Antonina Morino

Introduction

Hi, my name is Antonina Morino and I am a junior at Siena College. I am currently majoring in Social Work and minoring in both Psychology and Criminal Justice. I was born in Toms River, New Jersey and lived until the age of four, when my mom made the conscious decision to move our family to White Plains, New York to take care of my grandfather who had become ill. I have lived in White Plains ever since and cannot truly put into words how much the city means to me. When I was a sophomore in high school, I began working at Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices and for the past two years I have been working as the manager. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my class at White Plains High School in 2017, along with my identical twin sister.

Family

My immediate family consists of my mom, dad, and my twin sister who is my world. Growing up, my dad had an extremely rough childhood. His dad wasn’t in the picture and after he was born his grandparents took care of him until his mom decided she wanted him around 12. They didn’t have anything and when he got older he worked extremely hard to ensure that he would never be in a similar situation again. He didn’t have any family besides his mom, often spending time with friends when he wasn’t working. He is extremely hard on my sister and I, but I know it is because he wants us to have the opportunities he didn’t have. On the other hand, my mom grew up in a good home with five of her siblings. She’s italian so she was constantly surrounded by family members. She was never alone and although her family was nosey, she wouldn’t have traded her childhood for anything.

Hometown

By growing up in White Plains, I was able to experience the best of both worlds. Being about 30 minutes away from New York City, I was able to experience the “hustle and bustle” lifestyle, but was also able to get a glimpse of what suburban living looked and felt like. White Plains also allowed me to be introduced to various different cultures at an early age and for this I will forever be grateful. When looking at student diversity in the White Plains City School District, 56.6% of students are Hispanic, 23.4% White, 13.5% Black, 3.9% Asian, and 2.6% Multiracial. After graduating in 2017, both my twin sister and I made the decision to continue our academic careers at Siena College (no, we do not live together) due to the various opportunities and great merit scholarships we both received.

Education

Being about 2 and a half hours away from Siena, I make up about 75% of students who dorm here on campus. Not only has living on campus provided me with friendships that I know will last a lifetime, but I have also been able to really dive into extracurricular activities such as the Mentoring Program and Italian Club. On top of these clubs, I also work three jobs (yes, three). These include being an Ambassador (a fancy word for tour guide), working at the calling center, and tutoring other students. Dorming has also provided me with not only the opportunity to grow independently by showing me what it takes to essentially live on my own, but also allowing me to learn how to manage my time. As stated above, I am currently working towards receiving my Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. The Social Work Department is very small here at Siena with 22 students graduating with their Bachelor’s degree in 2018. With this major being so small, I have been able to develop relationships with almost every single individual in the program while also developing close relationships with my professors.

My Deviance

In Outsiders, Beck introduces deviance as, “…anything that varies too widely from the average” (Becker 4). Upon reading this definition, I thought about how I am an identical twin, seeing as that the odds of having identical twins are about 3 in 1,000. My mom found out that she was having identical twins when she was around 5 months pregnant. Her doctor had told her that because the egg had split so far along in her pregnancy, my twin sister and I would be conjoined by the membrane. I knew conjoined twins were rare, but I had absolutely no idea to what extent. Conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births, approximately 70 percent female. My mother had a surgery booked for us to be separated, but after giving birth the doctors were surprised to see that we were two healthy separate girls.

Growing up having an identical twin is an experience like no other. My sister Amber and I grew up as close as siblings can get. We had and still do have a bond that cannot be broken. We are each other’s best friends, but it is a completely unique experience to have a sister the same age as you. Because we are constantly going through the different phases of life together, we often face several stereotypes because we are twins. The first stereotype we often encounter is that because we are identical twins, we should always want and act in the same way. Although extremely similar, Amber and I have distinctly different personalities. While I am more loud and outgoing, my sister tends to typically be shyer and more to herself. When people meet us, they are honestly shocked to see how different we are because they just assumed that since we’re twins, we should be exactly alike.

Another stereotype that we have often face as twins is the constant comparison between each other. When people are getting to know us for the first time, they often try to characterize us by what is different about us. Especially in middle school, we were constantly compared by terms such as “the smart twin” or “the nice twin” and sometimes even “the pretty twin”. This constant comparison between a set of twins shows that we are always being measured in relation to the other’s failure or success. Despite some of these stereotypes that we have encountered, I wouldn’t trade being a twin for the world. I was blessed with the most incredible twin sister and can’t imagine my life without her.

Despite not being able to come up with examples pertaining to my personal life, I feel as though it is important to mention the other defintions of deviance that Becker introduces. The first one I feel is important to mention is “Deviance is the failure to obey the group rules” (Becker 8). I feel as though this defintion is significant because it is what most people think when they hear the word deviance. The other definition of defiance I feel is significant is “When a role is enforced, the person who is supposed to have broken it may be seen as a special kind of person, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules agreed on by the group. He is regarded as an outside” (Becker 1). These various definitions of deviance presented by Becker show how individuals should think in an interdisplinary way. Many words have various meanings and it is important to be aware of them.

Social Institutional Influences

Social institutions such as education and the government have had drastic impacts on my life. Because not many of my family members received a college education, an expectation was put on my sister and I that we would go to college. With my dad going to trade school and my mom receiving her Bachelor’s degree, all they wanted what for us to further our education beyond what they had accomplished. By moving in with my grandfather, this provided my family with the financial stability to go to college. We received numerous grants, scholarships, and financial aid that have allowed us to receive an education at Siena College. Being the first two people in our family to move away for college, Amber and I see just how privileged we are to receive such a wonderful education and do not take this opportunity for granted.

My family’s life has definitely been impacted by the government. At a young age, my mom was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that commonly affects the joints, organs and body systems. I never knew how rare rheumatoid arthritis is because my mom has been living with the disease my entire life, but I learned that out of every 100,00 people, only 41 are diagnosed. After giving birth, my mother’s condition worsened and she could no longer work at IBM. She met the requirements to receive disability benefits, allowing her to receive checks in the mail each month from the government.

Another instance that demonstrates how my family is impacted by the government has to do with my grandpa immigrating to the United States from Italy. My grandpa was an 18-year-old boy living in Italy when he was drafted in World War II. When going through the necessary procedures, he failed the physical examination and was thus excused from participating in the war. The mere act of being drafted shows just how much power the military has over its citizens and when necessary, they will use this power effectively. After leaving Italy on April 26th, 1948, he finally arrived at Ellis Island on May 21st. In order to pass through, my grandpa had to give his name and had to go through a thorough physical examination and if they found that he was healthy, he would be admitted to enter the United States. This to me shows how the government utilized its power to determine who should be eligible to enter the country.

Work Cited

Becker, Howard S. Outsiders Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. 1973.