Interview
To work effectively in a culturally diverse environment, one must develop active listening. Active listening requires you to fully concentrate, understand, respond, engage, and remember. I chose to meet with my friend Ben for the cultural interview part of this paper. Ben is a 32-year-old, Licensed Massage Therapist from Owensboro, Kentucky. I met Ben approximately 10 years ago, in Evansville, Indiana, while we were both working for bank in the area. Ben is openly gay. At the time, he was also part of the Army National Guard. I remember one of my first conversations with Ben was about the photographs he kept of him in uniform in his desk. He immediately noticed I was looking at them and proudly commented that he had been in the Army for 8 years. I wanted to ask how it felt about being in the Army, but he answered that before I could say anything. He told me not to worry. Everyone was understanding of his sexuality. How he knew what I was going to ask, I didn’t know until this interview. He explained that it has always been a common question he gets from people and …show more content…
Ben experienced major depression when his longtime boyfriend left him. He had thoughts of suicide and felt alone. He said if it wouldn’t have been for the fellowship he found in church, he wouldn’t be here today. Ben explained the reason his boyfriend left him was because he was struggling with accepting who he really was. He shared with me that through church, he found out the key to happiness, which is to allow people time to find themselves and love themselves before they learn to love others. This is a motto he lives by. He said whenever he meets a person who does not understand the LGBT community, he understands is not always about hate, but just that they need time to understand themselves and then others. Ben is resilient and his enthusiasm and faith in others is
To work effectively in a culturally diverse environment, one must develop active listening. Active listening requires you to fully concentrate, understand, respond, engage, and remember. I chose to meet with my friend Ben for the cultural interview part of this paper. Ben is a 32-year-old, Licensed Massage Therapist from Owensboro, Kentucky. I met Ben approximately 10 years ago, in Evansville, Indiana, while we were both working for bank in the area. Ben is openly gay. At the time, he was also part of the Army National Guard. I remember one of my first conversations with Ben was about the photographs he kept of him in uniform in his desk. He immediately noticed I was looking at them and proudly commented that he had been in the Army for 8 years. I wanted to ask how it felt about being in the Army, but he answered that before I could say anything. He told me not to worry. Everyone was understanding of his sexuality. How he knew what I was going to ask, I didn’t know until this interview. He explained that it has always been a common question he gets from people and …show more content…
Ben experienced major depression when his longtime boyfriend left him. He had thoughts of suicide and felt alone. He said if it wouldn’t have been for the fellowship he found in church, he wouldn’t be here today. Ben explained the reason his boyfriend left him was because he was struggling with accepting who he really was. He shared with me that through church, he found out the key to happiness, which is to allow people time to find themselves and love themselves before they learn to love others. This is a motto he lives by. He said whenever he meets a person who does not understand the LGBT community, he understands is not always about hate, but just that they need time to understand themselves and then others. Ben is resilient and his enthusiasm and faith in others is