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THE BIOGRAPHY OF NICOLE CIPRIANO

Nicole Mosnge Cipriano was born on March 7, 2000 in Davao City, Philippines. She's the youngest daughter of Leo Cipriano, a dedicated and wise master sergeant of the Philippine National Police, and Josie Cipriano, a retired bank teller. Nicole has two siblings: Angelica, who is an executive secretary to the president of one of the best group of companies in Davao, and Nico, a civil engineer. Nicole doesn't talk much in the family. She doesn't share her problems and concerns to anyone because she believes she can handle them on her own. She was kind, patient, self-sufficient, organized, disciplined, intelligent, wise, and competitive. She was a cold-looking person, but had a warm personality and cared a lot about others. Whenever she read sad and depressing posts from her friends on social media, even to strangers, she would send them warm messages to somehow lift their moods and talk to them. Nicole also had a tendency to not let people know what she's done for them. She would always secretly protect them. She was self-less. "If there were two doughnuts, and one of them is bigger than the other, tastier than the other, and has better designs than the other, I would give them the one that is better" (Cipriano, 2018). Because of this, despite her distant personality, she had a few good friends.

Nicole started dancing and singing when she was 3. She could read and even memorize the song she used to sing every day in their karaoke. She was the first one in their preschool batch to memorize the dance steps during the ceremony for the parents. As she grew up, she developed her skills in performing and even started learning rap, modeling, and writing lyrics. When she was 13, she saw a broadcast of Kpop idols performing on stage surrounded by cheering fans, and thought it was cool, and that she “wanted to be recognized as someone who is multi-talented” (Cipriano, 2016). Months after, she signed with a local Kpop entertainment agency. In 2014, she got the chance to perform on Kpop dance events. She felt hyped that "whenever she's on stage, she felt euphoric, it was breath-taking," and it felt like her "soul had been separated from the body" (Cipriano, 2016). She decided to take part in JYP Entertainment's online auditions, one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, so she continued practicing for months and even learned Korean language on her own. Unfortunately, despite her all-round talent, hard work, and determination to pursue her dream, she wasn't allowed by her parents as she's still too young to do so. In the next year, she halted her activities because her parents stopped her from dancing, so she went on a year and a half hiatus. Because of that, she became severely depressed, and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. When she stopped dancing, she "felt like going insane" (Cipriano, 2017). She came back dancing in 2016 to 2017, and totally stopped attending Kpop dance events in 2018. 

 During senior high school, she enrolled in Davao Doctors College and took Humanities and Social Sciences. She wrapped up with good grades. She enrolled in the same school and took psychology. While in the course, she kept questioning her life decisions. She still wanted to become a performer, but she already surpassed the age limit of the Korean ideal training system. After years of regretting, she finally decided to let go of that dream and focused on psychology. She got her psychology degree after 4 years, passed the psychometrician's board exam in one take and got her license, and later began teaching in the same school she graduated from. She taught there for a year, and later proceeded to medical school. 

 After 9 years, she became a successful neuropsychiatrist and worked at Southern Philippines Medical Center-Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. She also worked for Davao City Police Office (DCPO) as a criminal profiler and behavioral analyst. She "helped the police search for criminals, most especially, serial killers, serial rapists, and abductors, and interrogated them" (Cipriano, 2035). She also went to courts to testify as a professional, and became part of the jury. Since she had also finished a 9-month culinary course at Ateneo de Davao University while teaching at Davao Doctors College, she bought a 2-storey building, and opened a café and restaurant in 2035. The second storey of the building was made as her own psychiatry clinic, as well as a dance studio where she could utilize her skills as a dance trainer, and also allowed it to be rented for rehearsals and yoga sessions. 

 As a self-reward, Nicole would travel every 6 months with her friends. They had traveled together to Santorini, Switzerland, Los Angeles, New York, and Asian countries like South Korea Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. At age 37, she was married (Nicole didn't change her surname) to Kim Minkyu (hangul: 김민규), a former Kpop idol, a singer and model. They loved each other dearly. Whenever they had problems, "they talk calmly, face the problem, and solve it together" (Cipriano, 2038). They had two sons: Kim Haneul (hangul: 김하늘) and Kim Gureum (hangul: 김구름) who both had a passion for performing, and later pursued a career in music. Nicole and Minkyu were both busy with work and business, but they could always find ways to travel together. Nicole retired at the age of 60. In 2065, Nicole died on a plane crash while traveling to South Korea to meet her family.

