Running Head: Personal Paper One Page 1

Personal Paper One

Maria C Hayes

Salt Lake Community College

Abstract
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This paper will outline the personal life, choices and outcomes of a fictional character based on the

developmental stages in Invitation to the Life Span, by Kathleen Stassen Berger. The stages of

development that will be covered in this paper, can be found in chapters one through nine, from birth to

adolescence. The purpose is to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of chapters one through

nine.

Personal Paper One

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This story begins with a onetime encounter after an outing at a bar, this is where Natalies parents

first met. Natalies mother, Andrea was celebrating her 21 st birthday, and had stumbled across Natalies

father to be, Mark. Mark was five years her senior, but none the less they hit it off. By the end of the night

they went back to Marks place to continue the fun.

Time passed, and Andrea went on with life as if nothing occurred. She had no knowledge she was

pregnant, until around eight weeks. Andrea started feeling faint kicks in her abdomen, little did she know

her fetus had just passed the critical stage for limb development, between 28 and 54 days after conception

(Berger, 2016, chapter 1, pp. 10). She quickly made an appointment to be checked, and found out she was

expecting. This was shocking news to Andrea, she worried about her current situation and how it would

soon drastically change.

Andrea was born in Venezuela and was sent off at a young age to live with her aunt in New York,

in hopes for a better life. Unfortunately, her aunt passed a couple of years back, leaving her with no

family support close by. She continued living in the states and carried on with her schooling. Andrea was

barely making it on her own, she was a college student working a minimum wage job. She couldnt

imagine adding a baby to her responsibilities, but there she was holding her positive lab results.

Andreas next move was to tell Mark the news, but before contacting him she asked friends about

him. To make matters worse, what she found out about Mark put more of a damper on the unexpected

pregnancy. Mark was raised in Staten Island, where he currently resided with his parents. He was raised

around money, little to no guidance but lots of access to cash. Because of that mix, he developed an

addiction to cocaine, had no ambition for his future, and the maturity level of a child. How could I have

been so irresponsible, Andrea thought to herself, she decided it was best not to let him know.

There was big news on the way! Natalies sex difference was formed, her 23 rd chromosome

consisted of two XX shaped chromosomes, the then zygote became a female (Berger, 2014, Chapter 2,

pp. 51). Weeks later Andrea was informed during a scheduled sonogram of the sex, she couldnt have
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been more excited to be having a girl! Good news seeing how everything else seemed to be falling apart

around her.

Throughout her pregnancy, she was very lonely; scared, nervous, and stressed. She did her best to

continue with her schooling but the stress of everything going on, it was too much and put her at high risk

for premature labor. She decided to take it easy and take a break from school, she continued working and

eventually went into labor naturally. Unfortunately, there were some complications in her labor and for

fear of lack of oxygen to Natalie, an emergency cesarean section was done. Immediately after, the Apgar

Scale assessment was done on baby Natalie. The Apgar Scale is a newborn health assessment, that rates

five vital signs; color, heart rate, cry, muscle tone, and breathing. If the baby scores 7 or higher, the baby

will not need lifesaving care (Berger, 2014, Chapter 2, pp. 64). Regardless of the lack of oxygen in the

womb, Natalie scored well and was rushed off to her mothers bedside.

After Andrea posted Natalies birth announcement on Facebook, word spread fast and soon the

calls started to come in. The first was from her mother in Venezuela, Gretel was so excited about being a

grandmother she quickly applied for a tourist visa to come help her daughter. The second contact Andrea

got was from Mark, during Andreas pregnancy Mark heard rumors, but didnt believe the child could be

his. He finally decided to reach out and establish paternity with Andreas consent.

Andrea and baby Natalie were finally settled back home, awaiting Gretels visa approval. During

the time being Natalie was growing perfectly, with fast growth and processing axons dendrites and

synapses in her brain cortex, which will eventually result in Natalies brain tripling in weight

(Berger,2014, chapter 3, pp. 94). Everything was on track and while Andrea struggled her and there,

things seemed to be working out for the best. Upon getting the DNA results, Mark sought out substance

abuse treatment, and began providing financial assistance for Natalie.

