Essay Sample on How My Culture Influenced My Childhood

I grew up in Ayrum, a small town in Tavush province of Armenia. It is located on the shores of the Debed River, two kilometers away from the Armenian-Georgian borderline. It is a beautiful town and a nice place to live. I had a decent upbringing, considering that my father was a strict man. He stressed on good behavior and values. Father was unusually strict when it came to our culture and beliefs, and for that reason, he taught me everything I know.

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As a child, I was taught a lot of values. The most two fathers stressed were honesty and kindness. He said for you to succeed in this world, reliability is paramount. To have a good relationship with others, one has to be kind. Armenia is a Catholic country. I was raised in a religious family. Every Sunday was a church day for us. I was taught to respect everyone’s culture and religious beliefs. Being a Christian meant that we had to follow the ten commandments in the Bible (Chao et al.,2017). So any action that went against the Bible's teachings was not allowed. For example, adultery is considered a sin.

Growing up, life wasn't that easy. We had just enough to get by. However, the father tried his best to make ends meet, and we never slept hungrily. He made sure that we knew there was more to life than what he provided. He told us that our lives had to be better than his. That’s why he valued education. ‘Education is the key’ father would always say. Go to school, have the knowledge, and get a good job. That is the dream he had for me. I believed that having a good education guaranteed success in life. Growing up, a lot was expected of me, primarily when my father had worked so hard to ensure that I got a better experience. He wanted me to have an education. Go to college and get a good job. He wished a better life for me. He wanted me to travel the world and meet different people and cultures. As a child, there were not many opportunities to get out of my province, let alone leave the country. I depended on books and stories to learn about the world. Father tried teaching me about other countries. Their cultures and how these places looked like. He wanted me to have the desire to travel and see the world. He described how beautiful other countries are and how successful I can be in any of these countries (Simmons et al., 2017). From these stories, I wanted to go to the USA. I was fascinated by the stories from this country.

My education and work background

I attended a town school for my high schooling. After completing high school, I got a scholarship to college to study Education. From here, I got a Bachelor’s degree. Later on, I furthered my study and obtained a Master’s in Education. It has allowed me to visit different areas and countries. I have learned a lot, especially when it comes to cultural diversity. There are so many different cultures around the world. Traveling and seeing these different cultures has enabled me to respect these different cultures. I have learned to value and acknowledge different cultural expressions and contributions around the world. I have come to celebrate these cultures and not just tolerate them.

My experience with cultural and linguistic diversity

Traveling to the USA, I was particularly interested in African-American history. African Americans are mostly the descendants of slaves. Salves are people who were forcefully taken from their African motherlands to work in the New World (Paller et al., 2019). Their rights were harshly limited, and they were long deprived of a rightful stake in the social, political, and economic growth of the United States. Nonetheless, African Americans have made long-term and straightforward contributions to American culture and history. By the 21st century, more than half the country’s African Americans lived in the South; ten Southern states had black populations. African Americans were also lived in the main cities: New York, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Houston.

My Experiences with Prejudice, Inequity, Injustice, Privilege

Prejudice

Prejudice is a negative attitude or opinion focused on an individual for something out of the individual’s control (Chiatti et al., 2019). An instance of prejudice is someone thinking ill of another person because he belongs to a certain race, or has different religious beliefs. Being in the United States showed me how African-American people are treated. They are often considered violent or gang-related just because of how they look. A black person walking in a white neighborhood will raise the alarm to the residents, and sometimes the police are called on them. Sadly, it is a sad belief that has been going on for a while. I find this to be idiotic. Someone’s character should not be judged by the way he looks.

Inequality

Homeownership is dire for wealth building and financial security in the United States. However, efforts to ensure this has almost entirely profited white households; they have often detached people of color from their homes, deprived them of access to wealth-building chances, and moved them to remote communities. Everyone should be treated equally, nonetheless, of how they look.

Injustice

In May 2019, the brutal death of George Floyd sparked protests in the United States. People chanting black lives matter flooded the streets to protest the injustices that have been going on against African Americans, especially from the police. There are numerous more cases similar to Floyd’s. However, these cases have usually gone unsolved or abandoned entirely. Justice is only fair when it is given without any kind of favor regardless of who you.

Privilege

It is evident that white people are given more privilege than their colored brothers. When it comes to housing, healthcare, and even education, white people get the upper hand. African Americans have to work extra hard to get a proper house. Getting healthcare services is a struggle. Everyone should be given the same opportunity. Everyone should get excellent healthcare services and suitable housing regardless of how you look.

References

Chao, M. M., Takeuchi, R., & Farh, J. L. (2017). Enhancing cultural intelligence: The roles of implicit cultural beliefs and adjustment. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 257-292.

Chiatti, B. D. (2019). Culture care beliefs and practices of Ethiopian immigrants. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 30(4), 340-349.

Paller, C. J., Wang, L., & Brawley, O. W. (2019). Racial Inequality in Prostate Cancer Outcomes—Socioeconomics, Not Biology. JAMA oncology, 5(7), 983-984.

Simmons, L. (2017). The prison school: Educational inequality and school discipline in the age of mass incarceration. Univ of California Press.