My Cultural Background

I honestly can say that I was excited to write this paper. The past couple of months, I have been dealing with what my identity is or what defines me. I have been interested in what I let define me, or what things in my life make me, me. This cultural background paper is about the values, experiences, worldviews, and different identities that have shaped me throughout the years. It makes you think hard about the things you let into your life, or even the values you developed through your family or on your own. Unfortunately, there are things that influence our identity in a negative way and can overtake what we think about ourselves. Starting with my cultural background I am a daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, niece, and friend. These
are the typical “title’s” I give myself when thinking about things that describe me. This is where I would say my values and identity begin. I grew up in a house with my parents who taught me how to solve different problems that I face with honesty and truth. They showed how to work hard, even when facing financial troubles. The way I view trials, moral situation, or difficulties, is also based on what I saw growing up through my parents, grandparents, my brother, and etc. My family is very loud and loves to state their opinion. They are debaters, and will “discuss” any topic they are passionate about. What I learned from that is, to stand strong on what I believe is right, but also to keep an opened mind because you don’t know everything. A lot of people tell me that, after they meet my parents, I make sense. This is because I am very much like my mom and dad. I believe this is where it all starts. This is the very beginning of who I am. I am who I am with the influence of my family. Next part to my background is, I am an athlete.
I have been in sports since a young age and sports have been part of my family forever. As of now, I am a Grace University woman’s soccer player and have been for the past two years. Soccer pushes you past your comfort level physically, and mentally. It also takes up majority of my time throughout the year. Growing up, my dad pushed me to be a better athlete in each sport that I participated in. Being a part of sports team, helped me learn about the different types of people. In a small town, in Iowa, you don’t get much culture besides the hicks, farmers, or athletes. It was a different type of culture compared to Wisconsin, where I lived before sixth grade. My grade was very clique-ish. We didn’t all get along and we didn’t all hang out. Majority of the people on my teams, I didn’t see outside of school. I would build my friendships based off of the sport that I was in. This wasn’t the best way for me to gain lasting friendships. It was completely unlike what I was used to in my small Christian school. I learned very quickly about having a “status” in a small-town due to the sports that I was in. This made me work harder and push myself farther so that I could get a spot on the court or field. Through sports, it helped me value the time that I had with friends, or the free time I would spend by myself. I learned how to be diligent with getting my work done before a game or practice. On the down side to competing in a sport
is, when I failed, I would beat myself up. I would put so much on myself, that mentally, I would get down on myself and find myself not good enough.