Andrea continued raising Natalie on her own, since Mark was still away at treatment. Natalies

gross motor skills were advancing every day! By the time, Mark got back from treatment, Natalie had
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grown so much he could hardly recognize the baby he previously saw. Natalie had developed her own

personality and temperament. Her temperament was rather exuberant, she was active, and eager to

socialize with anyone. Overall, she was developing into a healthy happy toddler.

Now that Natalies father was back in the picture, Mark and Andrea started working out

visitation. Because Andrea was still waiting for her mothers visa to get approved, she figured there would

be no harm in her getting some free time and Natalie time to bond with her father. They agreed on every

other weekend. After the first couple of weekends with her father, Natalie began exhibiting deferred

imitation, when infants copy behavior they noticed hours or even days earlier, (Berger, Piaget,

1962/2014, chapter 3, pp. 116). Andrea was concerned because, the actions Natalie was imitating from

being at her fathers suggested Mark was using drugs again. Andrea spoke briefly with Mark about her

concerns the following weekend. Mark brushed it off as if it was something seen on television. Natalie

went with her father once more, this would be the last weekend visit.

That Saturday evening Mark overdosed in his bathroom, with Natalie asleep in the bedroom. The

next morning Natalie woke up, with Mark nowhere in sight. Eventually she stumbled on her fathers

lifeless body in the bathroom. This was a terrifying sight, immediately her Amygdala, a tiny structure in

her brain that registers emotions particularly fear, started to register her fear. Her hippocampus, the central

processor of memory, in response to the registered emotion imbedded the memory. With both structures

sending out signals, Natalies hypothalamus responded by producing cortisol, the stress hormone,

activating her body and brain (Berger,2014, Chapter 5, pp. 172). The neighbors heard Natalies screams

and crys, they called the police right away. Natalie was soon rushed off with child services.

That Sunday morning Andrea received a call from child services notifying her that he daughter

needed to be picked up. Andrea rushed to get her daughter, once she got there she found out what

happened. She was given information on resources for Natalie and how to help her get through what she
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went through. Even though Natalie was not old enough to understand exactly what happened, in her own

mind she started coming up with her own explanations, called Theory-Theory, the idea that children

naturally construct theories to explain whatever they see or hear, (Berger, 2014, Chapter 5, pp. 178).

At first Andrea didnt think it would affect Natalie much, she didnt think she would remember it.

Even though Natalie was still very little it had a big impact on her. She soon started showing signs of

insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment, an attachment in which an infants anxiety and uncertainty are

evident. The infant becomes very upset at separation from the caregiver, infants will both resist and seek

contact on reunion, (Berger, 2014, Chapter 4, pp. 140). By then, Andrea knew she had to seek therapy

and more support for Natalies wellbeing.

Around the same time, Gretels visa was finally approved. Andrea felt relieved she needed her

mother now more than ever. They planned for Gretel to live with Andrea and help with Natalie. They

would soon become an extended family. Andrea and Natalie continued with therapy, and with Gretels

help, Natalie began to feel more secure. Things started to look bright again, Natalie was slowly coming

back to her regular self, and Andrea finally had the family support she needed.

Years went by, and Natalie soon began to develop into a young woman. Andrea and Gretel were

worried about what was to come; would she get in with the wrong crowd, start being involved with boys,

would her schooling suffer? For the most part Natalie became the typical teenage girl, she dabbled her

and there with questionable choices for friends, her interest in boys increased, but with her mother and

grandmothers monitoring she knew those things were not for her. In school Natalie took on the

incremental theory of intelligence, that intelligence can increase if they work to master whatever they

seek to understand, (Berger, 2014, Chapter 9, pp. 343). With Natalies own discipline and participation

with school, she become one of the top students in her school. Andrea and Gretel couldnt have been more

excited for Natalies future!

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References

Berger, K. S. (2014). The Beginning: Science of the Human Development.

Invitation to the lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 10). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). The Beginning: from Conception to Birth. Invitation to

the lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 51). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). The Beginning: from Conception to Birth. Invitation to

the lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 64). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). The First Two Years: Science of the Human Development.

Invitation to the lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 94). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). The First Two Years: Science of the Human Development.

Invitation to the lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 116). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). The First Two Years: The Social World. Invitation to the

lifespan: with dsm5 update, (pp. 140). New York, NY: Worth Pub.

Berger, K. S. (2014). Adolescence: Body and Mind. Invitation to the lifespan:

with dsm5 update, (pp. 343). New York, NY: Worth Pub.