Who am I.....since when?

So many different schools of thought on what and who we will be......and when.......and how!  Are we predisposed to be who and what our family raises us to be?  Are we born to be intelligent thinkers or nurtured by our surroundings to listen, learn and develop into someone eager to garner knowledge and use it to the very best of our abilities?  Can an unchallenged brain be trained to be a thinker? Once again we float back to the age-old nature vs. nurture quandary.  We've been there plenty of times and I think I may have skewed my thinking to occasionally alleviate my responsibilities.

We've certainly heard stories about children who grew up in low-income homes, homes riddled with abuse and homes with single parents.  Many of these children thrived despite their adversities and became intelligent, productive adults who contributed in the most important fields of life.  Equally so, children who grew up with every advantage often staggered through life never really being successful for themselves or society.

So, once again, are we born (nature) to a predestined future or are we taught and loved (nature) to be the person we become.  As I've said before as a parent of two adopted children, When they blossom into successful adults, it's nurture! When they flop on the shore like a fish out of water and appear to be directionless, it's nature!  (Pretty much just a cop-out on my part.)

Now let's take me for instance.  I've always felt I achieved far less than I was predestined to... Prime example right there as we all know you don't end a sentence with a preposition!!!!  I was a successful student who went on to college..........for ONE semester. I had no worries about tuition, competence or goals.  My only issue was that I was tired of school and wanted to take a break.  I did!  I could have achieved anything I set my mind to and that was.... no more studying.  Hindsight is definitely 20/20.  In my mind, I was successful. I had a few diverse jobs where I learned much. I liked people but I took direction poorly. I often wonder if I could have been more, done more or seen more.  I never had to worry much about having more...even when having less was perfectly fine.  I enjoyed volunteering.

In my adult life, I was on several different boards and served them all well..(in my humble opinion.) Yesterday, as I was sorting through old pictures and memorabilia, I found a letter from my kindergarten teacher in 1958.  It answered many of the previous questions I had about who I was and if I'd always been that person.  I've added it below and will let you decide for yourselves! ;-)