My Cultural Identity: My Migration To The United States

As a teacher, it is important to know and understand the racial and cultural identities of both yourself, and your students. Knowing about your students’ backgrounds is a great way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming environment. Not all educational settings emit a feeling of safety to its students, and that needs to be changed. In this paper, I will discuss how my racial and cultural identity may be the same and may differ from my students, as well as some ways in which the institution of education can be changed to be more racially and culturally inclusive.

My mom immigrated from India to America in her adolescence and later was the first in our family to attend college and get a degree. I want to follow in her footsteps and go and get a college education and prove to her that I did not take all the back-breaking hours of work that both my mom and dad put in for granted, and to prove that I am willing to work hard. My parents both came to America with a couple dollars and a dream, and they were able to provide for me with little outside help. I am fortunate for this situation, and many, like me, have not had such lucky childhoods, and this has shaped my aspirations and goals in life. I want to go into the medical field in order to one day help other people. I want to make a living out of helping

There is no set American identity, and anyone should know that. Everyone has their lifetime, not to find, but to create who they are. We create our own identities as we go, whether we take the road of lies, or truth. I´ve had my fair share of jerks, and jocks, and plain stupid people in my life, but those people have helped me create and mold who I am today, even though I may not like the way I am.

I am the child of immigrants. The only culture that my parents knew of when they came here was that of their own. When people ask me what it’s like to have a Nigerian culture I don’t know what to tell them because it’s hard to draw a line between Nigerian culture and African-American culture. This line is hard to draw because if you’re Nigerian and you’re in America you belong to both African-American culture and Nigerian culture but if you’ve never been to America and have only lived in Nigeria, you wouldn’t have an African-American culture there because, unlike America, they don’t have a culture that is solely based on the color of their skin. Something that I struggled with about Nigerian culture is that your parents expected you to either become a doctor or a lawyer and if that’s not what you wanted to be you were deemed as not having goals for yourself and as settling for less. I struggled and still struggle to some extent with this because I’ve always been interested in careers that require you to be creative like fashion designing and interior designing. I came into college as a chemistry major with the intent of being a pharmacist, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the path that I wanted my life to take. It wasn’t until this semester that I realized that I was interested in nursing. Me not having a career plan was just as hard for my parents as it was for

The “Who am I? Who are my people” by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey was very insightful and I agree with most of the arguments the authors made about how subordinate groups have to adapt when there are amongst dominant groups. I’ve dealt with this issue a lot growing up. My family originates from Nigeria. I was born and raised in Maryland. Although I have never been to Nigeria, growing up in a Nigerian household under Yoruba culture had a huge impacted on my identity. It influenced the way how I think, how I form relationships with people, my morality and my religion. However going to school in my neighborhood was challenge for me and my other siblings because of the cultural differences between us and the other students. Most of students and my friends that I went to school with were mostly African-American, but they had no understanding of we view things in Yoruba culture.

My story is one of migration from a small island in the Caribbean to America and the role and impact society had on shaping my life. The social forces that challenged me and at the same time influence my decisions. My story will provide a glimpse into my community, education and values that are dear to me.

My cultural identity, as I know is Mexican American because both my parents are born in Mexico and I was born here. I can also be defined as a Chicana because that is another way used to call a Mexican American. My culture can be seen in so many different ways like for example it can be seen in food, music, religion, dance, art, festivals, and even more. Most of these traditions have changed a little bit over time as they were brought to the U.S. What I mean by that is that some of those traditions were brought from Mexico, and had a little change into them because they were combined with some traditions that have already been here in the U.S.

“Dale, dale, dale, No pierdas el tino; Porque si lo pierdes, Pierdes el camino”. The classic piñata song that is sung at parties. It translates to “Go, go, go, don't lose your aim; because if you lose it, you will lose your path.” The phrase ties in with my identity because of my cultural background and experiences at parties. Who am I? What is my cultural identity? The questions that have me trying my best not to have an existential crisis. I am a Mexican American, my parents were born in Jalisco and I was born in California. As for my cultural identity, I am a NSHS student that has been shaped by music, technology, and sports.

Every time I drive through streets of Washington DC, I see the homeless people sleeping on the side walk, benches, and stairs ways. I always wonder what can cause someone to end up like this? The most likely reason that comes to my mind that lead to this situation is not having a purpose in life. I believe having a purpose in life is the fuel of motivation to do anything, without it there is no reason to try. Today I have a wife, a house, and a decent fulltime job; which five years ago I wouldn’t even see in my dreams.

Most people call me Colby, but on the field i'm know as number 40. Soccer has been a part of my life since I was 3, my 12 years of experience have influenced how I act, what I eat and most aspects of my life-like who I hang out with and what I dislike. In the United states especially, sports are a huge part of everyone's cultural identity. With all this in mind I would call my cultural identity a soccer game. It can change in a blink of the eye but is consistent through life.My family is like the other players, education is like the field and my hobbies are like the ball.

The beauty of society is not two persons are identical, we are all diverse and we need to celebrate differences. Race and ethnicity shape the way we see ourselves and are integral to creating outlooks on society. Ethnicity has a considerable effect on our identity and makes us who we are, and we need to learn to embrace it. The topic of embracing ethnic identity is very well defined by Jaswinder Bolina in, “Writing Like a White Guy” and by Gloria Anzaldua in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Even though many immigrate to America one should not forget where they come from, being true to oneself and acknowledging that ethnicity plays an important role for many people in defining their cultural background and race.

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor once said that “we define our identity always in dialogue with, sometimes in struggle against, the things our significant others want to see in us. Even after we outgrow some of these others—our parents, for instance—and they disappear from our lives, the conversation with them continues within us as long as we live.” As a teenage boy making the transition from home to college, I can relate to Taylor’s argument. Growing up an American citizen made me want to participate and identify with the dominant American culture. However, as a son of two Indian immigrants, my parents expected me to uphold ethnic cultural values whether I agreed with them or not. As I transitioned into my first quarter at UCLA, I noticed that my identity was still in tune with what my parents preached to me at home. However, in school I faced pressure from peers and teachers to align with the “American” cultural identity. This was difficult for me as a first-generation Americans because I had to carefully balance the pressures of my ethnic cultural identity with that of my American identity in fear of being shunned by any one group. For this reason, has been difficult for me to establish a unique identity. The cultural question that I wish to explore, through my own life experiences and those of others, is how the fear of being socially exiled as a result of the clash of ethnic and American cultural expectations impact the development of my identity/persona as

I interview my father who arrive to the united states from Mexico The major problem that motive my father to migrate to the U.S.A were as he mention on pages (1-2) was an economically problem has he said since he was a child he grew up in a farm with his parents and brothers and sisters and had many struggles since the only one that work was his father. My grandfather did all he could to give him an education and a better life that he had that’s the same idea he view for me when he become a father he was young and money was like the priority to care for the necessary that a child has, but to get money you need to have a job. With salary he earned at my grandfather farm he knew was not enough to support himself and a child and he could

I grew up with a very diverse cultural background. My father is an immigrant from India and my mother’s parents are both immigrants from Italy. This mix of societies has taught me to be open to different customs from around the world. Since then, I have always been fascinated with other cultures and how they are all connected while still maintaining fundamental differences. Because of this, I would love to have the opportunity to immerse myself in a foreign culture by studying abroad with MIT.

Not only is my heritage a huge part of my cultural identity, but so are my hobbies and habits. Although my parents and ancestors are Indian, I was born and raised here in the United States. Therefore, some of my habits and interests can be described as “Americanized”. For example, I am a huge sports