My Family Culture

My Family Culture:

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

 If I were to be faced with something this traumatic happening in my life I would choose to take the following items: a pair of drum sticks, a bible and a Photo album of my family and friends. I would choose these three items because I feel these would be the ones to help me to move on and keep living. The reason I would take a pair of drum sticks is because I am a drummer and I love music. Having my drum stick could help make money in what ever country that I am in. One thing about music is that it is everywhere. I could take anything pots, pans, plastic bottles and make music out of them. To make money I could sing and play whatever creation of a drum set  I come up with. This Could possible allow me to get off my feet. The next thing I said I would take would be a Bible. I was raised in the church and I have learned that God does not put more on you than you can bear. The bible would serve as my sense of spirituality, but having the word will help me to calm me down and to keep me strong through whatever I may be going through. The bible would be what would give me a piece of mind. The final thing that I would take would be a photo album. I would take the album with pictures of my friend and family to help me remember what life was like. It would help me to remember the happy times that I had with the ones that I loved. The picture would be the only thing that would let people know who my family and friends are and where I come from. This would kind of be what would serve as my family history. Being able to have pictures would give me that sense of home and a reason to keep living. If upon arrival I was told that I could only keep one item out of the three that I brought, I think that I would choose the Bible. Having the Bible would keep me on the straight and narrow. The Bible would allow me to keep my faith and to never give up. Even if I am separated from my family I would use the bible to seek understanding and to keep the faith. Even if something were to happen to my family I know that I would get to see them all again in the afterlife. The Bible would help me keep my faith, stay strong, and help see me through all situations.

 Doing this exercise help to realize that culture is deeper than just my own beliefs. I have learned that culture is everywhere around you and you just have to learn to embrace it. Having these scenarios helped to realize how much of my family culture and values are instilled in me.  My family has always taught me that regardless of what you are going through you always keep God first. When thinking about this scenario it made me realize why it is so important to try to understand the different cultures inside of the classroom. You never know how how that person that is not from your culture feels and if you are every put into this situation you would you would end up in a welcoming environment. Understanding culture and diversity will allow you to look at things in a different perspective and learn how to respect and connect with other people.