Personal Culture: A Cut Beyond One’s Inherent Traits Personal culture is often described as little more than a series of inherent traits and beliefs. It insinuates the definitive notion that you are who you are, the concept that one simply cannot alter their character and thus their corresponding destiny. This idea calls to attention the age old perception of nature versus nurture. Which is more potent an influence? The genetic makeup of one’s body and mind or the innumerable experiences one undergoes throughout the course of their life. My own insight into such a matter is as follows: no matter who you are born as, one’s personal culture is a direct result of their upbringing and experiences abroad; such experiences not only shape one’s perceptions
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Growing up with an older brother who I aspired to be like, the ability to tag along cemented my relationship with him at a young age. This same relationship has remained intact ever since; be it sharing the same pastimes to choosing what classes to take to deciding where to attend college, he paved a road that I might follow in his footsteps. Being male also sparked an otherwise unattainable relationship with my dad, a relationship that over time has aligned my interests with his; from sharing a fascination with motorcycles to bonding over our interests in the fields of math and science, time truly has solidified this link. The relationships with my family that I developed as a result of being male have ultimately taught me just how important it is to remain loyal to those that are closest to you. Familial affiliation, arguably the most primal of relationships, really is the most important part of my own life; no matter what, my family has consistently been there, and because of that I put family above all …show more content…
Being an eighteen year old straight white male with no major disabilities, my own hardships have not been at the hands of discrimination or marginalization; rather, they have affected my own culture by impacting those closest to me. The first of these hardships that seriously altered who I am today is that of my parents divorce. Witnessing such an occurrence at a young age (5 years old) not only ripped my world into two, it served as my first testament to the idea that everything doesn’t always work out. If my parents’ divorce served as a division, than my brother’s illness was undoubtedly a unification of sorts. My brother, a freshman in highschool at the time, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in the spring of 2009. The diagnosis once again jolted my world upside down; for the first time in my life, I was genuinely scared. Not scared in the sense that I myself was in immediate danger, not the sudden, surprised fear one might express should a centipede crawl up their leg: my terror was the feeling of helplessness, the inability to alter the outcome and to cure my brother. My family’s response to the situation was what deemed it a unification of sorts. Undeterred by the wounds left by the divorce and the underlying animosity they lay witness to, both my mom and my dad put aside their strife to provide the utmost support to my brother in his time of need. And
Growing up with an older brother who I aspired to be like, the ability to tag along cemented my relationship with him at a young age. This same relationship has remained intact ever since; be it sharing the same pastimes to choosing what classes to take to deciding where to attend college, he paved a road that I might follow in his footsteps. Being male also sparked an otherwise unattainable relationship with my dad, a relationship that over time has aligned my interests with his; from sharing a fascination with motorcycles to bonding over our interests in the fields of math and science, time truly has solidified this link. The relationships with my family that I developed as a result of being male have ultimately taught me just how important it is to remain loyal to those that are closest to you. Familial affiliation, arguably the most primal of relationships, really is the most important part of my own life; no matter what, my family has consistently been there, and because of that I put family above all …show more content…
Being an eighteen year old straight white male with no major disabilities, my own hardships have not been at the hands of discrimination or marginalization; rather, they have affected my own culture by impacting those closest to me. The first of these hardships that seriously altered who I am today is that of my parents divorce. Witnessing such an occurrence at a young age (5 years old) not only ripped my world into two, it served as my first testament to the idea that everything doesn’t always work out. If my parents’ divorce served as a division, than my brother’s illness was undoubtedly a unification of sorts. My brother, a freshman in highschool at the time, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in the spring of 2009. The diagnosis once again jolted my world upside down; for the first time in my life, I was genuinely scared. Not scared in the sense that I myself was in immediate danger, not the sudden, surprised fear one might express should a centipede crawl up their leg: my terror was the feeling of helplessness, the inability to alter the outcome and to cure my brother. My family’s response to the situation was what deemed it a unification of sorts. Undeterred by the wounds left by the divorce and the underlying animosity they lay witness to, both my mom and my dad put aside their strife to provide the utmost support to my brother in his time of need. And