The Early Adult Years

Flag football DZ bowl champions- Back 2 Back

The chapter opens up talking about individuals emerging into adulthood and exploring their many possibilities off choices for the future and make frequent changes of direction in love, work, and education.  At the age of 17 the future was definitely not on my mind! I did not know what I wanted to do for a living, I did not know what I wanted to major in, I didn't mind living at home.  I knew I had an interest in the military but my parents always wanted me to finish school before I joined.  I was beginning to finally find myself as an individual; not fully, but after graduating high school I extended on a few of my own things without Matthew!
I finally began to mature during my first year of junior college.  I had put on 30 pounds since high school, going from 130 pounds to 160.  I got into weight lifting with a friend of mine.  We went to the gym six days a week.  That was my comfort zone, especially because I was finally growing into myself.  I was playing in adult softball and flag football league with some old friends I played with in high school.  I was having a blast!
 After Junior College I transferred to Cal State Northridge.  This is where I really found my own identity which I believe was mostly due to the fact that I was still in LA and Matthew moved up to Fresno to attend Fresno State on a full ride for golf.  We were finally separate, and able to make our own groups of friends.  When people meet us and get to know us separately it is much easier to tell us apart.  This whole time I was having my early adult transition period.  I am the first founding father of Tau Omega Rho.  It is a local fraternity at CSUN.  There are 11 founding fathers.  I am the first, and the first President of TOP.  We just had our three year anniversary last year and have 50+ members! TOP is now one of the most successful fraternities at CSUN in regards to membership numbers, grades, and philanthropy fundraising.  We have also won the All University Cup since the semester we were founded; this includes best in sports throughout the semester, grades are also included.  It is a huge part of my life and something I am very proud of!

Founding Fathers of T.O.P.

I was right on schedule at twenty two years old going into my entry life structure period.  I was thinking more about my military endeavors, finishing school and dreaming about the future.  I attended Marine Corps Officer Candidates School which solidified me joining the military.  After tearing all the ligaments in my ankle and having a rehab timeline of at least a year I decided to extend my college and go to grad school.  A fitness graduate assistant-ship brought me out to SFA.   While I have structure and know what I want to do I would agree with the reading and say that I am in the emerging adulthood stage! I would not say I am an adult but enjoy the freedom and abilities of acting like I am one.  It is a very strange time because I like to think I am a full adult but deep down I know that I am not quite there yet. 
In the article it states that the emerging adulthood stage is the most self-focused age of life.  I was very self-focused during my undergrad.  I was all about me, finding myself, figuring out what I wanted, doing what made me comfortable and did not want a relationship.  Now that I have grown just a year older it is unreal what I have settled down to do.  I have turned into being unselfish, sharing great times with my girlfriend and putting her before me.  It was a very strange feeling at first but it has turned out awesome! I feel that I am just ready for the next stage.  Ready to start a career in the military and see where the rest takes me!
Before I end this journal I wanted to mention a funny "twin thing."  While I was at CSUN, Matthew brought his group of Fresno State friends down to visit.  It was funny when the two groups met; It was like we could interchange them all. Our groups were so similar in personalities and members it was freaky! We were able to find our own identity while connecting two groups of people that have been able to maintain friendships to this day!

First year of Fall Rush!

Now I am attending Steven F. Austin.  I will be done with graduate school in December and will ship off to Great Lakes, ILL. on Jan. 24th for Navy boot camp.  Currently I am excited for two things; going to SEAL preparatory school  and my wonderful relationship I have with my girlfriend Stephanie.  I believe this is part of my structuring phase.  I am looking forward to the future career plans and a great relationship with Steph! She is awesome and so far all is well, we are eight months strong!

Stephanie and I outside of the Magic Castle in Hollywood

The Middle Years

July 20th, 2011

My brother and I began Pre-School when we were four and a half years old.  My mom has a picture of him and I in class with our "brown friend."  We came home one day after Pre-School telling my mom that we made a brown friend.  She almost dropped to the floor.  I begin with this story because it is the first thing I can remember that had to do with us differentiating a person from our "white" selves.  We did not say "brown friend" in a mean way but mentioned it simply because we saw him as something different than us.
When my brother and I first started Kindergarten my mom said my brother and I were balling crying when we had to split up and go to different classrooms.  We were in different classes for Kindergarten which after the first separation tantrum we threw my mom thought would be a problem.  After the first day my brother and I both had plenty of friends and did not care about being in a different class at all! I still remember Mrs. Laten's class and having so much fun playing games in the classroom! I remember playing with building blocks and being really good at it because my brother and I had so much experience building things! Matthew and I were very confident young children who liked being in a social environment which allowed us to make friends very quickly! My brother and I had developed a high level of trust and autonomy due to the fact that my mother was a stay at home mother and we always had someone with us.  We had a "partner in crime" in everything! By this age we had also played a year of tee ball in which we were two of the better players on the team.  We also played in a flag football team in which our team won the championship and was undefeated.
As my brother and I grew older we continued to love recess!  We were great on the playground which and our environment among other kids which gave us confidence in the classroom as well!  My parents came to all of our little league games in all sports and my mom began to work at our school in third grade!
I remember a time when Matthew and I broke our parents glass in the coffee table.  While our parents count have yelled at us and punished us they decided to sit us down and simply ask us what happened we both pointed to each other and said we broke it together.  My parents told us that we needed to go get the tape measure to measure out the size of glass we needed to get.  My mom has video of us measuring out the entire house after finding measurements for a piece of glass we broke on her coffee table.    This was a huge learning point in my life along with a few other instances.  We broke something but did not get in trouble for it.  It was taught that as long as we were honest about it and fixed the problem everything would be o.k.
In the portion on cognitive development we can see that with the successes in academics and on the playground it is no wonder why Matthew and I have always had a positive self-image and an ability to succeed. 
From second grade to fifth grade Matthew and I were on very successful tournament baseball teams, flag football teams and got good grades in school.  Our parents were always at our games, our dad only missed a few due to his job! It was a very happy time in my life.  I remember being the best on the playground and always being on a winning team; in and outside of the classroom!

The Early Years

July 19th, 2011

Michael Lee Ryan
Born September 19th, 1986
Weight: 6 pounds 15 ounces
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
I was born an identical twin.  My brother Matthew came out with me and we have always gotten along since!  My mother, Judy, and my father, Randy, were both 28 years old!  We were a family of four.  My mom only had to go through pregnancy once, they figured two was plenty.  My parents had been married for three and a half years before having us.  Before we were born my mother worked at SAKS Fifth Avenue as an assistant personnel director and my father was a Los Angeles Police Officer.  After having my brother and I, my mother became a stay at home mom until we started third grade.  We have always been a middle class happy family.
During our early years we were very very active!  In the book it talks about most children having a vocabulary off 300 words by three years old.  My brother and I not only talked a lot, my mom also claims we had our own silent language.  She said Matthew and I would nod our heads certain ways and know exactly what the other one was saying when no one else did.
Matthew and I also learned to socialize with each other.  Not only did we have our mother which made us feel safe and secure but we had each other.  In the section on Motor Development and Coordination I thought of all the stories my Mom and Dad tell about my brother and I playing with each other.  We stacked blocks, scribbled, fed each other.  We also had a number of instances of us taking off our diapers, throwing them on the fan and turning it on (my mother was not pleased at all!).  In Erikson's stages of psychosocial development we can see that during the second year children are able to physically explore the world and enter the Autonomy Vs. Shame & Doubt stage.  I feel my brother and I were very aware of our personal control of our environment in part because there was two of us.  We thought we could do, fix, change explore everything because with two of use we thought we could do it all!