Who are you as an instructional designer? A question was asked during Designing Your Online Professional<\/em><\/em> Presence<\/em> class at the instructional design graduate program I am attending, which inspired me to write this article. As simple as this question may seem, answering it is not, or at least for me!  Coming with an answer made me go deeper than thinking of myself professionally, it made me reflect on my identity in general. I wanted to come with something authentic that resonates with me as a human and professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-identity is a complex concept that has been defined in various ways and theories. An article that I have read recently on digital identities and \u201creal\u201d selves<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, made me think of how will I answer this question while being real to myself. The truth is, we tend to have different identities that suit every situation life puts us in. I am not trying to say that we are living fake identities, but as humans we develop complex personalities that are affected by how we see the world around us, how we see ourselves, and how we want people to perceive us. \u00a0A quote I relate to on this topic is by sociologist Charles Cooley that says: \u201cI am not what I think I am. I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am\u201d. A Short movie written and directed by Kalhil Adam called \u201cIdentity\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/a> is a great visual representation of the concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n