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PEPSI Screening

Gisselle Bravo

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220-1001

Rochelle Hooks

October 8, 2022
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Introduction

I will be assessing the development of a student with using the Pepsi

Screening tool. Pepsi stands for physical, emotional, philosophical, social, and intellectual. I will

use many educational resources to expand and grow my examination with the PEPSI Screening.

Biography

Natalie Hernandez was born on November 26, 2001, at UMC hospital in

Las Vegas. She attended Tom Williams Elementary School and Monaco Middle School. She is

currently a sophomore at Rancho High School. Natalie lived with her dad, mother, 2 stepsisters

and stepbrother for some time. She is the only child from her father and the youngest of all her

step siblings. Before she went to middle school her siblings little by little moved out with their

partners and started their own life including her mom. As everyone left, Natalie and her father

were the only ones that stayed. Although her mother was not much in her life, she was there for

her financially. Her and her mother would talk occasionally and see each other every other day.

Her and her father have always been super close since she was

Natalie never struggled financially. Her mother is 51 years old and

although she jumped from quite of few jobs’ comparison to the father. The mother started at the

laundry mat then moved to Brady Linen Services to do inventory at the Casinos where she met

the father of Natalie. The mother struggled with having two jobs and finding ways to provide for

her family. She would sleep in the car sometimes until she was tired of living this way and

started her own business. She now owns properties and manages houses. Her father stayed at the

same job where he met Natalie’s mother.

Natalie is a first generation Mexican American. As being a first

generation Mexican American, it came with a lot of responsibility and pressure. Although her
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dad has always been super supportive, her mom brought down many traumas. She was mentally

abusive due to her traumatic childhood. She often never saw the mental damage she caused

because she hasn’t been very open nor know how Natalie felt towards it. Natalie has always been

very reserved with her feelings and although her mom caused many issues mentally, she never

confronted her about it. Her dad saw her as her own person but sometimes she would compare

her to other daughters. This would cause Natalie to always try to do her best because she wanted

to be in first place to the competition her mother would always put her in when it comes with

school or extracurricular activities. She did not want to disappoint. Her father has always been

the supportive and comforting parent. When her parents used to live together, they would argue

majority of the time. Natalie mentions that throughout her life she would think it was because of

her and sometimes it would be. Her mom wanted to yell at her, and her father always defended

her, and the argument would escalate quickly. There arguing was so bad they had to sleep in

different rooms thinking it would help but it didn’t, until her mother started to hardly exist at the

house.

Throughout her life she was always scared to do things so she would

hardly get in trouble. One day in Middle school around 7th grade in middle school she had gotten

into a fight. Natalie states that as she grew, she never really knew why she started it but it

happened and she got RPC from school and her mother was upset and grounded her for two

months. After that she continued to be a good student and get involved in extra curriculum

activities.

Today Natalie is more open minded. She is smart, kind, loving, and has

goals set for herself. She enjoys dancing and playing soccer but also loves to try new things. She
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is starting to stand up for what she believes in although sometimes she may be shy. She often

struggles with her insecurities and at times feeling like she doesn’t do enough.

Physical Development

Natalie’s family has a history of diabetes on her mother’s side. Her

father’s side doesn’t have any health issues that she knows about. Although her mother’s side of

the family have diabetes, she has not yet had any health issues. She has always been athletic and

active in trying new sports, she has gotten injured before. One time she had gotten a concussion

at soccer practice and another day she had sprained her ankle where she had to use crutches until

it healed.

She is five feet and two inches tall. She is about one hundred and thirty

which shows she is considered normal weight. Puberty started to develop Natalie’s body and she

started to have hair growth in Middle School. Although she was athletic sometimes, she would

not get enough rest because she would get distracted by her phone with social media. “The odds

of being obese increased in adolescents by 80% (Owens et al.,2014).” Natalie can easily have the

loss of sleep affect her in running the risk of obesity.

Although Natalie would play sports and mostly soccer, she is very much

a distracting person. Sometimes although she loved to play soccer, she would run late because of

the distraction of her phone. As she grows and played soccer, her dad wasn’t so strict on eating

healthy. She would eat anything and at times it would be healthy at times it wouldn’t. She would

eat at most 2 times a day because she would eat a lot but somehow, she says she felt extremely

hungry after games or practices. As she grew, she started to eat more fast food since her friends

in her team would want to go to McDonald’s or any other fast food she would eat and not watch
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what she eats. “Frequently eating fast food could cause teens and young adults to gain more

weight and face an increased risk of developing insulin resistance, according to the results of a

longitudinal study that followed over 3,000 young adults over a period of 15 years.”