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PRE-NATAL: The Life Your Mom was Carrying

           Genetics distinguish between the genotype, which is the pattern of inherited genes, and the phenotype, the individual’s observable characteristics. Genes are transmitted from parents to children according to complex rules. There are several diseases that affect the child during birth. These are dominant disorders that usually manifest during adulthood. These include Huntington’s disease, and recessive disorders such as phenylketonuria, Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis, and sickle-cell disease. Abnormal numbers of chromosomes and damage to it cause a number of serious disorders including Down syndrome.

           During the first trimester, a woman experiences morning sickness, breast enlargement, and fatigue. Second semester, the woman’/s abdomen enlarges. Her pregnancy becomes noticeable. She feels fetal movements. And during the third semester, the woman gains weight and may experience, breast discharge in preparation for nursing.

          The fetus is responsive to stimuli and appears to learn in the womb. Prenatal temperamental differences persist into infancy and childhood, and some aspects of the prenatal sensory environment may be important to future development. If a mother has poor nutrition, her fetus faces increased risks of stillbirth, low birth weight, and death during the first year of life. Long-term, severe depression or chronic physical illnesses in the mother may also increase the risk of complications of pregnancy or difficulties in the infant.

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          Genetics play a big role on the development of an individual. Both nature and nurture have impacts on the processes of development. If you’re aware that you have any kind of illness or disorder, think twice if you’d like to bear a child. Would you? Would you still like to have a baby despite the idea that the infant would have difficulties? Think again. If you want to make sure that the baby will be okay, have regular check-ups.

          It’s not easy bearing a child. A mother will have to experience difficulties and great changes that she has to adjust to. She will feel pain, cramps, and any other effects of pregnancy. The mother would have to eat very well during pregnancy. Everything she does will affect the child she is carrying, including her diet, her medicine, and even the environment she lives in. She has to be very careful with what she eat, drink, or take. She has to be very careful in what she would do. It’s fine to perform light exercises for a healthier body and baby, but she has to be careful in doing so. She has to be also careful in taking care of her body against environmental factors. The mother must avoid getting sick so the baby would be safe.

         There are a lot of things a mother should take note of and be cautious of. She isn’t carrying just anything, she is carrying a life, and that life should make it until it sees the wonderful world.

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LATE ADULTHOOD: The Eye of the Storm

         Most elders view their health status positively. With increasing age, the proportion of elders whose health interferes with activities of living rises. Chronic diseases such as arthritis and hypertension afflict many older adults. Changes in the brain associated with aging include a loss of dendritic density of neurons, which has the effect of slowing reaction time for almost all tasks. General slowing alters behavior in old age and makes tasks such as driving more dangerous. Older adults also change their sleeping and eating patterns. Motor abilities decline, causing more accidents due to falls. Sexual activity also decreases in frequency, although older adults continue to be sexually active. The elderly experience difficulties in a variety of mental processes, which appear to reflect a general slowing of the nervous system and perhaps a loss of working-memory capacity.

        Marriages in late adulthood are highly satisfying for both spouses, who exhibit strong loyalty and mutual affection. In addition, marriage is associated with better physical and mental health, higher levels of life satisfaction, and lower rates of institutionalizations. The majority of elders see their children regularly. There is some indication that relationships with siblings may become more significant in late adulthood than at earlier ages. 

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         The reason why the subtitle is, “The Eye of the Storm” is because this is where the acceptance of death occurs. They are at the death’s door, yet they actually remain calm and wait for it to open. This is the calmest stage among the Erikson’s Psychosocial Development stages. It is as calm as the eye of the storm.

         I would like to talk about my grandma. She’s been a widow since the 80’s, I think. But as I look at her, she’s still very strong and still able to do some chores. Either she’d be gardening, feeding dogs, sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, doing her laundry, (of course, we wouldn’t let her do these but she’s doing it anyways haha). She would complain while doing these tasks, yet she would still end up doing it. That’s how grandparents are, right?

