
trophy that is handed out every year to the team with the most points by the end of the
competition. By the end of the trip I had a very sad feeling about leaving, and I could say
honestly that most people also had the same feeling. Colorado was a great experience and it
allowed me to get out and explore something I had never experienced before.
Special People

Some very special people that have been a part of my life since I was born would be my
grandparents. They have done a lot for me, and have worked their hardest to make sure that
my family is in good shape. My grandfather grew up in New York, and lived in a large
apartment complex. My grandma was also born in New York; however she was adopted at a
young age, and moved to Arizona. They met while going to college in New York, got married at
the age of 19, and ended up having three children. My family has always had a very close
relationship towards my grandparents, and since the live about seven minutes away we are
always seeing them, and they have always been very close. We go over every Sunday morning
to have Breakfast, and weve been doing it for as long as I can remember. They also own a
beach house in Bethany, so we always go with them over the summer, and try to go every
weekend. One of the biggest ways that they have helped us out was when our house was being
renovated back in 2004, and we stayed at their house for around nine months. We still went to
the same school, and they were still close enough that I was not too big of an issue having to
drive there every day. If it were not for them I dont know what we would have done, and
more specifically where we would have stayed. One of the worst experiences that we had to
deal with was when my grandpa got a flesh eating virus from eating a bad oyster, and put him
in the hospital for about nine months. We constantly visited him in the hospital but for the first
few months he was in Baltimore at a shock trauma facility where he really could not
communicate with us since he was unconscious for most of the time. Even though recovery
would be a long process, over time he got better and was moved around from place to place.
However with the encouragement of family, and friends, he made a miraculous recovery that
most people his age would not survive. It is during time like these that we help each other out,
and what brings us closer as a family. They have inspired me to be a better person, and have
passed their wisdom upon me. I learn new things about them and me every time we meet, and
throughout the years, they have helped me to make sense of what goes on around me. They
have made a big impact on my life, and they are truly special to me.

My Family




My Ten Year Goals
The list of my ten year goals are to graduate high school, get into a four year college,
join the military through a ROTC program so that they could pay for my college, and once I get
out, secure a successful job. This list would account for successfully completing all the set goals
that I have for myself during the next ten years. What motivates me to achieve these goals is
the need to succeed and prosper in all that I attempt to achieve in the next ten years. The only
way I would how it feels to achieve such goals would be to actually achieve them, but since
they are larger goals being able to complete each stage would feel very satisfying. However I
know that as one goal is accomplished a new one arises, and with this there will be definitely be
both feelings of accomplishment but also anxiousness for what is to come in the future. Some
obstacles that I know I will have to face in the future that stand between me and success would
be all of the distractions that would arrive at each stage; especially college. For just getting
through college I know it will be very important that I do all my work, however I am a very big
procrastinator, and this would be a very big problem for me. The only way for me to be me to
be able to overcome these obstacles would be to stay focused on work hard, but realistically
allowing play to. For one day I would like to be successful in life, and the only way to do that is
to not let small things distract me and get what needs to be done, done. By planning out my
goals, having the need to succeed, and overcoming my obstacles I will be able to accomplish
these goals, and continue on the path of my future life goals.

My Stages of Development
During the stage of Formal Operation in Piagets cognitive development, stage 5 in
Eriksons psychosocial development, and conventional morality in Kohlbergs moral
development all occur during the adolescent years. The Formal Operational stage starts
occurring when young adults applying logic to thinking, and apply ideas to the real world. For
me personally these transitions really did not start happening till I reached high school and had
a small exposure to the real world. At around this age I was a becoming a more active member
in society, and was being exposed to real situations. This helped me start to apply logical
thinking to the real world situations I was beginning to deal with. Continuing through this stage,
Im still learning the ways of the world and trying to apply logic to situations that I deal with
every day. Eriksons fifth stage of psychosocial development deals with personal identity, and
role confusion. At the beginnings of this stage I had already developed peer relationships that I
still hold on to today, however I have only been somewhat influenced by those relationships,
and have tried to stay the same person and not be negatively affected by my peers. In the path
of achieving self identity I have developed an identity in several groups that I would associate
myself with, for example as being heterosexual, and having right wing political views. My
identity is mainly based on the environment that I have grown up in, and the influences I have
had by my parents. I have grown up with these values and they have influenced my identity,
and made me who I am today. In Kohlbergs moral development the conventional morality
stage is composed of the third and fourth stages of moral development, in which at this age is
starting to accept societys convention of right and wrong, following society norms, and
understanding what is expected from them. For me I felt that I began to understand these
characteristics at a young age, and have had a sense of this for some time. Understanding right
and wrong, and society norms did not take long for me to understand but the only problem was
actually obeying the rights and wrongs of society, and that was that flaw that I imagine most
people go through at a young age, and something that some people never actually develop a
sense for. At a young age not much is expected from you, so it does take a while before people
start expecting you to do stuff, and to take responsibility for your actions. In which case takes a
while before I understood what was expected from me and set standards for those
expectations as well. Overall I have had normal developments through each stage by,
developing a role for myself in society, applied logical reasoning to everyday situations, and
understanding the wrongs and rights of society.

Reflections on My Book
By creating this book it helped me to understand who I was, and to really think about
who I was as a person. I discovered that when put to the task I was able to go deep inside
myself, and really reflect on what Ive done, and what I hope to accomplish in the future. What
I felt most proud about in the book were the five essays that I had to complete, because they
really made me think, and to reflect upon my life. Each essay had me really think about what
the question was asking, and what exactly I was going to write about for each question. By
taking up the majority of the time on the project, each essay forced me to get creative and
really think about what I was going to write. For the first essay coming up with the memorable
events did not take that much thought and I was able to write about two major events that had
some impact on my life. For the special people in my life essay I knew right away that my
grandparents have made such a big impact on my life, and from that I knew they were people
who have inspired me, and contributed to a great deal in my life. My ten year goal essay really
made me think about what I had planned for the future and how I was going to realistically
accomplish those goals. The last essay on my stages of development took the most thought in
figuring out how I as a person grew and developed through each stage of the different theorists
developmental charts. The only ways that I think I would be able to improve myself would be
to just put more effort into everything I do, and by doing this Im already increasing my success,
and productivity rate. But overall it would be very difficult for me to try and change who I am.
By reflecting on my life at this point I know that I have grown into a normal teenager, and
developed into a real person in the sense that I have flaws just like everyone else, but that has
not stopped me from attempting to achieve my full potential. The one thing that I am most
likely to take away from this psychology class, would be getting a broad understanding of why
people do what they do, and what motivates some people, and discourages other. By taking AP
classes I have over the year have had to put forth a lot of time and energy in order to succeed,
and really put my best effort into most of the work I do. This year has been a challenge, but I
have made it through and the next steps of my life journey are still up and coming.