Changing Roles

Family is one of my most prevalent social circles I'm in. However, because of how outer circles to this group have influenced me, my role within this group has changed. Before me or my friends could drive, my life was basically all about my family because I didn't have the opportunities to go anywhere my mom didn't take me. My family is a fairly strict family with strong faith and being surrounded with this I was a "ideal" child with a high faith in God and quite a bit of the typical "nerd". I also imitated my older sister almost exactly that I convinced myself that's who I was, but this was all just an act. As years passed my grandmother died so I started to question my faith which was not something I was allowed to talk about. Holding that in made me feel very distant from everyone in my family. I started hanging out with some kids that I knew my mom wouldn't approve of to rebel. They shaped a good part of my life because I started learning life outside of my strict Christian life I had been so narrowly guided in. This was good and bad because I learned somethings about how to be accepting of more people, but I also did things like pierce my ear and dye my hair that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. These new friendships made me very distant from my parents. I realized I didn't like this life either, the people were nice, but I wasn't like them. So I withdrew myself from society once again and tried to figure things out. My sports teams were a giant help in finding who I am today. I was always the super competitive shy girl. However, as some of the girls on each team started befriending me I became more comfortable in being who I wanted to be. This gave me confidence and has made me an outgoing person who tries really hard to help other shy people be confident. This eventually lead me to being captain of the team which taught me the influence I can have over others and that genuine people will care about what I say. I no longer follow the "perfect" daughter role, but I do try to be a good daughter while still being who I want to be.