Developing My Cultural Identity

The beliefs, values, and morals passed down to me from generation to generation, as well as the society surrounding me, have helped me to develop my cultural identity. Although these sources are partially responsible for the person I am today, my own personal experiences and emotions have also had an impact on my cultural views. Despite the fact that someone's cultural identity is made up of many different aspects, I believe the three aspects that best represent my cultural identity are my religious beliefs, my geographical region, and my music taste. My religious beliefs mainly come from my father who had grown up as a christian, as well as my mother who, later in her life, converted to christianity. Due to both of my parents being christian I had been placed into a catholic school up until the fifth grade.Throughout that time period everything that I had learned had been what was shown to me by those I had grown up with, there were not many things I was able to discover for myself. However, after a
year of homeschooling, I began to attend a public school. I began to see just how many different views their were on religion in the area I lived in, so I decided to learn more about the other views. The more I had learned the more my personal beliefs and ideas had begun to change. Although I may not have the exact same thoughts on religion that were passed down and shown to me, the basis of my current beliefs still exist through what I had been taught. Where I had been born and where I have grown up still have much to do with what I believe religiously. The geographical location of my house, my school, my friends, and my family has in many ways affected my cultural identity. Having grown up in Lapeer, I have many opportunities that I probably would not have received from surrounding cities. Lapeer is located near cities such as Flint and Detroit. Although Lapeer may not be one of the best places in the world, it is not the worst either. Due to where I have grown up I have not had to deal much with starvation nor poverty, as well as having a very good schooling system compared to the surrounding cities. As I get older, the more I begin to see how nice of a place Lapeer is compared to the places all over the rest of the world. Most of who I am is due to where I am from, if I had not grown up in Lapeer I may have spoken a different language, had a different religion, or listened to different music.
Much of someone's identity is shown through their music taste.
Growing up, I had mainly listened to musical artists such as Aerosmith, Queen, and Bon Jovi due to my parents. However in the car I would occasionally have the chance to listen to the radio to hear pop music. The older I had become the more my music taste changed over the years. Currently I enjoy music genres such as alternative rock, pop rock, and pop punk. Due to the fact that music is a form of art, it allows people to express their thoughts and emotions through the words being sung which shows much of ones cultural identity.
In conclusion, ones personal cultural identity is always changing with each new experience each person may have. The individuals idea of each aspect of their culture weigh heavily on decisions or emotions that they are experiencing. How someone defines themself as well as how they experience new thoughts and ideas are based off of who they are, which is their cultural
identity.