As many of my peers have done, I, too, wanted to focus on the very powerful class discussion we had last Thursday during our outside lecture reflecting on Crafton's chapter in her book. I think that reading her chapter and for us to learn a deeper side of our teacher, we, too, felt that we could open up and share similar experiences that we feel shaped us into who we have become/are becoming. I wanted to take a step back and listen to our stories from a perspective other than someone who comes from a middle class Midwestern family. All of our stories were pretty similar in certain aspects - most of us have dealt with religion, have encouraging parents, and were able enough to attend a University. I understand that not everyone's story is like this in our class, and I'm not trying to group us into a stereotype. However, if you were to take a class similar to this in the inner city of New York City, I think that our "I-Quest" discussion would have been completely different than how ours went. They have a whole set of different problems, concerns, and perceptions than we do. Having said that, I do think that depending on where you grew up and the culture you were brought into has a lot to say about who you become as a person. Most of our parents most likely went to college, thus, felt strongly about us attending college as well - so we did just that. From personal experience, both of my parents went to college and not going to college was never a question for me. I knew from a very young age, that I would most definitely attend college. I'm not sure that same belief is shared in other parts of the United States. If you were a child growing up in the inner city of New York City and in your late teens moved to the Midwest, I think it would almost be a culture shock. Their influences of NYC would still be present because that's all they know.
So going off this assumption, I wonder what a child would be like if they were brought up by two culturally different parents. Let's say a parent from Europe and an American parent, what kind of confusion would that child have as far as values/beliefs/etc? Americans and Europeans have different approaches to life and the way of living, being around both sets of "cultural norms" could make for an interesting upbringing.
Dana,
ReplyDeleteFor starters, your topic absolutely related to our class curriculum. Dr. Crafton's chapter has been the center of our conversation this past week, and I agree with your comment on it's importance and 'power.' It really was a read that led every single one of our classmates thinking, and that isn't always an easy task to complete. Discussion made obvious that each of us found it to be very thought-provoking and engaging, stimulating a variety of emotions and self-analysis' that without it wouldn't have happened. Her chapter persuaded our peers to -as your said- feel comfortable and encouraged to share their personal stories of themselves, opening up to one another in an effort to put together pieces of their pasts and connect them to who we are now. I found the entire experience to be equally as interesting as you did; probably one of the best discusses we've ever had.
I like how you bring in the observation that most of our stories were somewhat parallel, too, because I didn't really pick that up during the actual discussion. Imagining how this same conversation would go in inner New York City totally puts all of our similarities into perspective; even though they contrast, they compare much more than would to those outside middle-class Midwest. I too would like to have been able to step back and see it from their view though, as our culture and surroundings are SO different from theirs or anywhere else's in the world. Another interesting point to consider could be how Dr. Crafton and Robin had a different kind of storyline than our age-group did, truly showing how much can change in a small period of time, and highlighting that it isn't even exclusively cross-cultures that have such large differences, but also cross-generation. Was so engaging to me to hear their choice of schooling was so black and white, nurse or teacher being their only options. That reality seems so out-of-date and almost unreal, as I can't even imagine being constrained to such a small selection.
Your lingering question was also great, relating nicely to what was discussed in the upper portion of the blog. It was a good 'what if' that connected smoothly to the topic, and really does make one wonder how that situation would do - particularly if each person was extremely grounded to their culture. I have friends who were raised in Mexican American households, and generally it seems that the parents form a gentle mix of both, but I'm sure it varies and I'm also sure European and American would be much, much different and quite possibly more complex. Would be a good scenario to research.
-Cortney McCarthy