A friend of mine moved from Tehran to Canada as a small child, and completed all her education here, including university. Upon graduation she began looking for a job and had great difficulty garnering any interest; yet once she changed her name to what could be considered a "canadianized" version, she quickly got…
Family and communities are vital in growth, however, growth of character is a personal journey. The routes taken such as changing or accepting oneself, it is these uncontrollable situations that determines the development of an individual’s identity. “Not my friend hair itself, for I quickly understood that it was innocent… it was the way I related to it that was the problem.” (Walker 1090). An individual may choose to pay mind to the outside view of how your life should be run, however, it is he who decides if his identity changes, it is he who allows his identity to become affected by these…
About seven billion people live in this world, each beating heart goes through their own changes, whether it’s becoming a military personnel or simply running away from your home and experience the world through your own eyes. My significant change came at an early stage, without any hesitation my parents sent my sister and I to Nicaragua for 4 years. After we landed the only person I knew that spoke English or was from Miami was the flight attendant itself, after that it was my sister and I against a family that we briefly recognize.…
The past month has been really difficult for me because we have just migrated from the Philippines to Canada. The move really affected me physically and, for the most part, emotionally. The thoughts of leaving everything behind, especially my friends and family back there, really took effect on me. Even now, I have not yet fully accepted the fact that we have already migrated here. It is really difficult for me to adjust because I was so used to life in the Philippines and the move put so much sudden change that I didn’t have time to accept it wholeheartedly.…
It was Monday, May 30th, 2011. My family was driving home from a hotel we were staying at in Virginia, after going to Kings Dominion for my birthday day the day before. On the way home, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. During our meal, we got a call from my aunt telling us that my uncle, my mother’s brother, was in the hospital. Only a few days before he had moved back to Guatemala without saying goodbye to me. Once we were back on the road, my mother continued to get phone calls updating us about what was happening down there, as each call came through we all became more and more anxious wait for the answer. Then it came it just wasn't the answer we were hoping for, my mother began pushing on the walls of the car as if they were…
At nineteen years old, it is difficult to believe that I have had nearly two decades worth of experiences. Although it has been a bumpy ride with many ups and downs along this journey, I am who I am today directly as a result of those experiences and how I dealt with them. My family, school, dance classes, and peers have all had a hand at shaping the confident, bright, and enthusiastic college student that I have come to be. Immigrating to the United States of America from Armenia in 1988, my family has been one of the most influential agents of socialization in my life, greatly impacting how I perceive myself, the world, and the situations I find myself in on a daily basis. Shortly after my parents, older sister, grandparents, aunts, and cousins (totaling nine people) settled down in a twobedroom, one-bathroom unit house in Glendale, I was born. From what I am told, we lived in the small house, crammed with 10 people for a few months. Eventually, everyone except my mother, father, older sister and me found other homes and moved out. Two years after I was born, my younger sister was born and my family, as I know it, came to exist. My family, more specifically, my mom and dad, are responsible for what I learned during the early stages of my life. Although they tried to assimilate into American society, my parents undoubtedly also wanted me to be aware of my Armenian-American subculture. Since people can only teach what they already know, it is not surprising that my parents taught me first the Armenian language, as well as the values and beliefs common in the Armenian culture. I also learned the norms, both prescriptive and proscriptive, that my family accepts and follows and I continue to adhere to them today. Also, my parents passed on to me simple mores that have helped me learn to distinguish between what is right and wrong, ethical and immoral. Furthermore, my family has influenced me…
Experiencing the different cultures brought a whole new perspective in my eyes, but being so young at that time; I also had doubts and experienced deviance, a violation of norms or rules. There were times when I felt like my parents were being very strict and limited my fun activities. One day I went to my friend, Brittany’s house and started venting about how horrible and dull my life was. She told me her parents were fun because they would just give her money and she could do whatever she desired. Brittany’s parents were entrepreneurs and they belonged to the upper social class, so she always had the money to spend. I wanted that lifestyle, but I did not belong in that social class. Brittany decided to take me to the mall to go shopping and midway…
When I first moved to Texas, I thought the hardest challenge would be adapting to the humid summer weather. However, life had bigger lemons to throw at me such as watching my family and myself struggle to transition to a country with a different culture and language. On top of that, my uncle had recently gone to jail, leaving my aunt and cousins in the streets. My parents, the noblest role models in my life, decided to let my aunt and cousins live with us in our two-bedroom apartment until they were financially stable. When a family adapts to a new culture, there is less room for tantrums and selfish behavior in the house. More so when additional family members are living under the same roof. Consequently, I had to grow out of childish ways so that adapting to anew country and style of living would be easier for my family. My mom was often frustrated with her lack of ability to move in America like she did in Mexico, so I had to deal with my school problems alone. Although my classmates often ridiculed me for not having the same knowledge as…
