Being Caucasian, or white, as it is commonly referred to, my culture plays a key role in the development of who I am and what I do, my personal identity. An identity is the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Location is one of the key factors of this culturally developed personal identity. I was raised in south-central Kansas, therefore my underlying beliefs and self-concepts are different from those of where I live now, in California. However, having lived in California for, now, 6 years, my personal identity has transformed because of this change in location. Now, my personal identity is still based upon the beliefs that I attained in Kansas, but is also instilled into the beliefs I have learned while living in California. In Kansas, I grew up with a Southern appeal to my identity. While living in Kansas, I became rather studious because there was nothing much more to do. This affected my personality by making me more intelligent, and thus I took progressively harder classes. When I moved to California, I still took the harder classes, but the pressure of the different society impacted my beliefs and self-concepts. However, I still maintained most of my values that I learned in Kansas, especially my studious nature. There is no doubt that the move to California changed my personal identity because the two societies are very different in their values. Californians tend to be in more of a hurry than anywhere I else I have ever been, thus they tend to not care as much when they make mistakes, or, if they do care, they explode (for instance, rampant road rage). This sense of being rushed into things changed my identity, while keeping the studious nature I adapted to in Kansas. In result, I am a studious person that gets things done quickly, and efficiently.
