Your childhood was spent on ships and stations as they transferred from posting to posting, never staying in one location for more than a few years.
Some assignments in the game are only available to those who selected a particular pre-service history. This choice affects how others talk about the main character and, in combination with the psychological profile, determines how many bonus Paragon and Renegade points the Commander has at the start of the game. The player then selects Shepard's pre-service history, by choosing Spacer, Earthborn, or Colonist. See also: Codex/Personal History Summary Pre-Service History The names for the preset character models are either John Shepard for male, or Jane Shepard for the female, though only the first names may be customized and not the actual model. When creating a custom character, the player can choose to play as a male or female Shepard. The process starts with the player either selecting a preset character or creating a custom character. Profile Reconstruction is the character creation system of Mass Effect.