According to Urie Brofenbrenner, a developmental psychologist, human development is influenced by different types of environmental systems. As humans, we interact with different environments during our lifespan that may influence behavior in different ways. Shayne Santos, a senior, has had multiple environments that have shaped her to be the person she is today.
Santos is an exceptional scholar who has taken part in several extracurriculars throughout her high- school career. She has been part of ASB, MMED Board, Cheer, and more where she takes on leadership positions.
There have been multiple times where she said that she has been overwhelmed or overstressed, but Santos doesn’t have any regret when it comes to the activities she is associated with because of their positive influence on her social life. By experiencing different environments, she was able to meet new people and get comfortable doing so.
Since elementary school, Santos has taken part in Job’s Daughters, a religious organization for young females from about 10-20 years old. Being part of this environment for so long has shown her that she could find community anywhere she went.
“ I saw myself grow from a shy to a confident and faithful person,” said Santos.
Through Job’s Daughters, Santos is also able to see herself through other young girls who were in her position. There is a set of twins that she mentors who did act similarly as she did when she was their age, and Santos is able to help them gain a sense of self-esteem as they grow up.
There are different levels of organization with social life according to Brofbrenner. Two of the systems we establish as humans are the microsystem and the mesosystem. In short, the microsystem is a direct type of environment, which we could have multiple of. The mesosystem is the environments we maintain in our microsystem interact and influence one another.
Another way Santos feels like she has improved was in problem solving. For Job’s Daughters, her team was to raise enough to fund some of the activities they do, mainly consisting of volunteering. The organization traveled around Los Angeles selling tickets to a Spaghetti Dinner to many people. People came from all over the county to contribute to their cause, and they were able to raise over $3,000 in one month.
This showed Santos and the other members of her organization what it is like to come up with a solution and execute that in a small amount of time. This reminded her of how much she loves contributing and serving her community.
In Santos’s case, one of her environments, Job’s Daughters, was able to influence her other environments, being the extracurriculars she is involved in. The confidence she gained helped her flourish and engage with other people and grow stronger connections, which she said has ultimately improved her mental health for the best.