Emotional Development

Natalie does not have a close relationship with her parents. She is closer

to her dad than she is with her mom. She would see them argue and her mom’s words affected

her emotional health. According to research, even as a baby, your little one is picking up on how

you respond to their social and emotional needs (pathaways.org). As Natalie saw the arguments

between her parents, she was always so protective over her father since they were extremely

close. Although she wishes not to have the same character as her mother, she gained some traits.

One of the characteristics she gained from her mom was the temper. When something gets her

mom upset or mad, she thinks it’s okay to blow it off on other people which isn’t okay. Natalie

often does this and doesn’t know how to control her emotions. There are times where her mom

says stuff when upset that can be very hurtful and Natalie sometimes sees herself being in the

same position which isn’t okay and she is still working on.

Natalie’s dad was the affectionate parent. He was the one that showed

love and would remind her how much she meant. He would always say that he was very proud of

her and would support when it comes to games and performances. On the other hand, the mother

was not affectionate at all. She was the type of parent that would buy things for her to show that

she cares. She grew up not receiving much love growing up and had a hard childhood which

explains how she’s not affectionate. Natalie on the other hand turned out to be a sensitive and

very affectionate person. She expresses her love with words and physical touch along with gifts.
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As in for her siblings, she felt like she never fitted in. Her siblings would only ask her to baby sit

their kids but never really ask how she’s doing or try to build a bond with them. Although she

was close to her father, she felt more comfortable with holding in how she feels and going to her

room. She would hold emotions in which isn’t good nor healthy to do. (quote)

Natalie has never really confronted her mother about her resentment nor

issues she’s gained from her. She’s been the type of person to just try to move on but its awfully

hard to. She feels like her mother would not understand because Hispanics often don’t believe in

mental health. They usually feel like therapists are for people that are going crazy. Which makes

her feel like it’s useless to talk about her feelings with her. She feels like she would not

understand. From studies it shows that “In a world full of influencers, it's clear that social media

has a significant influence on youth and potential for negative impact on self-esteem and mental

health.” This study is true because even though Natalie doesn’t express herself, social media

doesn’t make it any better. At times it even makes it worse. Natalie already has issues with her

mental state and although social media does have good outcomes, it has negative ones.

Philosophical Development

“Parents are a child’s first teachers, and young minds learn by example”

(Mom Junction) After all the environment of a child is very important. What surrounds them is

what they learn. For example, if they see their parents fighting and their dad yells at the mom,

they will think it’s okay to yell at them as well. In Natalie’s case, she saw her mother tell her

father words to hurt him and now as she’s growing up, she sees doing the same with other

people. She learned the bad characteristics that her mother brought down to her. Both her parents

have been huge on her studying which is why Natalie has goals into becoming an educator. She
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wants to make a difference in people’s lives. The only reason why she knows that she enjoys it,

is the fact that when she baby sits her siblings, she creates fun educational games to help them

learn and grow.

As in for religious beliefs, she was grown to be catholic, and she remains.

She used to be in a church choir and would go to church every Sunday with her grandma. She is

still learning and as she grows, she has her own thoughts and ideas. For a majority part of her

life, her mom would make decisions for her. Her mother would choose what to wear, or if she

chose something she would insult how it doesn’t match or go together. She now struggles with

making decisions without a second opinion. She also has second thoughts into choosing an outfit

because she feels insecure or she second doubts herself. She sees it is an issue and she is slowly

learning and growing from it.

Social Development

As social interactions have changed over time, now a days technology is

a huge tool to help connect and talk to people. It is as easy to call, text, or even facetime them to

be able to stay in touch. As technology evolves, it has been a major part in people’s lives.

According to Timothy J. Legg he says, “While some forms of technology may have made

positive changes in the world, there is evidence for the negative effects of technology and its

overuse, as well.” Natalie often does feel better and more comfortable when talking through

technology and has trouble sometimes with social skills. She hasn’t felt very confident in herself

so then she has troubles with continuing or starting a conversation with people face to face.

“Friendships are a crucial part of growing up” says on the sound it out together website.

Friendships are an important part when growing up. Since she has been shy, she doesn’t really
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talk to many people. She has a few people she talks to and only trusts a few. The very few

friends she does trust in, she is a completely different person then with people she doesn’t know.

She is herself when it comes to them.

Intellectual Development

Natalie has always been an average student. Just because she is an

average student doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to learn much. She likes to learn new things. She

often struggles a lot with math, but her strongest subjects are reading and writing. She loves to

go to her specials. She is quite competitive so when it comes to competitions, she tries her best to

be her best. With her being this way, she is always involved in projects and such things like that.