        Let me talk about life span across gender. I remember the lecture which says that males have shorter life span than of females. The reason being said was that, males are more prone to diseases because basically they have several vices than females. However, what my former classmate said regarding this helped me realize how the world is to both genders.

She said, “Nic, do you know why male die earlier than females? When men die, women have much capacity to manage their feelings and emotions, so they can still move on with their lives. But men? Not really. A woman is a man’s world. How can a man live without his world? Do you notice that when a man’s wife dies, that man would not live that long?”

I became speechless when she said these. She was actually pointing out the mental and emotional stability across genders, and it actually hurts realizing it. 

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MIDDLE ADULTHOOD: The Light in the Midst of the Gray Skies

           Brain size diminishes a bit in the middle adult years. Some changes in brain function suggest that middle-aged adults are more subject to distraction. However, middle-aged adults often outperform younger adults on everyday tasks that require concentration and rapid judgments, such as driving. Cardiovascular disease is not a normal part of aging; it is a disease for which there are known risk factors, including smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, and a high-fat diet. Some studies suggest that differences in health contribute to variations in cognitive functioning among middle-aged adults. Exercise clearly affects the physical health of middle-aged adults, but research is less conclusive with regard to its effects on cognitive functioning.

           Erikson proposed that the primary developmental task of middle adulthood is to acquire a sense of generativity through mentoring other young individuals. Most adults become grandparents in middle age. The majority have warm, affectionate relationships with their grandchildren, although there are also many remote relationships. Friendships appear to be somewhat less numerous in middle adulthood than in younger adulthood, although they appear to be as intimate and central to the individual. Middle-aged adults prepare for retirement in several ways, not only through specific planning but also by reducing the number of hours they work. 

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            My mom is now 56 years old, and I can notice that she is easily distracted and seems like she cannot focus well. In terms of attention, she is becoming less attentive. She seems to have a louder voice like those of elderly people who cannot really hear well. However, she is healthier than my dad. She is also good in performing tasks at home. She does well than I do. My father has hypertension and diabetes, so he’s been maintaining several medicines. He would drink alcohol almost every night and reasons out that he’s tired and needs to sleep well. I am not quite sure if he is really becoming more dependent on alcohol. He sometimes smokes, and when he does, he would hide from mom because he knows my mom wouldn’t like that idea. The good thing is, they both exercise, which can help improve their cardiovascular and circulatory system. I would witness my mom exercising when I wake up every morning, and I would laugh at her because she looks funny doing that. She would dance alone like she’s on Zumba with other people. LOL. On the other hand, my dad, which is a cop, of course, he jogs just SOMETIMES (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA senior police officers do that LOL).

          My dad is actually planning to retire maybe next year. He said that he would like to buy a land and run a farm, or do any business that he can handle well.

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EARLY ADULTHOOD: Entering the World of Maturation

          Several longitudinal studies have shown that habits and personal factors influence good health. Lifestyle factors include avoiding smoking, drinking, overeating, and a sedentary lifestyle; exercise; regular sleep; and low BMI. Personal factors include social support, self-efficacy, an internal locus of control, and optimism.

          Intimate partner abuse is a significant global health problem. Causal factors include cultural beliefs about gender roles, as well as personal variables such as alcohol and drug use. Women who are abused develop feelings of anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem. Witnessing abuse negatively affects children’s development.

         Erikson proposed that young adults who fail to establish a stable relationship with an intimate partner or a network of friends become socially isolated. Levinson’s concept of the life structure includes all the roles that a person occupies, all of his/her relationships, and the conflicts and balance that exist among them. He hypothesized that adult development involves alternating periods of stability and instability, through which adults construct and refine life structures.

         Personality characteristics, as well as attachment and love, contribute to marital success. In general, married adults are happier, healthier, live longer, and have lower rates of psychological disorders than singles do. Divorce tends to increase young adults’ risk of depression, suicide, and adverse outcomes such as accidents, absenteeism from work, illness, loss of self-esteem, feeling of failure, and loneliness. 

