Cultural Experience : Texas A & M International University Essay

As American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez expressed, “Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” Respecting everyone’s culture is a necessity, no matter their ethnic background, or if they stand out in society. Language, customs, food, and religion are all parts of a culture everyone possesses. All individuals have a viewpoint, a perspective of what cultures the world around them is compromised of. The culture in every human influences how they view the world around them by hiding one’s own culture, giving people biased views of others’ ethnicities, and weighing down the minority groups.

Arriving at a foreign country at the age of eleven years old was and exiting and yet intimidating experience. High buildings, wide roads, newer and nicer cars on the streets were some of the first things I noticed when I arrived to the city of Los Angeles CA. Living in a country where you were not born in could be difficult some times. Although Spanish is spoken at a grand scale in CA, it was difficult to communicate with and understand the teachers from my classes at the elementary level since all they spoke was English. Los Angeles is a city of great diversity, therefore it is believed to be the perfect place for any person arriving from another country to not feel like a foreign, such believe

What are some key things you have learned about this culture through reading the scholarly literature?

In the following paper we will explore the cultural heritage of Stephanie Cotton. During this exploration we will discuss the aspects of Stephanie’s heritage that her family is most proud of, ashamed off, and how her White heritage has resulted in privilege. The following paper will also discusses how Stephanie’s heritage will affect her as a Marriage and Family Counselor, strategies to combat possible bias and micrograssion, and other tools that will facilitate Stephanie being a culturally competent counselor.

In sixteen years of life, I have received an opportunity to experience different cultures, learning styles, and languages. To start of, I am an American since I was born here, but the reality is that I was raised in India. My parents’ main motivation for moving back to India was because they wanted us to embrace our traditions, and most importantly, value our family relationships. We relocated back to the US at the start of 9th grade. This transition was a huge factor for transforming me as a person. I am cognizant of the two systems, cherish both, and realize that these multicultural experiences have encouraged me to grow and mature beyond my years. Relocating from a place is not as easy as one can imagine. When compared to the US, India

I interviewed a beautiful and courageous woman, of African descent. Born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia on May 20, 1969. In addition, she has one biological brother and three step siblings. Currently she resides in Loganville, Georgia, where she lives with her two children. By the same token, she and her husband been married for twenty-one years to her loving high school sweetheart husband. Due to unfortunate circumstances, she lost her husband in the line of duty. Causing her to become a widow, continuing to survive life without her husband. When I conducted this interview, had one topic in mind that I wanted to learn more about her life as an immigrant and how did influence her life.

My cultural immersion focus is on the religious war in Nigeria. One of the interesting things I found in my research was that, in Nigeria the Christian faith and the Muslim faith represents the greatest percentage of religions. I also learned that the Christians and Muslims pray every day several times a day. With that being said, I wondered if they believed in a higher entity prayed every day, who they are praying to? And what is their belief system based on? (question 1) Since their Christian faith seems to be divided into Catholic, Protestant or some other, I decided to attend a typical Catholic Church service and a Friday mid-day Muslim prayer service. Maybe I should not have used the

In growing up in the position of the ‘other’ in society, Smith provides an empowered stance of identity exclusively through the demonstration of cultural hybridity, as evidenced by Millat and his gangster crew, the Raggastani’s. As Millat becomes increasingly connected to a swaggering identity highlighted by Western popular culture, his sense of belonging becomes established with the multicultural mix of South Asian and Caribbean teens he hangs out with: “It was a new breed, just recently joining the ranks of the other street crews. Becks, B-boys, Nation Brothers, Raggas, and Pakis; manifesting itself as a kind of cultural mongrel of the last three categories. Their ethos, their manifesto, if it could be called that, was equally a hybrid thing” (193). Here, Smith uses the Raggastani’s as a symbol representing the emerging identity of a multicultural London transformed by the migration of formerly colonized populations from South Asia and the Caribbean. Their mission, to put the “invincible back in Indian, the Bad-aaaass back in Bengali, the P-Funk back in Pakistani” (193), is about taking their identities which have been devalued in Western society and linking them together through a collective sense of approval. As a productive example of cultural hybridity taking place, they are a direct contrast with the forms of difference and racial purity that the Chalfen`s represent, and the resistance of letting go of traditions that their parents uphold. The group tries on a series

As future, enthusiastic teachers, it’s a fun thought to imagine what kind of teacher we will be and how we will run our classrooms. So, then it only makes logical sense that we go in depth with this train of thought and analyze how we as individuals will be like as educators and how our personal socialization experiences have affected us as human beings. What compiles our cultural identity will be the general makeup as to what kind of teacher we will be. As I write this now, I am only 19 years of age and in the middle of my second year of college. However, I’ve been through enough throughout my 19 years of living that I’ve formulated a definite idea as to what my cultural identity is and how it affects me as a person, friend, and future educator.

Paul is a third-grader who is a very strong reader. He chooses to spend most of his time reading and enjoys many different topics. He writes long and complex stories during writer workshop as well. Paul seldom engages socially with other children; in fact, he is quite timid with both children and adults.

I interviewed my best friend, Zareth Soto. She is a 19-year-old college student. she is currently attending Mt. San Jacinto college and is majoring in graphic design. In the interview, we mostly focused on the downside to having the identity of being a female person of color and we also focused on the uplifting positive parts of having this identity. Having watched as a child, how her mother was treated poorly because of her race, by her employers while working as house cleaner, made it hard for Zareth growing up to accept her identity. she felt as though she would never be able to accomplish things in life or go further than what her parents had accomplished all because of her race and her culture. As a young girl Zareth saw how having white

After interviewing Joe, I decided to interview a student that has visited three times the Counseling Center. My interviewee’s name is Maryam Mirzaei. She is 26 years old and identifies as Persian. Maryam was born in Iran and is about to transfer to California State University, Northridge. I asked her what is her definition of culture, has she ever felt excluded based on her culture or ethnic background, what she wishes people knew about her, and how has she seen Pierce incorporate diversity on campus. Maryam stated her cultural background is her way of living. Because of her Persian roots, she celebrates a lot of Persian holidays. They remind her who she is and where her ethnic values come from. She feels comfortable knowing that in a lot of

I decided to complete the Diversity Interview by utilizing a classmate that I have worked with on several occasions. The work we performed together has always been professional; we have never had discussions that delved deep into each other’s backgrounds. This person is of the opposite sex and is visibly a different ethnic group from myself. I am an American- African male and she is an American – Mexican/Irish. This interview is being done in order for me to understand what it is like to be in her “skin”. During the interview I asked questions about ethnicity, race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

For my second culture immersion project I went to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I went with my group members Ryan, Brian and Brian's girlfriend. I went this pass Tuesday after we had our group meeting. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant but I know it was downtown Appleton near by the Walgreens. . This was good choice for the project because I never have eaten at an actually Mexican restaurant before.

One of my earliest childhood memories was in a huge playground with kids the same age as me, laughing and talking in a foreign language, except I was the only one lost in translation. The memory was of a time when my parents sent me to an all-girls boarding school in India at five years of age. Learning how to adjust to a new culture was difficult, to say the least. However, I have grown from this unique experience. I developed a new mentality to adapt to any situation, and truly believe friends can help support anyone through any circumstance. I also learned many new cultural experiences that influence my life today. It is these experiences at my boarding school that has shaped me into the person I am today.