She has always been shy to present but if she has to for her grade she will do so. She has always

been like this throughout school. In Elementary school she wasn’t much involved because she

wasn’t so confident in herself, but she tried out for soccer in fifth grade and made it, so it gave

her a bit more confidence in herself. In Middle School she has regrets in not being more involved

but that was the time she had the breakage of ice. She started to be more involved, so she tried

out for soccer and made it and met many new friends. Now in high school she wants to try

everything. She wants to try different sports and try new things. As in for academic wise, she has

been decent and average for her grades. She has the right mindset but her letter grades or GPA

currently in high schools is average. Her GPA is a 2.9, “According to a 2018 study by the

Fordham Institute, in 2016 the median GPA for students at more affluent schools was a 3.0 and

at less affluence schools was 2.59. This study also found that the average high school GPA has

risen steadily over the years.”

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Recommendation

With the normal range being in the middle of the graph, what Natalie has

to improve in is Emotional, Philosophical, and Social. She is quite very active for her age but has

areas where she can improve in. She was mentally abused, it takes times. She needs time to heal

from all the damage of words her mom has said. She must learn to not let words signify

anything. If she wants to wear a yellow dress and her mom says no to wear a purple dress for the

family gathering, she must communicate with her mother. She needs to respectfully tell her that

it is her body, and it is her choice with what she wants to wear. Wearing what she wants helps

her express who she is. She must talk to her mom to try to get the problem solved. If Natalie
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continues not to say anything and let her mom control her decisions or choices, she will never

see the wrongs she is committing. She will think it is okay to continue.

Philosophical is an area she also must work on. Since she grew up with

her parents arguing. Although this is very hard to see growing up, she must let go and know that

her parents did not always do the right thing, and this was one of them. She needs to be able to

learn that how her mother would react is not okay. Just because she was mad at someone, she

cant be mad at everyone else. Blowing off anger on other people is not a healthy way to let go of

anger. Since Natalie loves to play soccer or dance, she can use one of these hobbies to help her

calm down. Getting mad at others and telling them hurtful words will not help the situation, it

will only make the problem bigger. Being able to improve as a person and move on from past

issues to be able to continue and grow instead of holding on to it will help him heal.

Being more social has been improving these past years. Since she has

been more involved, she talks to people but sometimes it’s hard for her to start or continue the

conversation. Social skills can always improve, and this is a very important skill to have as she

grows. Although she does talk to people, she does get shy sometimes and feels like this is her

weakness. She has been shown the opposite way on how to talk to other people, so she is trying

to be more social and talk to others especially about her emotions since she tends to hold in.

Conclusion

Natalie is on a learning journey. She often makes mistakes but is very

known on her wrongs although it might take her a while to notice. Knowing your wrongs and

accepting them, is a huge first step into making changes into bettering herself. She has a couple

years ahead of her but with a doubt on the path she is going, she will continue to heal and grow

to be the person she wants to be someday. It takes time to be able to heal and work on the areas
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where she sees her wrongs in. She has a bright future ahead of her, and all of this will only

benefit her in a positive way when she grows up and turns into an adult.
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References

Dr. Richa Mittal. (2022) How does the environment influence a child growth and

development?

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/environment-influence-on-child-growth_00332016/

Samantha Lindsay., (2020) What’s the Average High School GPA?

https://blog.prepscholar.com/whats-the-average-high-school-gpa

https://sounditouttogether.org/guides/emotion/friendship/?gclid=Cj0

KCQjw4omaBhDqARIsADXULuWJ3en5i33MCaqC0o7odfNrcbxin5eBjEeF9jT_WkZ7P_

qjNfRRKgEaAjFjEALw_wcB

Craig Mcdonald-Brown, Kumar Laxman and John Hope., (2017) Sources of support and

mediation online for 9-12-year-old children

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2042753017692430

Sarah Grizzle, Youth Development, Boys and Girls Clubs of America in Parent Resources,.

(2022) Effects of social media on Teens: Understanding the Headlines

https://bgca.org/news-stories/2022/August/effects-of-social-media-on-

teens-understanding-recent-

headlines?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4omaBhDqARIsADXULuV89HPkj5V506NsKk0iXMmYg-

mLUOrdr9FWN7ozy_5oqux3_JAmTzUaAtZPEALw_wcB
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Owens, J., Group,. (2014) Insufficient sleep in adolescents and young adults: An update on

causes and consequences.

Tracee Cornforth., (2019) How eating fast food affects teen health

https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-eating-fast-food-affects-the-health-

of-teens-3522416

https://pathways.org/topics-of-development/social-

emotional/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4omaBhDqARIsADXULuVCtMfd7xV7yh211FUVv8kMWZ_S8Uq0f

ti-ycRX0h_ZkfZ1tNAekoEaAq4rEALw_wcB

Timothy J. Legg,. (2020) Negative effects of technology: What to know

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/negative-effects-of-

technology#:~:text=Social%20media%20and%20mobile%20devices,on%20developing%20child

ren%20and%20teenagers.