Hey guys, with the October SAT essay in just under a week, I was hoping someone could take a look at my practice essay 
prompt: Do we need other people in order to understand ourselves?
essay: Many people spend a vast majority of their lives attempting to understand who they are as an individual. With the knowledge of how minute we are compared to the incomprehensible size of the universe, finding and understanding who we are as a person is a difficult task. In order to become cognizant of our uniqueness as an original person, the assistance of others is imperative as history shows.
In Antebellum America, slavery was alive and as horrible as ever. One fortunate freeman named Creeth Jackson wrote about his struggle as a slave once he was freed. After countless days under the unbearable sun doing back-breaking work with little to no food, Creeth began to lose hope in life and himself. He saw no point in existing and though of himself as cheap labor. However it was the love of his family that kept him full of life. His family was an escape from his troubles and reminded him that he was cared for and gave him a purpose. Creeth's experience is a testament to the necessity of having others in order to understand ourselves.
Furthermore, in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, it is the oppression that she faces from others which makes her true identity awaken. Society expects her to conform to dehumanizing gender roles, and that pressure put upon her from others is what reveals to her who she truly is as a person. Edna develops no tolerance for anything that might stop her from being who she wants to be: a powerful woman who can do as she pleases. The influence of others causes us to make judgments on what we define as right or wrong--in this case oppresion of woman--resulting in a better understanding of ourselves .
History further proves that the presence of others helps us keep in touch with ourselves with the story of General Alexander Smith during the Vietnam war. Amidst a ferocious battle with the Vietnamese, Smith lost contact with his company and was lost alone in the jungles of Vietnam. He quickly lost any part of his character he had as he began to live off of purely survival instincts. While death was possible out in the battlefield as well, the General at least had the company of his troops. He lost grip of his personality and became an animal of the jungle attempting to survive, not a human asking himself who he was.
In the end, the company of others helps us truly understand who we are as unique individuals.
By typing this onto here I now realize it’s very sloppy, but a grade and some advice for anyone would be amazing and I would be very grateful!