Socialization is defined as the process through which people learn the expectations of society. This expected behavior allows people to determine their perspective roles in society.
             One of the most important stages in socialization occurs during infancy, and this stage is referred to as the imitation stage. When I was learning to talk, walk, smile, laugh, etc it was all an imitation of what I saw going on around me. In fact, as an infant I may have not even realized what or why I was doing what I was doing, but because I saw my parents or others doing it I assumed it must be okay and continued to mimic that action. This stage in one of the most important because it usually leads to the play and game stages where everything learned in the imitation stage is no long mimicked but turned into the assumed role of that particular child.
             As stated earlier my parents and others were key figures in my imitation stage. These things and/or people are known as socialization agents. For me growing up my parents were my main source of information, as they tried their hardest to make sure the media, my peers and other things did not influence the way I was or the person I was to become. This actually worked pretty well until I started school. It is very hard to not learn of or experience different socialization expectations when new people who have been exposed to different ways of thinking surround you. When I was in grades 1-8 I attend schools on military bases where I was surrounded by different aspects of socialization. I think this made me more aware of different people and their traditions and actually made me a better person because I was more open and not closed-minded to one area. One example of this is that I was able to experience different cultures rites of passage. For me it was a debutante ball when I was 16, I attended my friend's Quinceañera, another friends sweet sixteen, and I was even lucky enough to g...