Personal Narrative: My Cultural Autobiography

I am a Native American male. I am from the Lummi Nation Tribe, but was raised on the Nooksack Indian reservation. My father is the one who raised me. He is an ex-convict who has no income of his own, and never graduated high school. We make rent and pay our bills thanks to support from my grandparents and our tribal assistance. My father is also an ex-drug addict, so he has to attend a methadone clinic every morning to kill his crave for drugs. He is also now an alcoholic, and has been for about two to three years off and on. This is not what has shaped me. Even though he has not been a role model for me I have set my own goals in life. My grandparents both have led decently successful lives, but I do not believe they are the ones who have

Growing up with two different Heritages is like growing up in two different worlds, it was tough growing up being Native and Hispanic I would either get made fun of because I was Native or I was made fun of for being Hispanic. I guess you can say that I have somewhat of a different life, living with any Hispanic family but considering myself more Native, because just at home i just speak spanish, and eat amazing food made by my mother who isn’t even Hispanic who’s just Native American who didn’t consider herself Native American because she herself lived with my grandmother or she lived with a family friend who was Hispanic and showed her things about a culture that she didn’t know anything about.

But with my family and especially one that moved to another country and had their own hardships, my parents somehow surpassed everyone. I almost felt like the Caucasian person who tried to be ethic. This wasn’t the case for long as my parents made sure that the little we have is no difference and should not get in the way of judgement. The places that we venture out was not the best looking nor the safest but that should not be an issue. My parents have no fright when traveling in sketchy locations and finding a house to enter that all of a sudden turn to a restaurant in the dining room. My parents wanted me to experience that all though things can seem off putting, that it’s not what it seems and there can beauty in

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.

For my inter-ethnic encounter, I interviewed one of my best friends from high school Ashley Arias. Ashley is nineteen years old, so she is a year younger than me. She is currently pursuing a nursing degree at Notre Dame of Maryland University located in Baltimore, Maryland. She is originally from Virginia but now lives in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Her immediate family includes her parents and her younger brother. She also has a bulldog that she has had for three years. I have known Ashley for about seven years, but we have been really close for about five of those years starting during my junior year of high school.

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

Many people have left legacies from when they were alive. Some are good, and some are bad. Those people may not agree with what they have left behind, and some may be perfectly okay with theirs. For me, I would like to leave behind a legacy that shows my family that I was a good person. I would want them to know that I had good intentions for my life and that I wanted to do good for myself and others. In this essay, I will explain what I would like my legacy to be like.

Sitting on the plane alone, I wondered what the next three weeks would bring. The light hum of the plane’s engines seemed to go on forever and the dry stale air began to scratch the inside of my throat. My destination was The Netherlands, where the entirety of my family lives. Throughout my youth seeing my family was a rare occasion, once a year if we were lucky, but after my parents divorced, we stopped going altogether. It had been over eight years since I had last visited them and because of the many years of separation, I felt uneasy about it all. Throughout the flight I couldn’t help but to think to myself several questions like: What I might be able to learn and experience from these next three weeks? How I would feel when I would first arrive? And how different everything would be. Having been there only a

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

Hey, it's me as usual. You’re never going to read this but I just need to get some things that have been on my mind out. Lately I find myself listening to X‘s album 17, and it makes me think about so much stuff that I had put aside and hidden somewhere in my head during the beginning of summer. some which I can't even fathom the words to explain. what makes letting go of things so hard is that I promised myself that I would never abandon anyone or let go of the things I care the most about. I never wanted to turn out like my birth mom, I didn't want to be able to forget about someone as easily as she forget about me or even when she forgot about me in the hospital the day I was born to go buy drugs because she cared about that more than her own child. I've always promised myself that I will be the person she was never able to be, that's what makes it impossible to just leave when someone just gives up on me. I've figured out why I'm the way I am, everyone says I have bad taste in guys but they couldn't be more wrong. I've never admitted liking someone till

For most of my life growing up, I was extremely culturally unaware of even my own heritage. In recent years however, my life experiences have instructed me to gain a fonder appreciation of my own family’s culture and others around it. Specifically, the acknowledgement of my own cultural background and time spent as an emergency medical technician in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) have given me unique viewpoints to appreciate human culture on a grander scale.

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

Even after a decade of settlement, it feels foreign to walk down the street and see someone who looks like me. Nonetheless, to have the ability to accept and respect all cultures and environments, as well as one's self, is a privilege that not many get to experience. Although there are pros and cons to being different or the same, I am forever grateful that I was blessed enough to witness all parts of the spectrum. Whether it be differences in race, religion, origin, or motive, everyone in this world is meant to make their mark somehow, and I believe that my experience with cultural differences has shaped me to be prepared for whatever the future holds. Even having lost my way at times, being so close to adulthood I can only to try and endure adversity and do/be the best that I can in this final year and future years to

What is culture? According to Dr. Dennis O’Neil from the Behavioral Sciences Department at Palomar College in San Marcos, CA, “ culture is the full range of learned human behavior” and includes morals, traditions, and beliefs (1). First morals could be opinions rather than facts. Opinions on what is right and wrong, L.G.B.T ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender), and abortion. Many people have different perspectives on morals. Not everyone agrees with others peoples opinion on these certain perspectives. Next, every culture has some sort of tradition. In America, a huge celebration would be the Super Bowl. Families and friends gather together to watch the largest football game of the year, and to barbecue. Lastly many people

Who am I? I come from a very big, loud, joyful and loving southern family from the town of Marietta, Georgia. We are proud African Americans who embraces every piece of black beauty from our hair down to the different shades of our skin. From a very early age I was taught self -love and that it is okay to be different because God did not make us to blend in but to stand out. I was taught to never judge a book by it 's cover so I don’t. Never have I ever disliked or disassociated with someone based on their sexual preference, race or religion. I will never do that because to me, that’s discrimination. I wouldn’t want someone to feel less then what they are because of a preference I