Remember when Paul McCartney wrote the song Michelle and then he only wrote the first part,

Annie said. And then he gave that part to John Lennon and then he wrote the part that said I love you. I love you. I love you. And Annie said that it wouldn t have been the same song without that and that s why the whole world cried when the Beatles broke up on April 10, 1970. --Sam Dawson, (I am Sam, 2001). What defines a parent? Is it the amount of intellectual maturity displayed or the level of love given? This paper tackles these issues in relation to Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs. The movie I chose, I am Sam, shows us how an unlikely person is able to adapt to and complete a child s needs. As Sam Dawson reads from a book in the movie, How can we be so different and feel so much alike? We shall open our minds and change our views on what we thought was the norm of our society. Sam, babies need food every two hours Let s just assume she wakes up at 6:00. Keep your TV on Nickelodeon. I want you to feed her first when Hogan s Heroes comes on. And then again wait until I Dream of Jeannie. And then feed her when I Love Lucy comes on. --Annie Cassell, (I am Sam, 2001). According to Abraham Maslow, physiologic needs entail fulfillment first. Human beings require several physical needs mainly food, water, oxygen and shelter. When Lucy Diamond Dawson is born, her father, Sam Dawson, has to cope up to provide the newborn with her needs. Sam s mental capacity is that of a 7-year old so raising a child is a challenge for him. He felt helpless at first and even frustrated, but then what new parent doesn t go through that stage? With the support of his friends and neighbour, Sam finally gets his life on track for the first few months

as a father. He follows a strict feeding schedule and provides a warm and safe shelter, so he meets his daughter s needs during infancy. As Lucy grows older, Sam learns that there is more to parenthood than just providing a child s basic needs. By the time Lucy is able to get around physically, it becomes more difficult for Sam to bring her along to his job. He needs someone to take care of Lucy while he finishes his shift at Starbucks. That s when he turns to his next-door neighbour to help look out for the child. As a child grows up, the needs also increase. With Sam s simple job, he strives hard to meet both their basic living needs. Every living person has the same basic physical needs to be met. In modern society, the simple needs become complicated as more and more new discoveries are made. The choice of bread for example becomes a difficult choice---should I buy white bread, multi-grain, rye or fruit breads? We have to keep up with our fast-paced world to satisfy our elementary needs. Given the fact the father was arrested for solicitation, couldn t control his emotions, endangering other children Miss Calgrove also cites Mr. Dawson s mental delays which raise serious questions about his ability to properly parent I find at this time it s not in the best interest of the child to remain in the home pre-trial judge, (I am Sam, 2001).

The second level of needs is safety needs. From Maslow s point of view, safety needs may be both physical and psychological; physical needs are related to security, freedom from violence while psychological needs are comfort and freedom from fear. In the movie, Sam and Lucy reside in a relatively safe enough apartment, a nice neighbourhood, and more importantly there is someone (Ms. Cassel) near whom they can turn to when they need help. Ms. Annie Cassel helps Sam fulfill his duties as a father; she steps in to take care of Lucy when he is away

at work. This arrangement gives assurance to Lucy s safety and well-being. Sam s crowd of unconventional friends surrounds him with the support he and Lucy needs. Together with their friends, they develop a routine that they have been following for years. The routine includes IHOP Wednesday night, Thursday s video night at Sam s place and Friday night karaoke. This schedule gives them a sense of safety and stability. Lucy feels secure about Sam s ability to protect her. As long as they can read their favourite book over and over again, ride on swings, lie on the grass and laugh all they want in the park, she feels that things are all right. Safety needs are indispensable, although it can mean differently for each individual. A person may want to live in a big house to feel safe, or he may want to get married to feel secure in life, or as most people seem to think so, having a lot of money can solve insecurities. No matter what we consider as answers to our safety needs, it is essential that it must first be met before seeking for higher level of needs. Atty. Rita Harrison Williams: Don t you ever think it would be better for Lucy if she lived with a permanent foster family and you could visit whenever you wanted? Sam: No, I don t think that s a very good idea, see. Because the Fosters, they don t know Lucy. And I know Lucy because I m her father. So, I think if they want to see her then the Fosters can come over to our house to visit her. And I m very firm on this. I m very firm on this idea, because Lucy belongs with me. Lucy s place is with Sam, her father. The dialogue above shows how a parent feels strongly about his child s belongingness. The next level in the hierarchy is the love and belongingness needs. This need is associated with affiliation, acceptance and belongingness. Every person

