Self concept is a set perceptions you hold of yourself and how these perceptions influence the way you

u view yourself. The collage I created reflects these perceptions through the use of images I obtained from the magazines I own (mostly Sports Illustrated). The collage actually took a while because I found it sometimes difficult to actually analyze myself. Luckily I already had a list containing aspects of my selfconcept that I had written during class a few weeks back. I eventually expanded on this list and went through the magazines labeling the images and captions that illustrated the aspects of my self. One of the telling characteristics of my self-concept is that I am a competitive person. It is not that I cannot gracefully lose; it just so happens that I hate it. I find that among others that I am comfortable with I tend to be aggressive after losing whereas among strangers I can actually be polite. I also become over confident to the point of conceitedness. This perception connects to another trait that I try to maintain and cultivate; and that is restraint. I believe I have what is called an explosive temper. At a younger age I began to see that I often got into fights that could have been avoided. These fights stemmed from my ability to often ignore the possibility that I was in the wrong in situations. Therefore I began steeling my nerves and reined my emotions inwards. I have been so successful that in my circle of friends, it is often noted that I am the most levelheaded and steady member. Another aspect of my self-concept that is greatly represented on the collage is my sarcasm and my compulsion to retort on nearly every single thing I hear. However, I believe that my restraint is far more significant part of my selfconcept because it is something that I forced upon myself not something that happened

naturally like sarcasm. It took years of practice and failures to become the person I am today. The sarcasm is something that I believe is a section of another characteristic; humorous. I genuinely believe that I am a funny person and it isnt something I had to practice. Despite the popular belief that sarcasm isnt humor, I believe it is. I also believe that my sarcasm is an offshoot of my temper. It is something that has been channeled into a less acidic version of that part of my self that I resented. Other aspects of my self-concept include my position as middle child in a family with seven kids. I work two jobs and attend school full time. Both my parents work as well as two of my older siblings. My older sister lives in Los Angeles for college. As a result I find myself in a more influential and important role in my younger siblings lives than perhaps what is more usual. I often cook for them, I prepare them for school in the morning, I pick them up when school ends, and I always address their needs. Therefore I believe I am an excellent and intuitive brother, which is why I used a picture of a man with three kids, the word family, and the phrase Killing it because I believe I do an excellent job in this area. Similarly I am also proud of being a wise and educated person. I find that when my friends or family are in trouble or are in need in advice, they often turn to me. I find myself often dealing with troubles in relationship or school or just life in general. I am not aware of when this first began to occur; yet I believe that I am quite good at this undertaking. In fact I have been approached so many times for advice that a few of my friends began calling me Dr. Phil. This is represented with the owl, which has long been a n established symbol of wisdom and is my favorite animal.

The images represent both my private and public self. I find that when revealing or discussing something with a loved one or anyone in particular, I still always hold something back. The collage reveals something personal about myself such as the restraint that I imposed upon my self. It exemplifies something I struggled with and, over time, eventually overcame. Despite the personal attachment of this confession it is not in its entirety. I often find it difficult to share things such as feelings, observations, and the truth. On the other hand, revealing to someone that I am sarcastic or showing it through the use of images or words is something that I feel is easy to do. Although me being sarcastic is probably evident to the reader of this paper. The placement of the objects on the board are both spontaneous and specifically designated. For example on the top right corner I placed the phrase Give em the bird, however I also placed Im still laughing on top of that. The contrasting meaning illustrates the sarcastic aspect of my self-concept. I also placed many inspiring and sports related phrases such as Get out what you put in, Its a real pennant race, and Power up your game. These phrases represent the competitive streak that I believe my self to have. I also used many bombastic phrases like Legend, Greatness, Maker, and Lions. These things represent my tendency to boast whenever I am accomplishing something or succeeding. Although I believe my multi-faceted self-concept to be rather difficult to explore and explain, the collage is an accurate portrayal of it. The use of images and words to represent the levels of observations I have directed upon myself have even surprised me. This collage has shown me ideas about myself that I did not realize before.