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Genogram: Reflection

According to John Holland's theory of personality development, all human beings have a fundamental personality orientation, whether they are realistic, investigative, artistic, social, or enterprising. These personality traits affect the individual's ultimate career choice. I come from a traditional, working-class background where males tend to work at manual trades while women are expected to get married, have children, and excel in the domestic arts like cooking. I feel that because of this upbringing, I have developed a very interpersonally-oriented, social personality.

It is my nature to always ask what other people need first, before fulfilling my own needs. My mother works as a housewife and a nurse's aid and she taught me that nothing feels better than helping other people. Her favorite hobby was gardening. My father was a train driver who loved fishing. Because of their love of food and hands-on pursuits, when I was growing up my house was always 'the house' where my friends and other family members gathered. There was always good food on the table, good conversation, and my parents made everyone feel welcome. My friends became like my extended family.

As a result of this, my siblings have also traditionally pursued careers in professions reflective of our parents' values. My brother is a skilled carpenter, my sister is a teacher and I am a teacher. The only sibling who has broken the mold is my sister who owns her own business. However, even in this capacity, she is continually striving to serve others and to make their lives better. The care and concern that we learned from our parents to direct to the outside world has helped us thrive. Although I have ambitions beyond being a housewife, the empathetic understanding that I gained from my mother has been very useful when I am teaching students who are struggling with the material. I learned patience and tolerance from her, watching her raise four children and making each and every one of them feel special.

To me, my career choice seems like a natural, almost fated extension of the life I lead as a child. Even in school, I enjoyed helping others with their homework and I enjoyed the organizational aspects of school, including buying school supplies, participating in parties and games, and getting to know my teachers. However, John Krumboltz's Theory of Social Learning emphasizes uncertainty and random events rather than one's innate personality in determining career choice. It is true that certain random events did contribute to my motivation in choosing a career as a teacher, such as the good instructors I had over the course of my education. But fundamentally, I believe that I would have 'ended up' in the helping professions, regardless of my experience, given how my home was structured and the values I was taught.