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          Honestly, when I see or hear the word “abuse”, I think of what happened to Rihanna. What happened to her wasn’t a movie, a drama, or a show, but a reality, a very harsh reality that’s impossible to escape from. Just like we see in movies, something like that happened to not just her, but millions of women in the world. As a woman, I can’t help but cry for those occurrences that are very rampant in today’s society. I am blessed that I don’t have a partner like xxxx, Rihanna’s ex-boyfriend and perpetuator. I am also grateful that I am blessed with a father that is against violence.

          People who are so much introverted, or let’s say, people who failed to commit with friends would most likely to become isolated. However, there are people who don’t receive the calling to get married. As for me, regarding about relationships, I don’t want to commit if I’m not mentally, emotionally, and spiritually stable. As an adult, I want to be responsible for myself. If I would ever enter such relationships with an unstable aspect, obviously, the relationship would most likely to become unstable as well.

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ADOLESCENCE: Cuts and Burns

           The brain continues to develop in adolescence. Puberty is triggered by a complex set of hormonal changes beginning at about age 7 or 8. Sexual maturity is achieved later in boys, with the growth spurt occurring a year or more after the start of genital changes. Variations in the rate of pubertal development have some psychological effects. In general, children whose physical development occurs markedly earlier or later than they expect or desire show more negative effects than do those whose development is on time.

          Factor that predispose girls to teen pregnancy include early sexual activity, being raised by a single parent, having parents with low level of education, low socioeconomic status, and having a parent who gave birth to a child in adolescence. Factors that protect against teen pregnancy include academic achievement, high aspirations for future education and career, and good communication about sex and contraception with parents.

          Eating disorder such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are more common among teenaged girls than among teenaged boy. Some theorists say that the factors may be seeing thin model on screen, others have proposed biological and socioeconomic causes. Eating disorders are likely to be associated with other psychological disorders. Depression and suicide are mental health problems that are common during adolescence. Both are more common among girls, although boys ar more likely to succeed with a suicide attempt. 

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          Going through puberty is hard. This is the time you get confused with everything, and that becomes the first strike. A strike which means that you’re at the level of misunderstanding things. You would misunderstand everyone’s simple acts including the motive behind them, what they say, and every situation you are in. Confusion basically transforms into misunderstanding. Second strike is that, after a misunderstanding about a particular thing, you would feel like everyone’s the same. You generalize people and you would feel like everyone around you annoys you. The third strike would be anxiety. You will be anxious about everything. The fear and exaggerated concern swallow the system inside of you, and that would lead to the fourth and last strike: depression. It’s likely that you’ll develop depression during puberty, Everything becomes so stressing, annoying, and bothersome. You would feel that everything and everyone around you is hurting you. They will become onions to your eyes, you would easily cry.

           I experienced the same thing. I lost a bunch of friends, so I felt like the world is against me. My parents didn’t give me support in dancing. They would always tell me to go home right after my class. I didn’t get to experience camping and overnight with friend. I couldn’t get the chance to explore new things. That’s what adolescence was to me.

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MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: Where the School Bus Takes You

           Physical development from age 6 to age 12 is steady and slow. Major brain growth spurts occur in 6- to 8-year olds and in 10- to 12-year olds. Neurological development leads to improvements in selective attention, information-processing speed, and spatial perception.

           Language development continues in middle childhood with vocabulary growth, improvements in grammar, and understanding of the social uses of language. Piaget proposed that a major change in a child’s thinking occurs at about age 6, when the child begins to understand powerful operations such as reversibility and decentration. The child also learns to use inductive logic but does not yet use deductive logic. Children do not master all of Piaget’s concrete operational tasks at the same time, a pattern he called horizontal decalage.

           To become literate, children need specific instruction in sound-symbol correspondences, word parts, and other aspects of written language. They also need to be exposed to good literature and to have lots of opportunities to practice their reading and writing skills. Boys typically do better on tests of advanced mathematical ability than girls. Girls do somewhat better than boys on verbal tasks.

