Cultural Autobiography Essay

My story begins on August 31, 1999 when I was born in Beth Israel Hospital, from there I was raised in Andover, Massachusetts my whole life. I am half Japanese as my mother immigrated from Japan to the United States when she met my father during college. My father being a Caucasian male created an interracial family that I was raised. I went to a technical school where it was predominately a Hispanic culture where much of the students were bilingual. Coming from a family that is solely not one race and going to a school where many students shared a different culture allowed for me to get a unique view of society. My family which includes my mother, father and sister all live in a predominately white upper class town. Life was a lot easier for me as I was a part of the upper–class community in the town. Being a part of the upper middle class allowed me to attend an out of state college. On the other hand, many of my friends from school stayed in Massachusetts to attended community college and other in state colleges as it is a less of a financial burden. Many of the student attended my high school and went to those colleges were predominately Hispanic culturally. As they were Latino, I appeared to them as a generic Asian. With this came stereotypes such as the assumption that I was...show more content...

Not being a part of that culture was difficult as many of the students spoke Spanish but I could never understand them. Even when I was on the same soccer team with them they still spoke Spanish to each other, although some one would usually try to translate for me. I felt like a burden to them as I mostly had to depend on them for communication between others. One example of this was during a game where the goalie told me to leave the ball in Spanish, but because I didn't understand him I kicked the ball causing my goalie to leave the net and the other team scored. They later told me what that word Get more content

Creating this autobiographical portfolio was pretty difficult at first because I had not realized what I was going to write about. Initially, my project was just a lot of drafts of documents and I had to do my best to try and combine them all honestly. It was not easy at first but after all the typing was finished this project became extremely easy. It became just about getting things done and making sure they meant word count (if they had a word count). What I learned about myself as a writer is that of course I should work on becoming a better writer and work harder on making sure all my writings easily convey the message that I am trying to send. More or less I have to work hard to be less confusing and get better at putting my thoughts

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Running Head: MY CULTURAL

My Cultural Autobiography

Nancy Domanski

Sir Frances Bacon said, "If a man be gracious to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world, and his heart is no island cut off from other islands, but a continent that joins them," (Jenkins, 1994). This quote represents all the core values that I cherish and to which I adhere. Personal culture doesn't have to be linked to a certain country of origin or a specific ethnicity; it can be as simple as a person's core values. The Southern way of life is a culture all in itself. Growing up south of the Mason–Dixon Line in the United States has instilled in me many values including honesty, integrity and a genuine concern for my fellow man. Most...show more content...

I think it is because of how different the food is and how many choices are available. I am proud that I have continued this tradition with my children for many reasons, but manly because it opens their minds to new people and cultures. I think this tradition that my mother started was pretty progressive for her time. She never seemed to be restrained by the typical female roles of most women of her time. She somehow managed to remain true to her southern traditions while blending them into a progressive way of thinking. I think I am the same, in that I am trying to teach my daughter respect for others, especially her elders, while making sure her own thoughts are valued as well. My brother, Mike, recently reminded me of another very strong southern value that I too feel passionate about when he said, "Don't ask me for a handout, but I am always willing to give you a hand up." By this is meant, southerners are always willing to help someone better themselves or their situation. If they are hungry, feed them and show them how to feed themselves. If they need a job, teach them the skills needed to find a job–not give them money. To us, throwing money at a situation is not helping. It is demeaning to the receiver and it will most likely encourage the problem. More simply put, if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will feed himself forever.

Examples Of Racial Autobiography

Naomi Lara

GED 503 – Summer 2015

Racial Autobiography: Reflective Essay I was always really proud to be from Compton, CA. The rich racial and cultural history of the Hub City has had a major impact on many aspects of my life and is part of my identity. My mother is a Mexican–American, she was born in Tijuana and her family moved to Compton in 1962 when she was five. My dad was born in Colorado and his family settled in Compton in 1961 when he was four. My parents were in the same kindergarten class at Jefferson Elementary school and although they didn't start dating until they were in their 20's, they definitely helped each other survive the racial injustices and violence that permeated all facets of their educational experience in Compton ...show more content...

I always identified myself as Mexican because technically I was mostly Mexican, but I didn't speak Spanish and was never really accepted by my Spanish speaking peers. I also remember not wanting to be identified as White, I was an American but I didn't want to be called White. I idolized Martin Luther King Jr. as a young child, and I remember feeling deeply moved and fundamentally changed after seeing the first images of the civil rights movement during Black history month. Then I remember starting to wonder why I always saw the same videos and learned the same lessons each year during February and I began to question things. I remember getting so angry at my own ignorance of the history of racism in this country during my first multi–cultural history class at Cal State Long Beach. I realized how much I wasn't learning in school and that I never got an authentic version of history from any group other than the dominant White culture. It was an eye opening experience and it had a profound impact on me. I learned to embrace being an American as long as I was willing to commit to continuously questioning and challenging the current power structures in place and work to expose the institutionalized racism that continues to plague our public

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It all started when I came back from football practice and was watching T.V. I was 10 at the time, and I stumbled upon a channel where these women modeled these remarkable masterpieces. It peaked my interest in creating similar fashion pieces. I scurried to my room and began drawing. Subsequently, I dashed to show my parents what I created. I expected them to be proud and supportive of me, like they always do, but this time their faces turned from smiles to complete confusion. They gasped and scolded at me. I never understood why they they were so mad. Why would my number one supporters turn against me? I'm Xander. Alexander to be exact. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with both of my parents, my sister Sammy, and my dog Buster. I have bright blue eyes which, in fact, I got from my Dad. My rich dark brown hair I clearly got from my Mom. I have been playing football ever since I could remember. I am currently the captain of Lauderdale High School's football team. This is my last year until I go off to college to major in business. Another thing is when I was a kid I was incredibly creative and deeply attracted to art. Although my Dad always pushed me to play football, ever since I was born, he was a firm believer in doing what you want to do. Plus, I was naturally physically made for the job. Anyways, both of my parents have been very supportive of me, and so has my girlfriend, Zoe. The catch is if I told my family and Zoe that I want to major in arts, they would Get

I was born and raised into a hardworking family that are the complete opposite of culture alienators. My siblings and I are all first generation in America on my mom's side and second generation on my dad's side. Life was very hard for my parents to raise all seven of us and depended on my grandparents for most of their help. Being that my grandparents brought all nine of their kids to America from Belize it was also very hard for them so survive and find stability. Most families that come to America from a third world country usually find it very difficult to keep up family traditions and sometimes lose all contact. My family found a way to stay very close and keep the Belizean culture very alive still to this day. As you can tell by now...show more content...

This left my mom with seven kids to raise by herself. Meaning one on one time was rare, because my mom is not a superhero and could not be in multiple places at one time. Grief left my family and I in a place where we did not know what to do, but we eventually got out of it, and continued on with our life. We always remembered the hard working parents we had, and the hard working mother we still had. I am resilient and got back on my feet and continued to attend school, graduated elementary school, and will soon graduate from high school. Although, I have gone through many difficulties it has made me work harder as an individual and choose my career choice at an early age. Being that I was very into the heart at a young age, and my father passing from a heart disease, I always knew I wanted to study cardiology, and will someday soon become a cardiologist. Being that my mother has attended medical school several times, I first handedly have seen how difficult it can be. I have been told by many people to pick a different profession because of that; But because of how passionate I am about cardiology and the amount of times I have experienced people deal with heart problems has assured me that I have chose the right profession. I being a very conscientious person has has also assured me that I will be able to tackle medical school and become a cardiologist. I believe that the first steps of becoming a cardiologist is that I have personally experienced people suffer from

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