There have many occasions in my life I consider very special. It seems that although many events happened long ago, the clarity of them all remains fresh in my memory. I will remember them the rest of my life, but the event that I cherish the most is the day I moved from the Lagos, in South East Nigeria, to the United States.…
I am African-American with a hint of West Indian in my blood. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Delaware. My surroundings and family affected who I developed to be as a 21 year old African-American woman. I was brought up on certain foundations on how one should live such, as going to college, getting a good job, buying my own home , meeting a man , marrying him , then having kids and it had to be in that order. I did grow up in a somewhat strict home, but as I grew old I learned that it was for my best interest because my parents had been there and done what I was going to face growing up. I never really understood why most of the time it was no, but now that I’m older and see some of the results of no discipline upon some of my peers I’m grateful for the no’s. A big part of my cultural identity is God and going to church. I grew up in the church and God is a big part of how I chose to live my life thus, I use the Bible as instruction. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth I grew up in the middle-class and to me I felt like I was rich because we never went lacking us always had what we needed and sometimes what we wanted. Both my parents are well-off but they still work hard in their fields of work, the medical field. My father is a physical therapist and my mother is a registered nurse and now she is the director of health services here at Lincoln. But my personality was developed based on my different surroundings such as school. Going to various schools and meeting various people I really didn’t develop into my own personality until high school. Another surrounding would be my family. My family plays a huge role in who I am because I have both traits of my mother and father , some good and some not so good but I am me. I am not ashamed of who am I like who I am becoming every day because I am not done maturing…
Growing up with divorced parents from two radically different cultures was at first difficult. My mother’s family was from Peru, while my father’s was from Bangladesh. In my young mind, there was an internal struggle with what my identity actually consisted of. I wasn’t wholly from one culture or the other, and felt like a black sheep when interacting with either side of my family. Due to this, I attempted to keep these cultures partitioned. At the time, they were different portions of my life that simply couldn’t intermix. This mentality in turn led me to foolishly shy away from my joint heritage. I kept myself enclosed in a box, blind to the beauty of my surrounding culture. However, as time progressed, I knew I had to make a change in my understanding.…
I was taught about one culture at home, and I had to assimilate to the other one outside of the house, sometimes becoming difficult because of the major differences between the two. Although I’ve never fit into any of the cultures perfectly, I still felt like I deserved to be in it. The reason that it taught me to look at it from more than one perspective when it comes to really anything, is because I've seen things from two point of views. I've seen it from the Mexican cultural perspective and the American. And I've come to realize that the Mexican culture is a bit more conservative, so there are times that I do understand where they come from because I've been taught about it by my parents, but I've understood the American aspect more. For example, when it comes to moving out. I decided to live with my parents not only because it's saved money and time, but because we feel it's too soon for a son or daughter to leave the house. Yet I've also learned that in the American culture, you're considered mature and responsible if you move out right after high school to find your own way. This is something that recently happened, and for me it was a bit hard, although I never told my parents that I did want to move out. I see so many graduating seniors that are moving out of their houses, that I felt like I had to move out because everyone else was doing it. In the end, I realized that although my decision may be something bad in either of the communities, it’s just better to do what I feel is…
Great example of an untouched landscape! Iceland is a beautiful place and a perfect place to travel. Personally, if I wanted to escape from my urban life I would consider moving to Iceland. There is a coastal area in Finland that has been untouched until recently when scientist decided to start placing nuclear waste far underground where it would remain untouched for eternity.…
Living in America has its pros and cons. My parents packed up everything and moved to America so me and my brother could have a better life. Knowing this I struggle to come to terms with both my parents leaving everything they know and love for us. It's daunting in a way. Their hearts will always be in India, with their families. Knowing this me and my brother have even more reason to do something great with our life’s.…
I grew up in an exceptionally sheltered household. My parents are intensely traditional Filipinos. I grew up learning Tagalog as my primary language with English as my second. I learned how to wash dishes, clean the house, and cook dinner at the age of eight. I grew up not having as many opportunities as everyone else. I was not allowed to play any sports as my parents' believed that I would constantly get hurt and I couldn't get my driver's license at the same time as my peers as they thought it would cause me to become reckless. My parents allowed me to take piano and guitar lessons, but I felt like they ostracized me from the world. This led me to resent my heritage for the longest time. I understood that the world they grew up in was different…