William Rodick Cultural Autobiography Adapted from Okuns Research* ________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 1.

5 Cultural Influences The purpose of this exercise is to help you become aware of the diverse cultural groups to which you belong and that influence who you are. Use the following four questions to guide your reflection. 1. Think back to the time you began to attend school, or earlier if you can, and try to remember all the different cultural influences in your life. Think about your own ethnic heritage from one or both sets of grandparents. Think about your gender, your religion, your race, your class, your family, and groups that may have been represented in your neighborhood or town. List the cultures that you believe had some influence on your own development and, thus, your view of the world. 2. Think about the first time you realized that something about your own upbringing was different from someone elses. What was the difference? How did you feel when you realized the difference? Did you do anything about it? If so, what? 3. Identify the two, or three, cultures from question 1 that you think had the strongest influence on you as you were growing up. Now look at the table below. For each topic listed in the left hand column, write down the messages each culture gave you as you were growing up. Transient Culture / Rural Culture Change is a necessity, which might now be a problem for me Family is important, but bonds are weak Misogyny is connected to ignorance, but is also evident everywhere A necessary step, but without much purpose The area to find purpose and stability is through ones work Divorced Family That connections might not last Not to become too committed When my parents remarried, both fell into traditional gender roles of male breadwinner and female homemaker My way out Not sure Military To live with values, responsibility, and dedication Responsibilities outweigh complications The man works and the woman takes care of the home and children Not possible for everyone An incredibly stringent work ethic

Life messages, that is, what to expect from life Family relations Gender roles

Education Work values and behavior

4. Are the values conveyed to you by Culture 1 consistent with the values conveyed by Culture 2? Are there elements in your life now that are uncomfortable or confusing because you received conflicting messages from the different cultures?

*Okun, B., Fried, J., & Okun, M. (1999). Understanding diversity: A learning-aspractice primer. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

1. a) Military culture as a very young child, while my father was in the Air Force. I lived on base for a few years. My grandfather was also a paratrooper. b) Ethnic culture is simply white American. There arent prominent connections to other nationalities. c) Culture of the northeast. My grandparents on both sides are from the northeast one set from Maine and one set from Pennsylvania. d) Culture of lower middle class. My parents were kids when they had me, and we didnt have much. For a while, we were probably closer to poor than lower middle class. e) Secular culture. Although my parents and grandparents will say that they are religious, religion was never present in our lives, except among friends in the very Christian community where we lived. f) Child of divorce. Although I was too young to have a conscious comparison of life before and after the divorce, it certainly was a part of our family culture. g) Rural culture. Through middle and high school, I lived in a very rural area devoid of diversity. h) Filipino culture. One of the most important people of my youth was my babysitter, the wife of my dads friend, and although I was too young to remember much, I know my experiences with her and her daughter were pivotal. i) Transient culture. Not just because I traveled between my fathers and mothers often, but I also moved a lot as a child. From pre-school to 4th grade, I moved almost every year or two. 2. I always knew that having divorced parents and moving frequently was different than what many other kids experienced, but it didnt become a clearly defined difference until I moved to the rural community that I lived in from 4th grade through the remainder of school. In this community, even if some kids had parents who divorced, their family units were still something divided, but in many ways, intact differently than mine their parents still communicated, still lived near each other, interacted at social events, etc. The idea that this new place was a community, where everyone knew each other, knew each others past experiences, participated regularly in the present experiences, was not something that I could feel comfortable in. Being new to a community and to a school didnt really impact me as vividly before moving to this community, because before this, I hadnt been a stranger among social groups that had been forming bonds for years, and through their families, for generations. I dont think I ever felt like I belonged. 4. Culture 1 and 2 actually have many consistencies, but the experiences themselves of those cultures certainly impacted me and make my life now uncomfortable. This certainly opens my eyes to some drive that Ive had for traveling around the world, never living in a set place for too long, never maintaining relationships for very long, and remaining somewhat distant and uncomfortable around family.