Cultural Identity to me is what I identify myself with. My Christian upbringing, and the environment I grew up in are the two components that I identify with the most and they are what made me who I am today. My Cultural identity is not as ethnic based as one would think. Yes I am a Singaporean born Chinese, but growing up, I never took part in any Chinese festivals such as Mid-Autumn Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, or religious holidays such as Vesak Day. I always sheered away from those celebratory functions because I was born in a Christian home, and brought up not believing in ghosts roaming free or burning incense to pay respect to the dead. (Your Singapore, n.d.). Instead, I was raised believing in heaven and hell, and that the only …show more content…
Becoming very active in my church, as a youth leader, musician and a regular participant in church events, not only helped me grow as a person but also kept me out of trouble. However, after graduating from both the primary and secondary school systems of Anglo-Chinese School (ACS), I realized that the world I lived in was very different from the actual world, and that many individuals were not as accepting about Christianity as I thought. My Polytechnic days would entail conflicts with different people about my faith. One prominent example was with when my Polytechnic bowling team captain and coach questioned my commitment to the team (personal communication, 2008), because I would miss training and team meetings due to Church commitments. These commitments not only affected my attendance and participation for training, but it removed my chances of representing the school in competitions. The conflict was hard to swallow, as I loved to bowl and was good at the sport, plus I attended training whenever I was able to. Not being present, affected social interactions with my teammates. Even though I never had a problem with any of them and could hold conversations, I felt disconnected from them and never really had a sense of belonging to the
According to one source, cultural identity can be defined as, “The system of understanding characteristics of that individuals society, or some subgroup
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.
What is my cultural identity? Personally, I don’t think I am completely assured on what my cultural identity is, but I can do my best on explaining it. However, I won’t get started on that yet, first I’ll explain the occasion of me learning about my identity. At almost the beginning of the year, it was announced in our English class that we would be doing an essay on our cultural identities. When my teacher announced this I thought to myself, “What in the world is a cultural identity, or even my cultural identity?” In these months, we have gotten to learn the definition of culture, and what it means to us, individually., I believe that culture means a group of people that share the same customs, way of life, and beliefs. Also, over these last couple of months we have been reading texts all about people knowing and understanding their cultural identities, meanwhile I still didn’t understand my own. All I know is that I was born on February 11, 2002, I like movies and music, and my mom is from Chile and my Dad is from Virginia. Now that didn’t feel like enough for me to write on, but then I started thinking about all of the cultural differences that my parents have had raising me as a person, and how those have all combined to make me. In my short 15 years of life, the culture clashes have sometimes affected me on my thoughts and opinions, which I’ll talk about later on. As well as how movies and music have affected my perspectives and opinions.
When someone asks me what is my cultural identity, there are a lot of things that come to my mind. For example, one of the first things that come to my mind is the how people see me which is by being hispanic. In the same way, I also think about the fact that in addition to being hispanic I am also Salvadorean which sets me apart from the idea that every hispanic is mexican and they are all the same. In the first few seconds after I am asked about my cultural identity, I think about who I am and what makes me me. I think about how I was raised and how different I might be compared to everyone around me. I am a straight male who does not have any disabilities. I do not have a high socioeconomic status, but I have sufficient. Being catholic, I have no problem exercising my religion as I please and that really sets me apart from many because not everyone identifies with the same cultural identity as I do. Some people encounter many obstacles due to their cultural identity, obstacles that I might not face which is why I feel like my cultural identity has affected different aspects of my life such as my social development, family, education among others.
Cultural identity are the things that make up who you are. My cultural identity is Cajun. Being Cajun is very unique. We eat different types of food, listen to certain types of music, and have certain traditions. I come from a very special family where everyone has each other’s back. They are very protective of each other and loving. There are a lot of distinct selections that show who I am but there are only a few major ones.
The first, and arguably one of the most important characteristics of my cultural identity is my ethnicity. I come from a traditional Indian household, where both my parents grew up in India. My ancestors are from Tamil Nadu which is in the southeast
My culture identity, as I know it as is African American. My culture can be seen in food, literature, religion, language, the community, family structure, the individual, music, dance, art, and could be summed up as the symbolic level. Symbolic, because faith plays a major role in our daily lives through song, prayer, praise and worship. When I’m happy I rely on my faith, same as when I’m sad, for I know things will get better as they have before.
This experience was unlike that of previous experiences I have had in the classroom because there are no classes or programs set up in the education system that focus on spreading religion or one’s beliefs. Given this, the
In my life, culture identity is very important because it tells who I am. It has shaped me into the person I am now. I am coming from culture that has had an impact on my norms, values , and beliefs. I was born and raised in Sudan, a country with a multi-ethnic group, with a mixture of African, Arabic and Islamic traditions and values. Back in my home country, I belong to the dominant social groups as being Middle Age, Male, Arabic, Muslim, and Middle Class. Although there is huge diversity among different groups and tribes live
¨Pereme-what? That is the weirdest and longest last name i've ever heard of! Where do people get last names like that?¨ My answer? Well, my grandfather is from Siberia, but my family just consider ourselves Russian. Actually not long ago my dad had told me about a city in Russia called Peremyshl, my great great grandparents, as I was told, are from there, Peremyshl is in the Kaluga Oblast near Moscow. And because of my ethnic background, I go to my church's youth, our youth really likes to go and hang out at the park or go someplace else and play volleyball.
My cultural identity reflects from way back during the 17th century, a group of Quakers decided it was high time to go to the new world to start a new life and find who they believed that god was to them. Characteristics of Cultural Identity is clothing, what kind of church you attend, holidays that you celebrate. And how you view the world around you. Your cultural identity
Freshman year of high-school was a far different learning environment than the school I attended prior. Public high-school students have vast ethnic backgrounds, and personalities that I had never been with. Before high-school I was a student at the small Catholic school called Cathedral. For the most part my friends had the same or similar ethnic backgrounds that I had, and we all shared the same religion of Catholicism. Going into Ninth grade I was -albeit a little naive- and amazed at how many differing religious backgrounds and ethnicities all the students had, however I was greatly surprised when someone spoke out on how they thought their religious belief was right, and others were wrong.
The presence of religion often triggered controversy on the elementary school level. Some schools districts now recognize that it is wrong
As youth we are encircled with personalities that are likeminded in many aspects; we are somewhat forced to think and act as they do. However, once we reach the start of adulthood we become exposed to the new alternatives life has to offer. Within today’s growing culture, students are rather susceptible to the loss their religious beliefs whether due to secular distractions or the loss of faith. Although some critics may challenge my views by insisting otherwise, I on the other hand, find students becoming distant and questioning those same principles that help mold them into the adults that they are today.
This project looks to investigate and understand the importance of keeping religion relevant in public schools, and at the same time how public schools should address religion while being aware of the ongoing controversy surrounding it.