           Trait theories propose that people possess stable characteristics that emerge during middle childhood as experiences modify the dimensions of temperament. Social-cognitive theories argue that traits, and the emotional aspects of personality that were emphasized by psychoanalytic theories, represent one of three interactions sets of factors, and behavioral factors.

Self-esteem appears to be shaped by two factors: the degree of discrepancy a child experiences between goals and achievements and the degree of perceived social support from peers and parents. Piaget claimed that moral reasoning develops in sequential stages that are correlated with his cognitive-developmental stages. Children in the moral realism stage believe that authority figures establish rules that must be followed, under threat of punishment. Children in the moral relativism stage understand that rules can be changed through social agreement. Their moral judgment is colored more by intentions than by consequences.

Relationships with parents become less overtly affectionate, with fewer attachment behaviors, in middle childhood. Friendships also become stable in this stage. 

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           How did I spend my middle childhood years? I spent it well. I spent some of my time in our neighbor's house, eating anything they had offered me with. I mean, they were not strangers to me. They’re like a family friend. I’ve been living in a military subdivision, so I am friends with almost all the children of my father’s colleagues. I’ve had lots of friends BEFORE, and I could tell that my childhood was awesome.

          Playing with friends became a daily routine. Running and jumping outside felt really good because I felt like I was free. But of course, I just asked for my nanny’s help because basically, I wasn’t allowed to go out, LOL. My mom would always reprimand me for playing with buckets of sand because I would always get dirty, so I had to change to another clean tee.

         I can still remember I got 3rd place in preschool, and everyone including my father’s colleagues would call me smart and pretty (Charot). I was active in school. I was the best reader and I was the very first student in class who perfected the sentence-making. There was indeed a vocabulary growth within me.

        I remember dad teaching us deductive logic every time we’d commit mistake. That’s the way he disciplines us. “Bad magsinungaling. Nagsinungaling ka. Ikaw ha, bad ka.” With that, I became afraid being labelled bad, so I did not commit the same mistake again.

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EARLY CHILDHOOD: What Did the Environment Feed You?

            Freud and Erikson each described two stages of personality development during the preschool years: the anal and phallic stages in Freud’s theory and the stages in which autonomy and initiative are developed in Erikson’s theory. Both theories, but especially Freud’s, place primary importance on the parent-child relationship. More recent psychoanalytic approaches emphasize the importance of relationships with peers and siblings.

           During early childhood, children’s temperaments are modified by social experiences both within and outside the family to form their personalities. The preschooler continues to define himself along a series of objective dimensions but does not yet have a global sense of self. Children make major strides in self-control and in their understanding of their own social roles in the preschool years, as parents gradually turn over the job control to the child.

          The young child’s attachment to the parent/s remain/s strong, but except in stressful situations, attachment behaviors become less visible as the child gets older. Authoritative parenting, which combines warmth, clear rules, and communication with high maturity demands, is associated with the most positive outcomes for children. Authoritarian parenting has some negative effects on development. However, permissive and uninvolved parenting seem to be the least positive styles.

           Play with peers becomes increasingly important through the preschool years. At every age, children spend some time in solitary play and may exhibit onlooker play, a pattern in which they watch another child play. Physical aggression towards peers increases and then declines, while verbal aggression increases among older preschoolers. A shift from instrumental aggression, which is goal oriented, to hostile aggression, which aims to hurt others or gain advantage over them, is also apparent. Some children display trait aggression, a pattern of aggressive behavior that continues to cause problems for them throughout childhood and adolescence.

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            During my preschool years, I can still remember that my parents taught me to do things right. They taught me how to properly hold a glass and even wash the dishes. They would let me interfere when they’re doing the laundry. They would let me hold the microphone and sing anything even if it’s just pure “wrawrawrawr” then scream afterwards, (LOL) and they would teach me how to play piano even if all I would do is interfere with mom’s music by smashing the keyboard. We were all taught things like these when we were young. Letting us perform any feasible thing alone is teaching us what autonomy is. 

