سجا
Saja Mohammed에 의해On my first day at university, I felt like I had entered a vast world full of opportunities and challenges, where student groups were clear and distinct, and each college seemed like a small world of its own. I joined the College of Psychology, while the College of Medicine stood proudly across the campus square. From the very first day, my mind naturally drew invisible lines. I saw myself as part of “us,” the psychology students, while the medical students were “them.” This is *social categorization, in its simplest *_form_* — *a mental process* that divides my university world into two distinct groups.
*As days and weeks passed, being part* of the College of Psychology became more than just a name on my ID card; it began to sink deep into my identity. I felt a genuine connection with my classmates, sharing the same passion and engaging in deep discussions about the human mind. I proudly said, “I am a psychology student,” which shows *social identification*, as *my sense of self became linked to my group*. I even found myself saying things like, “We in Psychology think differently from medical students,” showing how *my group identity started *_shaping_* *my thoughts and behavior*.
This feeling became especially clear during University Activity Week. There was an academic competition between colleges, where our psychology *team* competed against the medical students. I sat in the audience with my classmates, our hearts beating with every question and answer. When our team excelled in a round of open discussion, I felt an overwhelming wave of pride and happiness, as if I were standing on the stage myself. At that moment, I was practicing social comparison, clearly comparing my group’s performance with the other group.
Even a small victory in that competition gave me a sense of satisfaction and achievement. I saw my *group* — the in-*group* — as more creative and thoughtful than the out-group, represented by the medical students. This feeling of distinction is called positive distinctiveness, the desire to see your group as better than others to enhance self-esteem.
In the end, I realized that this experience was not just fleeting emotions, but a living example of Social Identity Theory. University taught me that our *identity is *shaped* not only by personal experiences but also by our sense of belonging to groups we value. My *belonging* to the College of Psychology gave me pride, loyalty, and formed a significant part of my *self-concept* during this important *stage of life*.
