We are a product of some combination of our surroundings when young, our upbringing (intended and unintended interactions with family), and our own brain chemistry... as we age, our outlook changes to see these factors not as boundaries, but beginnings.

I think that who we are as adults is a combination of how we came to terms with the things about ourselves and our upbringings that we could not change, and how much we have managed to separate that from who we are and who we want to be NOW.

Given an upbringing that was not 'perfect' (since none are, lol), who have we become?
Have we given up and resigned ourselves to it? Or have we taken its lessons to build a knowledge base and face the future?
Do we look at ourselves as VICTIMS of our childhoods or STUDENTS?
The victim does not progress into a strong sense of self. But the student does.