Chapter 4: Self And Identity

Answering the question, “How would you describe yourself to yourself?” a 14-year-old girl from Sri Lanka wrote, “I am a girl studying at Ladies College. I am in year 10. I am Tamil and my religion is Hinduism. My favor-ite hobbies are stamp collecting, listening to pop music, and reading books. My parents allow me to meet my friends and go out to parties with them. My mother is very kind, but the only problem is she never lets me wear [clothes] like the other teenagers. She tries to dress me in the old fashion which I cannot stick to. She lets me watch videos. My father, too, is very kind, agrees with me for anything. But he’s quite concerned about my maths, science, and English marks, especially when the report comes he’s the first person to look at it. My favorite food is always something sweet like chocolate and biscuits. I like coming to school because I am always with my friends and I love to be with them. My favorite subjects are English, social [studies], and maths. I am quite dark and I have short hair. I almost look like a boy and I love to be like that. I don’t know how my future will be that all depends on how I study. Every year my studies are getting harder and harder and there’s a lot of things to keep in mind which is really difficult for me. But I am quite happy for now.”