Viviana english blog

 What has been going well for me is learning about new cultures and different stereotypes among different groups of people. Another thing that has been going well for me is identifying gender roles and how they can impact peoples life. Something that has been challenging for me is understanding stereotypes that people assume of others. One thing I need to improve moving forward is practicing more to understand a content we are learning in class.

 A part of my culture, family, or identity that travels with me is my Spanish language. I feel very close to my hispanic community when I encounter other hispanics and speak spanish with them. I think it is a privilege to talk in my cultures language to get closer with my family and friends. I will always be proud of knowing how to speak Spanish because it is very important for my identity. 

 I enjoy worksheet work and class discussions as a learning method. I enjoy worksheet work because it helps one think more critically and makes us realize we are learning. Another thing about worksheet work is while doing the assignment, you are memorizing what you are learning and developing new ideas. I also like class discussions because we get to hear each other’s opinions and learn through others as well. Both of these learning methods help me learn about each content we talk about in class. 

 An experience that someone assumed about me and my family because of a stereotype was thinking all hispanic like spicy food. One day, me and my mom went to go buy wings and an Hispanic family was in front of us. After the family finished ordering, it was our turn and when we ordered the wings, the employee said “spicy, right?”. Me and my mom both said no because we wanted the original and she said “Sorry about that”. I think she thought we also wanted spicy wings because the family before us ordered spicy wings. This shows the stereotype that all hispanics eat spicy foods even though not every Hispanic does. 

A gender expectation in my culture is all girls need to learn how to cook well. In my culture, it is efficient to learn how to cook for when you get married. In my experience, I’ve met a lot of people and even family members when talking about future marriages say that they hope that the girl already knows how to cook meals when in party's or family gatherings. In my opinion, I think girls shouldn't have the need to learn how to cook properly for a partner especially if they’re still in their youth. They should first focus on their priorities like school and jobs because some girls don’t want marriage and can learn later on in their life. 

 

 When I was a kid, I used to eat pizza with mayo and ketchup mixed together. My family thought that I was weird for eating my pizza like that but it was for a time I ate my pizza like that. My siblings tried it as well but only my brothers liked it and started eating their pizza like me. My sister didn’t like it and always told me why I would add ketchup and mayo on my pizza and will always look at me weird everytime I ate my pizza. My other family members thought I was weird and just let me because everyone has their own likings. 

 A time that I felt completely lost was when I got behind with my assignments because I was going through something rough. I felt unmotivated everyday and had a lot of work to catch up. I felt lost and didn't know what to do. I kept overthinking and thought to myself it was too late to get back up and start fresh. I then somehow managed to get courage and get back up on my feet because I had to prove to myself that there is always a way to get back up on your feet. My family and friends gave me strength to start over and just keep my head up high and move forward. In the end, I managed to turn in all my assignments and learned it is  alright to sometimes feel lost because eventually you will find your way back to yourself. 

 How I've adapted to the demands of this course over the past week is learning the differences between race and cultural identity and how each can have an impact on society on how you appear to them. Iv'e also adapted by learning more from culture and understanding my race. One strength is learning about different races and how people define themselves with different backgrounds. One challenge is people disagreeing with how you define yourself and that society doesn't accept your personal decision. A personal example is being Hispanic and different races saying we're not American. This course has taught me many things about different cultures and races. 

If someone tried to understand me only using my race, they would miss a lot of things about me. As an Hispanic, I have many cultural parts that make up my identity. For example, my family is a part of my cultural identity because they've taught me many lessons within my mistakes and made me work hard. Another cultural part that makes my identity is my language because it helps me connect with other Hispanics and get to know one another. The last cultural part that makes my identity is tradition/food because it shows where I'm from and proud of my background. 

 Some parts of my identity that have had the greatest influence on the person I am is the experiences I went through and my church community. Through my experiences, I've learned a lot throughout my life like learning from my mistakes and learning to let things go I once couldn't let go. At some point in my life, I was going through depression and thought to myself I wouldn't be the same I once was before. I lost my spark within myself but after committing to going to church everyday and listening to testimonies from others and preaches, I learned that I could still get back up on my feet and leave the past behind. It took a lot of courage and time to learn and confidently be myself again but I learned if I don't make a change for my well-being, Ill forever end up being the same. I learned to love myself and started to surround myself with the people in my church which made a huge impact in my life. I am the person I am today because of my experiences and with the help ...

 A meaningful family tradition unique to my culture is the traditional clothes my family wears. My family always wears their traditional clothes whether it's a party, wedding, ceremonies, and even funerals. I think it's a unique piece of clothing to my culture because it represents where we come from  and embraces our culture to others. It's also rare to see when other people wear it outside of my family's country because a lot of women don't wear it anymore and when they do, it's really special to me and my family. Our traditional clothes are handmade that require a lot of patience and time. This mirrors the cultural identity themes of expectations by representing race and also that the majority of the people who wear the traditional clothes are females. 

 One of my academic goals for this year is to be more responsible for my work because I used to turn in my work late. Another academic goal is to have good grades this year. I don't want to fall behind with my grades since they are important now that I'm a senior. My last academic goal is to show up to school as much as I can. Last year I was absent a lot of times and would miss instruction time and make myself feel behind in my class so I don't want to do that again.