Personal Narrative: Like This Kind Of Culture

When I think about my cultural identity I find myself resorting to the word “normal”. I grew up in a town where everyone looked the same, everyone worshiped the same God, and everyone was in the same economic class. It’s interesting to really break down my individual cultural pieces to find that actually there are so many differences that I was simply too naïve to see. The culture that one grows up can be so different from one household the next, that there really isn’t a “normal” culture out there.

What is culture? Culture is the idea of what is wrong or right, the concept of what is acceptable within our society. Culture serves us as a guide, taking us to the "right way" and helping us to make sense of things that surrounds us. There are many different cultures around the world. A lot of them are similar in specific ways and others are just completely different, this difference explains why we think that people from different backgrounds are "weird".

The social norm I broke is making too much eye contact, or staring excessively, at my teachers. While sitting in class, I stared at my teachers more than I stared at my paper or looked around the classroom. It is usually normal for students to stare down at their desks and not look at the teacher a lot.

I grew up as one of the hardest things to commit to, black and alternative. My meaning of alternative is being interested in goth fashion and heavy metal music. From what I was told, being black is listening to hip-hop and dressing like everyone else around them or what is the social norm. Clearly, my definition of alterative is contrasting on what it means to be “black.” I say it's hard to commit because coming from a closed black family, I felt pressed to let go of what I felt about myself just to make them happy. Questions like, ‘’Why are you trying so hard to be different?’’ or ‘’Who told you that was okay?’’ Still replay in my head whenever I decide to wear something that I would feel most comfortable in. Not long ago, I got into an arguement

The front range of Colorado has a large diversity of cultural populations represented. Therefore, as a professional counselor it is my responsibility to educate myself on the cultures I am likely to be working with. Since there is such a diverse population there is no way I am going to know everything about everyone’s culture. Although, I do know the cultures of the majority populations that frequent the agency I am currently working. Since I am working with populations I would be aware of the societal issues they are facing and the oppression they have been and are up against. Therefore, this allows me to immerse myself into their culture, learning and seeing firsthand the oppression and prejudices they face in the community in which we

My bucket filled with images represents my surface and deep culture unique to me. I found out where I got my passions and which people influenced my culture, and what I need to do to continue to keep my culture and faith to be something I’m proud of.

There are seven billion people in this world. Those of us who come from second generation families often find it difficult to have a sense of cultural identity because they don’t quite fit in as Americans whose families have lived in the U.S for generations. First generation families, like my siblings and I, also struggle to fit in. To illustrate, we come from a very diverse background involving Swedish, Arabic, English, and Somali culture. This upbringing has shaped my beliefs, view of the world, and morals to make me the person I am today.

Is usual to hear people associating common behaviors from a cultural background to how they expect an individual to act and react to certain situations. So I was really curious to see the results of the self-assessment comparing me to my cultural profile. I was born in Venezuela, and I lived there for most of my life, for that reason I wasn’t really surprised when my answers were almost the same to my cultural norm. The dimensions that I’m most similar to are in leading, trusting, disagreeing, evaluating, and persuading. In “leading”, the scale measures between egalitarian and hierarchical, and my cultural norm and individual answer is more hierarchical than egalitarian. Also, in “trusting” Venezuelans (including me) are definitely a relationship based society, where trust is built by affective connection, for example is very common that most of the business partnerships in Venezuela are made between friends and family rather than with individuals with

I was born in the summer of 1964, to lower middle class parents, my mother was divorced with having left three young sons behind with her first husband. My father owned a very popular gas station and repair shop, by birth being the result of a torrid love affair, this topic remained in the gossip pool well into my twenties. I was kept in the dark until Jr. high school, my mother was forced to tell me part of her truth, after the principal sent a note home. My mother suffered from depression and substance abuse as a coping mechanism to sooth her pain. At the age of two my mother gave birth to my sister, although, my mother loved us, I believe her pain tortured her relentlessly. Soon my father choose alcohol to numb his

Hello, Dr. Taft, I look forward to another exciting semester with you, and my cohorts exploring my inner and outer world. Let’s start with my family constellations it begins with my stepmother, and my father, my older brother Steven along with myself. At the time, I did not know that Ann was my stepmother, and I did not find out until I was older, and she had two sons who lived in Arizona. A few years later her eldest son Tommy would come to live with us, and the life that we were accustomed to would change the outcome of all our lives.

I began storytelling long before I could read or write. But it was only when I began writing that I realized how much more complicated crafting a narrative was than I initially thought.

The bright white screen fills the room as I hold the remote up to the TV. I flick continuously through the channels, hoping something will take my fancy. I pause on a breaking news story. The voice of a woman fills the air as she explains. ‘A runaway escapee and murderer last seen heading towards the South end of Australia has disappeared. Anyone in the areas of’, I reach for the off button as the mumbles of voices drown out as the TV turns off. I put the remote down and shut my eyes. The dark patterns and swirls fill the darkness as I fill my mind with the endless possibilities from some of the deepest parts of my mind. I replay the series of my day over and over in my head. Replacing the mistakes in the day and presenting myself with what

The five popular cultures that I partake in are; dancing, playing the violin, celebrating Father’s Day, ice skating, and celebrating Mother’s Day. coming from ancient Egypt as rituals for their gods and goddesses, dancing could be performed by making movements with one’s body. During the 1530’s in Cremona, Italy, Andrea Amati made the first violin. The violin made by piecing together an ivory or ebony fingerboard, a wooden bridge, two spruce sound posts, and a wooden frame with catgut (the dried, stretched, and twisted intestines from a goat or sheep) strings tightly fastened to the instrument; it was played by using a wooden bow with hair made of horsehair and by placing one’s fingers to hit certain pitches, sharps, flats, and harmonics. By taking the back leg bone from an animal and strapping it to your shoe and using poles to push one across ice is how ice skating became known as ice skating and dates back to as early as 3000 BC and linked to Northern Ancient Europe. Mother’s Day is a holiday that originates from the wild and wonderful state known as West Virginia in the year 1908 and was a day to mourn fallen soldiers and work for peace. Similar to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day originates

Culture encompasses many facets, such as: language, ethnicity, religion, class, power, history, geography, gender, lifestyle, values, beliefs, and traditions (Culture and health, 2016). I had to put my own cultural beliefs aside when caring for an older gentleman who was a Jehovah Witness. It was early in my nursing career and this older gentleman was admitted to the hospital with a very low hemoglobin. He needed a blood transfusion, but because of him being a Jehovah Witness, it was against his religious beliefs to receive any blood. This was very difficult for me to understand, since this was not my belief system. Even though it was not my belief system, it was my obligation and duty as the nurse caring for him to honor his wishes

I was born in Chicago, IL a city known for its diversity. Growing up here has given me the opportunity to meet people from various cultures. As a result of that, I concluded that by definition Hispanics are U.S citizens whose family background traces back to a Spanish-speaking country. My definition, however, is a vague representation of how my heart truly interprets being Hispanic.