My Life

My name is Megan Welliver. I am the daughter of a happily married couple

named Cari and William. I have one sister named Ali who I am extremely close with.
My sister is 25 years old and I am 21 years old. I currently live with my boyfriend
Chris and we have a dog named Diesel.
I was born in Murrieta, California but moved to Orange County almost
immediately after. I spent the next 18 years of my life there where I attended
Marryshill Preschool, Tijeras Creek Elementary School, Las Flores Middle School,
Santa Margarita Catholic High School and Tesoro High School. I moved to Santa
Barbara, California when I was 18 years old to attend college. I currently live in Salt
Lake City, Utah and am attending Salt Lake Community College.
When I was born I weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces at birth; this is relatively small
for a newborn according to our text that states [an average newborn is 7 pounds]
(Berger, 2014, p.92). I have been very small my entire life though, by 24 months,
most children weigh almost 28 pounds and I only weighed 22 pounds (Berger,
2014, p.92). My mother and father have told me my entire life how different I was as
an infant as to what I am now. I am very energetic and outgoing now, but as an
infant I slept constantly. Normally, [infants] sleep 15 to 17 hours a day, in one to
three hours segments (Berger, 2014, p.98). I am not sure how many hours a day I
slept, but according to my parents they had to wake me up to feed me, change me,
and basically anything else I needed. I hardly ever cried (since I was constantly
asleep) and my parents actually took my to the doctors because they thought I had a
mental problem. As I became a toddler, that behavior changed dramatically.
When I was 3 years old, I was still very small for my age but very healthy all
the same. Although they rarely starve, 2 to 6 year olds may be at greater nutritional
risk than children of any other age because they eat too much of the wrong foods
(Berger, 2014, p. 168). This was most definitely not the case for me. My mother was
and still is very adamant about her and her daughters health. I have never been
overweight and I thank my mother for teaching me good eating habits for that. At 3
years old, a major event happened that had a greater effect on my life than anyone
would have guessed: I got my first dog. His name was Hunter and having this dog
taught me so much. Hunter and I grew up together; he was 10 weeks old when we
got him. Our book states deep emotional memories from early childhood can
interfere with rational thinking (Berger, 2014, p.180). While my experiences with
Hunter did not interfere with any rational thinking, my early memories of him have
certainly effected how I think today. He allowed me to realize what I truly love and
want to do with my life at an extremely young age. He was the first animal I ever
had, and from the moment I got him it was obvious that animals were going to be
my career in the future. Another huge aspect from my early childhood that had a
large impact on my life was tennis. At about age 4, I started participating in a kids
tennis league called tiny tots. I ended up playing tennis for the next 14 years. Our
book states that active [participation in sports] contributes tobetter overall
health, less obesity, appreciation of cooperation and fair play, improved problem-
solving abilities, and respect for teammates and opponents (Berger, 2014, p.245).
All of these aspects proved true for me. Tennis became my second nature and it
improved all three aspects of my development (social, cognitive and physical). I
made friends and learned how to respect others, my problem solving and analytical
abilities improved greatly over time, and it kept me very healthy and fit. Playing
tennis lead to very strong bonds with people over the years.
When I reached early middle school, it became clear that I had a strong
aptitude for music. According to Howard Gardner, at this time, I was under the
musical category for his nine intelligences (Berger, 2014, p. 270). One day when I
was roughly 10-11 years old, we were at a family friends house and their eldest son
was playing the piano. I decided to see what he was doing and ended up watching
him for over an hour. Vygotsy believed education occurs everywhere, not only in
classrooms. Children mentor one another as they play together. They learn from
watching television, from eating with their families, from observing people on the
street, and from every other daily experience (Berger, 2014, p. 254). This could not
be more true in my case, I learned by watching him play. The day after, I went to the
piano in my house that my parents bought simply for decoration and I started to
play. I wasnt simply hitting random keys to see if they sounded nice, I experimented
with different notes and labeled the keys as different letters with post-it notes. I was
unaware that they already had names for the notes, so I created my own and then
ended up creating and writing a few songs with my notes. My parents were
impressed with this since I was so young at the time; they ended up hiring a piano
instructor. After a few months of learning from a professional, I completely lost