wants to belong . Some even go to great lengths just to impress others and gain acceptance. Sam feels the need of belongingness even with his mental limitations. Although we are a lot more accepting of mentally-disabled people nowadays, it is still only to a certain degree. Sam finds his place with his friends with the same handicap as him. Meanwhile, Lucy struggles to find her place in society because his father is considered as different . Having a special father sets her apart from other kids and in order to belong, she lies about being adopted. Later, when Sam sees that Lucy appears to fit in well with her foster family, he becomes discouraged in the fight for her legal custody. Even with the conflicts arising right and left, Lucy holds on to her father s love and continues to show defiance to those who want to separate them. When Sam moves to a new apartment nearer to the foster parents house, he finds Lucy every night outside his door, wanting to stay the night with the person she considers her real family. You think you got the market cornered on human suffering? Let me tell you something about people like me. People like me feel lost and small and ugly and dispensable. -- Rita Harrison Williams, (I am Sam, 2001). We gain our sense of self through others communicating their view about us. We need high self-esteem to be confident and happy but how we esteem ourselves should start within us. The views of other people of how valuable they should regard us are only secondary. How can others appreciate us if we don t appreciate ourselves first? When Sam is faced with the possibility of losing custody of Lucy, he gathers strength from his support system to better his status. To be able to hire and pay a lawyer, he asks a promotion, citing his improvement in his workplace. He is told to improve his finances to be able to provide enough for his daughter s

needs and so he works other odd jobs to supplement his income. Rita Williams, Sam s lawyer, struggle on issues about her personal life. From the outside, she appears to be the successful lawyer that she is, someone who has never lost a case. Deep inside, she feels worthless, thinking that nothing is going right in her own family. Working on Sam s case pro bono saves her self-esteem as she realizes what s more important in life. For cognitive needs, we see in the movie how Sam tries to cope with her precocious daughter. Lucy thinks maturely, way beyond her years. Although her school performance seems to be troubling her teachers, it is found out that she holds herself back in learning. She doesn t want to get ahead of her father although she s already smarter than Sam in some ways. As a father, Sam states that he feels proud knowing that his daughter is a smart girl. He encourages her to read books, no matter how difficult it is for Sam. Improving our intellect is one need that requires effort on our part. In this day and age, most students don t feel like staying in school, thinking that it is a waste of time. Reality tells us on the other hand that it is one way of getting ahead in this competitive world we live in. We are often told that what we see from the outside doesn t usually define a person. Aesthetics refers to the quality of being creatively, beautifully, or artisticallypleasing; aesthetic needs are the needs to express oneself in pleasing ways. Decorating your living room, wrapping birthday presents attractively, washing and waxing your car, and keeping up with the latest styles in clothing are all ways of expressing your aesthetic sense. People are motivated to meet this need only after the previous five needs have been met. Lucy grows up with appreciation for

beauty and music. She is shown to play the piano with Annie and painting alongside her foster mother. It is her way of expressing herself and that for her is personal fulfillment. I worry that I got more out of this than you. --Rita Williams to Sam Dawson (talking about working on Sam s case pro bono). At the top of the pyramid is the need for self-actualization, which is a person s desire to become everything he or she is capable of becoming to realize and use his or her full potential, capacities, and talents. This need can be addressed only when the previous six have been satisfied. It is rarely met completely; Maslow(1968) estimated that less than 1% of adults achieve total self-actualization. Rita s offer of working Sam s case pro bono actually turns out way better than she first thought. She is the kind of person who centers her life on a successful career, thinking that things will just fall into place in her personal life. Sam s battle to bring back Lucy in his life makes her realize that what she needs the most to feel contentment is right before her eyes her son, whom she has alienated because of her workaholic ways. Lucy got a goal! --Sam Dawson, (I am Sam, 2001) Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, the Maslow theory of motivation encompasses the idea of moments of extraordinary experience, that he as Peak Experiences. They leave lasting impressions upon us, sometimes so intensely that we can close our eyes and imagine it and feel a small rush of excitement by doing so. What was it like for Albert Einstein when he discovered the theory of relativity? For us ordinary beings, we might compare Einstein s feelings to the intense brightness of life that you feel after falling in love. Does that make sense? At the end of the movie, we see Lucy in a soccer game with Sam as the referee. When Lucy scored a goal,

everyone was so ecstatic and contagious in their excitement that made me feel like cheering for Lucy myself. Jumping up and down happily, Sam runs around the park with Lucy in his arms. At that moment, I can imagine how he must be feeling. It must feel like the loss of a sense of time and space, the feeling that nothing will ever go wrong in their life again. Nurses do not only administer medicine and perform procedures to help patients get better. Maslow s hierarchy of needs also plays a role in my job as a nurse. The hospital is probably one of the places where you can see so many people who need assistance in fulfilling the needs in all levels. For example, a patient who has undergone eye surgery won t be able to see for weeks. How would he feed himself, bathe or get around? The safety of a patient is one of the priorities in my job. For that reason, there are precautions when performing procedures as well as guidelines that ensure safety. How patients feel can also influence the process of their recovery. As a nurse, the least we can do is make them feel accepted, cared for and given importance. Patients who lose a part of their body will inevitably experience low self-esteem. A part of them, which they have branded as their own for years will suddenly be amputated or removed. Such is the case for a patient after mastectomy or amputation. What I can do is show support and dedicate my time to listen. Nurses are educators too. We impart knowledge to correct false beliefs, promote health and prevent problems. Whatever role a nurse fills in, it is always for the good of a patient. My profession gives me satisfaction and a sense of selfactualization (sometimes even peak experience) when I see a patient s smile, hear a thank you and most of all when I know for a fact that I am indeed worthy of such positive gestures.