My Influence On American Culture

Thesis: one’s personal culture and sense of tradition will always be a strong part of the self, regardless of external factors which can have a profound influence on one’s life.

Culture definitely plays a role in who I will become and my values show how different I can be from others; I hope when writing this cultural autobiography to help understand myself better. My cultural identity is a combination of my worldview and values combined with my position in the nine microcultures.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

American Lore is just like any other lore it has myths, legends, and fairy tales, but American lore shows the history of America and how we live today, with a twist to the story. With Legends, myths, and fairy tales it expresses the way americans think and how creative we can be to come up with these stories from things that could actually happen. Legends are based on historical facts Myths are based on religion and gods and goddesses. Fairy Tales are made believe not real, includes special creatures. Tall tales and legends are more based in American lore and is heavily based on history and the many traditional stories that are spread from generation to generation. American lore is based on, “power social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. Achievement which is a personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards . Hedonism pleasure or sensuous

Being born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, I was exposed to many different cultures. A few of which were Hispanics and German. They both had different languages and customs. My mom would take us to a festival in San Antonio yearly that was called the “Texas Folklife Festival”. There, our family would experience many different cultures with singing, dancing, food, art, and language. Our family enjoyed learning about the different places others came from and how they celebrated their heritage. Learning to appreciate where others came from and their back ground, gave me a better appreciation for differences.

Some may ask what it means to be a part of a specific culture. It may be believed that it merely means to share the same qualities of race, language, and social beliefs. What is not really known are the rise of expectations to fill, repressed wants and needs, or even the binding religious beliefs. A person must begin to recognize the holdings a culture may have on them and how it affects their free will as an individual.

Growing up in with immigrant parents is something I will always look up to them for. My Mother and Father came from a poor and uneducated background, as well as having grown up during the Cold War in Eastern Europe. Although they came from poverty, they moved to America by themselves in order to follow the American Dream. They did not want me to experience a childhood that they had, so the both of them worked 6 or even 7 days a week to support themselves as well as me. Their perseverance and hard work led me to the point where I am today, the first person in both of their respective families to be enrolled in a college or university.

“Exposing yourself to various cultures is so vital towards personal growth.” This idea is important because exposing one to different cultures helps to shape his or her identity. This concept is related to some texts in springboard. One text was an essay titled “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake. In the letter the father tries to explain that his son is not a slow learner, but is simply from a different cultural background.

I am able to reflect on my past experiences and coming to figure out who I was within my culture and relate to others. Accordingly, it has taught me respect for others who are still uncovering who they are within their life. More importantly, it has allowed me to explore their beliefs, actions and values. For example, a good friend of mine from the Middle East worked with me this past summer. Everyday, on the way to work, we would discuss the differences in our religions and customs. She had to pray five times a day and was not allowed to date. Reflecting back to my Mexican roots, I explained why we only attend Church once a week but are to pray at least once every day. Learning from

Social media has grown into one of the most useful digital marketing tools for business owners and corporations and is designed to feed us information at a fast-moving speed. There are many advantages to this development as well as disadvantages. Information is easily obtainable, instant and causes credibility issues. It is important to know and understand all the benefits and disadvantages before using social media because it can alter how a person may use it.

The shaping of any culture requires adaptation to their environment and its problems, such as economical, social and geographical, and the learning from these in order for their culture to live by and survive. The Christian Church would prove the most important in shaping a new European religious civilization. In as much as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam undergirded civilizations in Asia and Africa, Christianity served as the basic unifying force that held together the new European civilization. (Sivers 2015) This process entails having the ability of shaping ones behavior in order to survive and have this same behavior passed onto the following generations.

Technology has a huge influence on the American culture and American society. Over the past couple years technology has made a big impact on everyone's lives, whether they realize it or not. Anywhere you go or anything you do you will come in contact with technology. The Doctors office, The Dentists office, The Grocery store, your workplace, School, Restaurants would all be a completely different place without technology. I think the piece of technology that has the biggest impact on everyone's lives would probably be a computer or a laptop. In my life a laptop has played a big role in my life these past couple of years in school and during my education.

tribe located in Shawnee Oklahoma. The descendant of seven families that were forced to relocate from

I also learned that no culture is greater or less superior than the next, all people are equal. I believe that culture has a big impact on who you are but it does not completely own you as a person. Just because your culture is opposed to something does not mean that you as an individual has to agree with that. While culture is important to embrace it is alway important to ignore. You could be proud of your individual culture but not judge someone if theirs is different than yours. “Regardless of our differences, we are all the same.”

Learning about a new culture is very common now days. Most people immigrate to other countries looking for different goals in life. Some people immigrate for safety purposes; some people are looking for better opportunities and different quality of life. For some people adjust themselves to a new culture is easy; the younger they are the easiest is to adjust to a new different culture and a different way to live. However, there are many people who struggle every day trying to learn about a different culture.