Reflection #5 EDF 2085

Culture is a very diverse topic that varies in its content according to a person’s belief, rituals and values. Its difficult to capture the essence of culture by just reading articles, its more of an experience. Culture is a very important fact when defining an individual’s perception. Human beings are born neutral but we are taught to associate to a specific value according to what our parents or guardians believe. An example is religion, children most likely will follow the religion their parents practice because it’s what they experience daily. One of the things that mainly happen with immigrants is that they are forced to live outside of their countries and as a result have branched out their families overseas. In Miami we often see children who are born in the United States but who’s parents are, for example, Cuban. They would not be categorized as Americans but as Cuban-American. No matter where one lives culture seems to be inculcated by the individual group we reside with. In this article one is left with the notion that in order to accept others, it is necessary to be tolerant regarding the beliefs and values of others. In order to understand a culture outside of our own it is required to have a broadminded outlook because what is true for someone might not be wrong for someone else.

When I was younger I moved from the warm island of Cuba and I was raised in Chile. For many years I had to adopt their customs and celebrate as one of them, I had to watch what I said because it my words could be offensive to those around me. Chileans speak very softly, almost whispering, while in Cuba if its not loud enough not anyone would hear you. Perhaps since I was younger I didn’t realize how I had to modify myself in order to fit in with what was accepted in their society. I enjoy learning about other cultures and compare them to my own; it makes it easy to understand why people act a certain way. This articles teaches one to be more welcoming of people or students with different cultural values, by first making sure we truly understand and embrace our own culture.