Personal Narrative: My Agar Culture

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.

When I hear the words ¨cultural identity¨ the first thing I think of is my religion, my ethnicity, and my family history. I never really looked back at my cultural identity, or (background) some might say. If I were to look back at my cultural identity I would say it’s like a stop light because It constantly changes. When my cultural identity changes it lowers my chances of doing what love which is running.

It all began on July 5, 2015, when my family and I traveled back from Fort Davis, Texas, to our home in Gardendale, Texas, after visiting our family for a Fourth of July celebration. As we entered into Odessa, we noticed vehicles stranded on the interstate that impeded our progress. Irritably, we were forced to stop in the middle of the road. Instantly, the music paused. In frustration, I started switching the stations; nevertheless, all remained silent. After several minutes of scanning dead air, finally the radio connected to the station, 93.3 FM. An emergency broadcast announcer alerted the entire Permian Basin area that a group of oil drillers, near the Meteorite Crater, struck a barrel, buried twenty-two feet under the ground.

My “outside” cultural influences I have: America is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world culturally. We have German-Americans speaking German, Filipino-Americans speaking Tagalog, Irish-Americans speaking Irish, Scandinavian-Americans speaking Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, etc., Welsh-Americans speaking Welsh, Japanese-Americans speaking Japanese, Iraqi-Americans speaking Arabian, Mexican-Americans speaking Spanish, and all Americans united in the common goal to create the best possible nation in accordance with our Constitution.

I am a true country southern bell from Georgia with roots that goes back to the Cherokee tribe. I am the daughter of Beanbug and Mann although they have real names where we are from we do not use them. Beanbug started off working at the chicken house but after gutting chicken for a couple of years she decided to get a degree. This is how I came to be. I come from a more rural area modern time and where I did not have to farm like my grandparents. I know who I am. I am come from a family that would cook Sunday dinner which include fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, cornbread and many more food that sooth the soul. I am a special person that believed to see spirts at night that kept me up. One night I went to my grandmother bed and

I am Scottish and English, but that means absolutely nothing to me. To me I am your classic white american boy. I am from Lake George New York, born in Glens Falls Hospital. I love to watch American football(My team is the NY Jets or the NY Giants) I am a big Gamer, and I LOVE to grill.

Many people writing this essay are going to talk about their religion or what race they are. But this is my personal cultural identity essay. I don't have a religion that I talk about or a race that I care about. My cultural identity is about sports, family and everything that makes me, me.

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

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.

Cultural identity doesn’t define who you are, but it does show where you came from. My cultural identity means more than the family I was born into. For example, I may have grown up in a few different states without my father, but that just shows where I came from, not who I am. My personal cultural identity is unique because I have all my memories in photo albums, enjoy having a good steak, and connect with music that gives a glimpse of what I’ve dealt with.

“Don’t let the Arab play dodgeball with us. He might try killing us.” As I looked around exasperatedly for the origin of this voice, I was greeted with a barrage of laughter. I did not have the cultural or linguistic qualifications to be deemed Arabic. Nor could my long, spindly arms cause harm. Yet, slowly, and in unison, each of my new sixth-grade classmates turned to stare at me. “Hey Arab, wipe that target off your forehead,” someone called out. I quickly realized my verbal assailant had mistakenly connected my tilak chandlo, a distinct Hindu forehead marking, with his own misinformed understanding of “Arab-ness.” My first lunch period ended with a bloody nose and a seat in the principal’s office. From that point forward, my future in middle school and high school appeared rather grim. The prospect of re-educating my peers seemed daunting and unmanageable.

“You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.” The famous quote by Barbara Streisand is the true way of discovering one's culture. There is a diversity of things that makes up a person’s culture, especially in the Jewish culture. People often say that I do not look like what I say I am. However, looks are only half of one’s personal cultural identity and how it identifies them. When you are a Jew, many things can define a person, from religious traditions to the food we put on our table at dinner can only tell a person so much about their culture.

My Early cultural influences from when I was a kid was always say thank when you receive something, have good table manners when we are eating dinner, no elbows on the table because that disrespectful, don’t talk back when you been called on, respect your elders, eat whatever being served to you because that food isn’t cheap, whenever grandpa and grandma are here they get the front seats and so on. My Ideological influences would be school and be getting an education is important because schooling can lead you to great things in life, it can lead you to get a nice job that pays well, a nice home for your family, nice material things that you would enjoy. Education has a lot to offer, especially helps kids who are on the low; it helps them get

Hook------. There are over seven billion people in the world, and each of them have their own cultural identity. In order for one to understand my cultural identity, one must first understand what happens when Texan blood meets a Louisiana address. Through religion, band, and my future goals, I have my own unique culture.

My hands began to shake as my eyes shifted away from the open boxes revealing packages of pink flesh. I hated blood and everything associated with it: veins, muscles, flesh, and the raw meat that was now staring up at me. I’m not a vegetarian, but rather a knowing, ignorant omnivore. My hand equipped with a sharpie, I took a deep breath and began marking and sorting the donated meat products that would have otherwise been thrown away.