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Everyone has culture
Every single human that has ever lived had a culture. According to Merriam Webster, culture is the distinguishing features of a particular group’s way of life. Now more than ever, individuals have the ability to change their own culture, including their beliefs, habits, and customs. The journey of my cultural understanding is marked by ten different phases of my life.
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Childhood
Like every child, I adapted to the culture of my immediate surroundings as a child, most notably, my nuclear family. That meant: I learned English with a slight Texan accent, like my parents. And, I wore modest clothing that my parents approved of, including many hand-me-downs from my older sisters.
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Nuclear family v. extended family
In my family’s culture, we associate most with our nuclear families and only see extended family for very special occasions. Otherwise, most of our birthday and holiday celebrations are limited to our immediate family. Most of my nuclear family lives in the same city, including two of my sisters living across the street from my parents for many years.
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Christian Influence
As an elementary-aged child, I learned the tenets of the Christian faith, as my grandparents had taught my parents and how the majority of my community believed. My understanding of Christianity at a young age included believing I was inherently flawed, but loved enough by God to be saved from my sins. Growing up as a Southern Baptist affected every aspect of my family life, including understanding that women should not be leaders.
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Blended Families
In middle school after my parents' remarriage, I was directly exposed to my step-parents’ family cultures, which was the first time I had experienced anything other than my family’s customs. For example, my step-mother was an immigrant from Panama, so exposure to her extremely traditional family values were foreign to me as a burgeoning independent, young, American woman.
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Friendship
High schools are microcosms of the subcultures, including students interested in science and technology, art and music, sports, and academics. With high school came the culture of love, friends, and academics. More than any other time of my life, I learned how to relate to my peers, deal with drama, and develop my passion for academics. I earnestly strived to maintain friendships by spending most of my free time with my friends, generously writing notes, and giving gifts.
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Expanding Culture
At university, I learned all about American college culture, including how stringent professors were on assignment deadlines, but also how relaxed social life was. I also participated in apartment-living and part-time work culture for the first time, including promoting the American values of personal space in my apartment complex and the values of work ethic at my jobs.
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True Friendship
In college, I met more diverse people than ever before, including other religions, nationalities, and sexual orientations. When one of my best friends divulged that he was gay, I quickly changed my previously held notion that gay people were confused, sinful, and lost and adopted the mindset that I do not care who my friends love as long as it’s legal and healthy. In college, I chose my friends based on how inspiring, kind and fun they were, not on if they were raised like me.
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Diversity
- After I was exposed to international students at my university, I realized they were practically the same as me. They wanted the same things as me: to love and be loved, to make their parents proud, and to be successful and happy. Even though some of my friends were born Buddhist on the hills of the Himalayans and some were born atheist in Sweden, we were all essentially the same. I found it very hard to hold on to any absolute beliefs about what was right and wrong. (original photo)
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American Culture in China
After graduation, I studied Chinese in Beijing. Living in a foreign country taught me about American culture, because I had to represent my culture and answer questions about the U.S. Living in China also taught me that other cultures undeniably have some superior and inferior categories compared to the U.S. For example, the Chinese food culture is un-paralleled to American food culture. However, American sports and university culture is superior to China’s, in my opinion.
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Work Culture
Finally, when I returned to the U.S., I earned my first full-time position working for a university. At this job, I’ve learned more about American work culture than ever before. Some of the notable aspects of work culture I have noticed include mismanaged responsibility and busyness, which are frustrating to me. In American work culture, coworkers tend to avoid responsibility and as an excuse to not do something; furthermore, busyness is seen as a status symbol.
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