The social and political context that creates my identity involves multiple areas such as race, class gender, and many more. I fall into the category of a black woman, living in what most people would consider a middle-class household, I am a female and heterosexual, and even though I may have my own struggles I am physically able to do most things and as a result, fall into the category of a physically abled person. I am a part of many communities, for instance, as a Christian, I am a part of the church and Christian community but as a daughter and sister, I am a part of my family which I also believe is a community. Other communities I am a part of are the art and academic communities. I am from Nigeria but since I left, I have been in Canada and relocated quite a bit within the country, and with every place I have touched, seen, and lived in there is a story and experience that will forever be a part of me. I am a part of a family of four, initially five, which consists of my mom, my sister, my brother, and me, whose legal name is Uvbi Osatohangbon. My first name means Princess and my last name means God have mercy upon the world, for this reason, my family and some close friends sometimes just call me Princess. All this information about me is part of my positionality, the social and political context that creates my identity and describes how it influences me, my thought patterns, and how I view the world. Knowing what makes me who I am is important, especially when it comes to my future. As a result of the many differences and biases that are experienced daily in this world the knowledge of what makes my identity is a valuable tool, I can use in my future career as a practical nurse to help other people and help myself from things like my own biases.
I am responsible for many things like how I respond to certain actions, my siblings when my mom is at work, how I allow my biases to affect my life, my wellbeing, and education. In my life and in my work, these are just a few of the many things that I am in control of. Accountability refers to who or what I have responsibility over and it does not involve consequences, those are results that come from how well or not I was accountable. When it comes to accountability it can look different between people depending on each individual’s community or worldview. for me, I know that when it comes to my work, I am responsible for how I choose to react or what I choose to say to people whom I interact with and how I act towards people whether it is according to my organization’s policies or not. As for my daily life, I am responsible for how I choose to use my resources, time, and gifts.
As humans we excel in certain areas and have traits that make us shine, these can be referred to as gifts. These gifts help us in our approaches to life, our relationships, and our work. They allow us to do the best work we can for our communities and those we are accountable for. Empathy, Patience, altruism, insightfulness, and open-mindedness are gifts I believe I currently carry. These are a part of me and are things that I believe will support me in my future. Firstly, patience is a skill I believe is important when working a job that requires interacting with people. Every person is different which makes the way each one of us interprets information differently, as a result, it would not be surprising if I met someone that saw things in a different way than I do which would mean that for me to be able to successfully interact with this person and avoid misunderstandings I may require the patience to listen and understand, which will, in turn, allow me to learn. Secondly, altruism and open-mindedness are traits that will allow me to build a good rapport with the people I work with as well as those I will be taking care of and combined with altruism, I will be able to learn things about people that will help me to improve my relationship amongst them.