interest. No one is sure why, including myself. After that, I started becoming far
more interested in tennis and my social life as opposed to music and academics.
Eighth grade was a pivotal year in my life as well. I went through self-esteem
issues, as many children do at this age. I was going through puberty and
experiencing the negative effects of it. Few teenagers welcome every physical
change in their bodies. Instead, they exaggerate imperfections and sacrifice health to
improve current body image (Berger, 2014, p.328). I was an example of this, but
not in the typical way of an eating disorder. I had problems with acne. It caused a lot
of stress in my life and I ended up going on Accutane. Accutane is an intense drug
thats meant for the treatment of acne. It has significant side effects, but I went on it
anyways, twice. Looking back now, I was exaggerating my imperfections by thinking
my acne was worse than it was. Nevertheless, I am thankful I went on Accutane. I,
personally, experienced none of the severe side effects. I understand now that the
risks may not have been worth the rewards, but if I had not gone on it my skin could
have made me extremely depressed and I wouldnt be the person I am today.
When I was 13-14 I started High School. I had gone to public school my entire
life and this was my first experience attending a religious school. After about a year
and a half, I transferred to a public school due to my dislike of religion being forced
upon students. The larger and less personal the new institution is, and the more
egocentric the student is, the more difficult the transition (Berger, 2014, p.342).
This was a great example of how I felt during this time. I was most definitely happier
attending this school, but the people I knew there from my middle school all had
their own cliques and I feared rejection. My best friend was a cheerleader at this
school, and this was not my crowd. One particular problem is stereotype threat, the
anxiety-producing idea that other people are judging you in stereotyped ways
(Berger, 2014, p.342). I felt that since I was a tennis player rather than a
cheerleader, my best friends team would be reluctant to accept me. This may have
been true or false, I am still unsure to this day because I decided to reject them
before they had the chance to reject me. I created my own clique, a group of
adolescents made up of close friends who are loyal to one another while excluding
outsiders, and my own crowd, a larger group of adolescents who have something
in common but who are not necessarily friends (Berger, 2014, p.365). While my
clique did not necessarily exclude others, we didnt seek out others to join us either.
My crowd was my tennis team. We were friends, but not to the point where we
commonly spent time together outside tennis related events. I also maintained my
friendship with my cheerleading best friend, Alexx.
At age 18, I graduated high school. I was accepted into Arizona State
University, but decided to go to Santa Barbara City College instead. This was the best
decision I have ever made in my life. Those in college who lived away from home
showed the largest gains in well being; those who had become single parents or still
lived with their own parents showed the least (Berger, 2014, p.413). I gained so
much insight and self-esteem when I went to college. I truly found my identity. I
learned what real friendship and love is. I realized my best friend from middle and
high school, Alexx, was not a true friend at all. I cut all ties with her when I realized
she was a poison in my life. My first and only roommate from college, Danielle,
became my new best friend. She showed me what real friendship means and how
true friends are supposed to act.
During my college career I also met someone else of significant importance to
my life, Chris. I met him my first week of college and we started dating a few months
later. Love, romance, and commitment are all of primary importance for emerging
adults (Berger, 2014, p.416). Chris and I have been together for nearly 3 years now.
We underwent the struggles of long distance relationship while he was away at
school, and when he moved back we participated in cohabitation. A new form of
mating for contemporary emerging adults is cohabitation, living together in a
romantic partnership without being married (Berger, 2014, p.419). A few months
before we starting living together, we decided to further our commitment by getting
a dog who we like to call Diesel. Just a few short months after he moved back to
Santa Barbara from school, we moved out to Utah where he now has a job as a
Diesel Mechanic. During our process of deciding whether or not to move out to Utah
we experience choice overload, having so many option that a thoughtful choice
becomes difficult (Berger, 2014, p.419). It caused tension in our relationship but
we were able to surpass that tension and make it through. Today, I am thankful for
all the events in my life, even the ones I thought I would regret. Without them, I
wouldnt be exactly where I am today. Today, I am happy.

References
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.