Geography- Chapter 8

Reflection:
Communities naturally mesh together with the same dialect, beliefs, race, and perception of others. Often individuals or families will move into a community where they are comfortable and people have similarities. I learned that cultural identifies are imprinted into communities, which make impressions on the community for generations. Each community has its unique make-up, which defines their community. I learned that our nation is becoming a melting pot of cultures, and each area of the nation has adopted its own accent. Most people do not realize that they have an accent until they travel to a different part of the country. People's origins are often recognized by their accent or dialect. For my project, I described my cultural identity and how where I came from evolved me into the person that I am today. It was difficult writing about myself and reflecting on how much my community had an input on my identity.

My Project:

My Cultural Identity

                 Cultural identities can be defined by the area in where people grew up or currently reside. The natural surroundings and community members tend to mesh together with the same dialect, beliefs, race, and perception of others. Different parts of the world can be seen as having different cultural identifies. For example, individuals growing up in the Midwest are considered honorable and trustworthy; where as individuals growing up on the East Coast are stereotyped as bossy and blunt. As families migrate to different parts of the nation, cultural identifies are being mixed and becoming more diverse. As for myself, my cultural identify was first defined by where I grew up for the majority of my life and continues to be defined as I make my own identify with my own family. The values I practice, my belief on education, my race, and dialect make up my cultural identity.

                I grew up in rural North Dakota, where the closest town inhabited 11 people. The town only had a few amenities, gas station, post office, and church, which now only has a functioning church. The majority of my community and surrounding areas is made- up of Caucasian, European descendants. Most of the families would be considered middle class. The community members were very supportive and would support the local businesses and schools. Not a lot of new families move into the community, because generations usually stay around to partake in the family business or farming.

 My parents instilled the core values (respect, responsibility, honesty) into my daily routine. My parents were pretty strict with making sure that I was growing up into a caring, trustworthy young lady. My mom, siblings, and I attended church almost every Sunday as well as Sunday school. Any time that I misbehaved or fell short of expectations, my parents would show their disappointment and demonstrate ways to improve or handle the situation again. As I have grown up into an adult with my own family, I have taken these values and strategies and have used it with my own children. As I look at families in my current neighborhood, we are very similar in the ideas in how we raise our children. However, some families in my school district do not have the same parenting ideas as I do.

                When I attended elementary, middle, and high school, my parents expected good grades and had high expectations. My parents would read books to my siblings and me every night. If we had homework, it needed to be started right after school. My parents wanted me to try my hardest and do my best. My parents always talked about college and the future. For my children, I am always in teacher mode. I want my daughters to constantly be learning and enjoying learning. It is fun to see how my daughter (3 years old) compares with some of my 1^st graders. I value education, because my parents and community always expected the students to be good contributors to the society.

                I feel that the small, town community has defined my cultural identity. The community is so small and quaint that everyone feels like family. If an illness or death happens in the community, everyone comes together to be the support system. By having this small town family, I still feel the support system when something happens (i.e., birth in family, wedding, funeral). Being from a small community gives me a sense of pride when the sporting team makes it to State, or other great things are happening within the community. Where I currently reside, I do not feel the support system and do not know many of my neighbors. Our community just keeps to ourselves. It is unfortunate, because I liked the friendliness of a small town.

                As families migrate to different areas around the world, pieces of cultural identities are stamped into the community. With so many diverse families moving into my school, it feels natural that there is so many differences and family cultures being celebrated. Thriving on creating a small community within each classroom is important in establishing individual identities to play an important role within the community. Cultural identities are formed, first within the each family, but tend to become more defined as communities gather together.