Cultural Autobiography

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I grew up in the Catholic faith when I was born and once we moved to Wichita we attended our lady Guadalupe Church. Although my family attended the services every Sunday, I never understood wholeheartedly the sermons and never absorbed the teachings. Inside I didn't really understand my religion at all but that all changed when my little sister’s best friends introduced us to something different. Since her father was the Spanish minister at a protestant church we learned a new way into looking into our new faith. It didn't take long to adopt Christianity as my faith and that's why I identify myself as a Christian Protestant. This all happened at the end of my junior year, this can sometimes be a conflict at home because we don't really share the same beliefs and that can bring contradictions sometimes but we still loved one another no matter what we believed in. In the other Catholic church I used to go to, I always felt I had to learn and never fully process anything. But at the other church I attended we were taught from the beginning. At Lamar Baptist we would go to summer camps that will help strengthen one's faith. To me it was my time to close myself from the rest of the world and just embrace my beliefs. I like how everyone was so welcoming and offering to help me in my journey with God. I really absorbed the ideas of being a server and giver. To be kind to others and to not judge but respect. My faith truly has shaped my personality and my actions. God plays an important role in my life and most definitely has made a huge impact and has changed my life for the better.

When it comes to what I am exceptional at it would have to be my love for kids. I remember when my cousins would come over all the time and Karla and Lizzy would play Barbie’s while I found my amusement playing and helping my mom out with Emilie, a little girl of two years old. I Remember I would help feed, change, and play with her. Taking care of Emily has helped me see that I was great with kids and that I wanted to pursue a career that consisted of being around them. With kids I saw I had a lot more patience and kindness. I've decided that I'm going to major in bilingual education so I can help children out. As my experience as the little girl in the second grade who was picked on for not speaking the dominant language I want my classroom to be positive and welcoming to everyone. I want to teach them not to be afraid of change but to embrace it. Hopefully with the ability that I get from college and the fact that I can speak Spanish will help me not only better educate children but be more familiar with their parents as well.

My geography consists of two places. Originally, I was from Mexico City, in an urbanized neighborhood and the community was very friendly. Mexico City was a very hot very populated city where culture vibrated. I know everything kind of change when we move to a town in Wichita Falls, Texas. We moved to a very suburban city where everyone knows everyone or at least know something about someone in the town. The reason why we moved here was because my parents were tired of the city and believe that the city was not a place to raise their children and said they wanted somewhere more quiet and safe for kids to be raised in so we moved here. I'm not really a big fan of Wichita Falls but I can say it has its perks. I didn't grow up in a place where the city high could get to me and where I learned to appreciate the small things in life and make do with what I had.

As a freshman who’s attending Midwestern State University at the age of eighteen, I’m in the dominant subcultural group. Even though I’m attending college it doesn’t mean I’m a typical college student, because I’m still living with my parents and therefore do not live far away from my hometown. In other words, I’m not really having the college experience since I’m still living at home. It feels like nothing has really changed, except for the work and the having to start over and be a freshman where everything is new and I’m still learning my way around. I'm also not as sociable, and since I live so close to home, I don’t really make an effort at making friends. Instead I just go to school and go back home and repeat the same routine over and over again. Being my age, I still feel like this process came so quickly and that I won't be able to survive it but I also know what I want to do with the rest of my life and I since I have my family close, I don't have to get homesick or worry about them. And I’m still technically a child and I feel okay with having my family close so I don't have to feel that I’m alone or that I have to grow up so quickly just yet.

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