            I have a good relationship with both of my parents and siblings until now. Though I’ve been always get scolded, but it still feels good that you have a family that is very concerned of you, who worry about you so much because they love you. Of course, a child wouldn’t understand these things. All they think about is how to get fun, they think just about themselves, and this is actually very true. During preschool, the child wouldn’t be aware of or be concerned of anything but themselves and their desires, and that’s what I felt when I was younger. I’ve been selfish, too aggressive, and of course, impulsive.

           My parents parenting style is authoritative, so I’ve learned everything the hard way. Hard, because I was taught to work hard before getting something. I wasn’t spoiled. I was spanked countless of times, and when I was younger, I wouldn’t understand that I was being conditioned not to do the same mistakes again. The upbringing was so firm, but has great quality, impact, and results. I was, and still am, very, strongly attached to my parents. There’s a secure attachment between us, which connects us stronger than our Wi-Fi signal. 

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INFANCY: How Your Parents Took Care of You

            Changes in the nervous system are extremely rapid in the first 2 years. In most parts of the brain, development of dendrites and synapses reaches its first peak between 12 and 24 months. There are kinds of reflexes which include the adaptive reflexes, primitive reflexes, and such. Neonates move through a series of states of consciousness in a cycle that lasts about 2 hours. During infancy, bones increase in number and density; muscle fibers become larger and contain less water. Stamina also improves as lungs grow and the heart gets stronger. Motor skills improve rapidly in the first 2 years.

            Breastfeeding has been shown to be better for a baby nutritionally than formula feeding. Macronutrient malnutrition results from a diet that contains too few calories, while micronutrient malnutrition is caused by a diet that has sufficient calories but lacks specific nutrients, vitamins, or minerals. Babies need regular check-ups and a variety of immunizations.

           Sudden infant death syndrome is the most common cause of death between 1 month and 1 year of age in the United States. Risk factors include sleeping on the stomach, sleep apnea, and exposure to tobacco smoke before and after birth.

           Color vision is present at birth, but visual acuity and visual tracking skill are relatively poor at birth and then develop rapidly during the first few months. Basic auditory skills are more fully developed at birth; acuity is good for the range of the human voice, and the newborn can locate at least the approximate direction of sounds. The sensory capacities for smelling, tasting, and the senses of touch and motion are also well-developed at birth.

           Habituation involves exposing babies to stimuli until they are no longer interested in them. By using operant conditioning, researchers train babies to perform behaviors such as turning their heads in response to specific stimuli. Depth perception is present in at least rudimentary form by 3 months. Babies initially use kinetic cues, then binocular cues, and finally pictorial (monocular) cues by about 5 to 7 months. From the beginning, babies appear to attend to and discriminate among speech contrasts present in all possible languages. Studies show that infants can learn something via one sense and transfer it to another sense – a skills known as intermodal perception.

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             Carrying a life in your tummy is not easy. My mom even mentioned that pregnant women have their one leg on the surgery bed, and the other in a grave. That’s how risky pregnancy is. Only God knows if you’re going to make it or not, or will they baby make it out and see the world, or not. But look at me, look at you, look at the mirror, look at everyone who’s alive today. We all made it. We’ve come this far. Thanks to our mothers who endured a lot just to let us live. They even broke lots of bones just to let us see how wonderful life is, and future mothers will.

             Skills are taught, but talent is inborn. First of all, I want to thank both of my parents for giving me an all-round talent (LOL, does the term “all-round talent” actually exist? Haha). As written in the book, we are all born talented. Even when we’re still in our mommy’s tummy (what a cute rhyme ^_^), we already have talents within us depending on how we are nurtured, and of course, it comes by the genes. As for me, I don’t know what my parents did when I was still inside my mom’s womb, whether they sang for me, or even danced for me, or whatever. However, genetically speaking, my mom and dad have great voices. My mom was also a majorette queen, or a majorette mother, or a mother majorette. (I DON’T KNOW THE TERM HAHAHA FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE!)

             As for the language learning, I also don’t know what my first words were. But yeah, I just knew that I was babbling, and I was cooing with all my heart. LOL. I don’t also know when was the first time I smiled because basically, I look like I have no jam at all HAHAHAHAHAHAHA And oh, before I forgot, I got my empathetic personality from my mom and my wit from my dad. :)