Katherine
I have never really stopped to think about what my own culture was until now, due to the fact that I didn't think I belonged to a distinctive culture. I grew up in your typical white American household in Houston, Texas and have lived there my entire life. Both of my parents were born and raised in Houston as well, and somewhere along the line their ancestors immigrated here from Europe. I come from a conservative Catholic family with most of my extended family living in Houston as well. Getting together as a family for holidays and special occasions was a big part of my life growing up and made me appreciate the value of family. Unlike my cousins who all attended private Catholic schools their whole lives, my siblings and I went to public schools. Living in inner city Houston and going to public school your whole life teaches you how to interact with people of all different backgrounds. It definitely made me more understanding and accepting of people and taught me to appreciate the uniqueness and diversity of the country we live in. While my culture makes up a lot of who I am today, I identify personally as several things such as an Aggie Communication major who has a passion for traveling the world. While my past has shaped me to have certain beliefs such as the Catholic religion and strong family values, being an Aggie has taught me the importance of hard work and selflessness and my love for travel has broadened my worldview. All of these aspects of my life work together to make up the culture in which I identify with.
Kendall
Culture is an interesting concept to me. Every single person can identify with something different, yet overlap in certain aspects. I identify most with being a white, female, student. I grew up in a traditional home in Georgetown, Texas. A large community, yet tightly knit, to where everyone knows you and your family. My parents were both raised in Texas, along with their parents, but I have Czech and German ancestors. However, even knowing where I come from, I don't identify with those cultures instinctively. I was raised in a Christian home with two younger brothers. We all attended public school while my parents could be considered "figures" in the community. My mother sat on the School Board during my entire high school career and still is. My dad sat on multiple booster clubs (and occasionally coached) for each of the sports my brothers and I played. I am a second generation Aggie. I am a woman. And I am white. Each of these things define who I am and the cultures I relate to. Being an Aggie means I value honor, loyalty, and pride. Being a woman, I have learned to be confident, purposeful, and selfless. And finally, being white has shown me the different aspects of the world, good and bad. I believe that I align most with these cultures because all of these characteristics were instilled in me growing up. Culture to me has no hard lines. I feel that culture allows people to relate to one another on a different level because it is the one thing that can’t necessarily be changed yet there still remains free choice. Most of the cultures I align with, like being a woman and being white, I had no say in. However, culture still allows you to choose where you want to belong.
Daniel
Since my childhood, I have always been astonished by culture. Cultural tendencies influence people's feelings, ideologies, and societal issues. People understand and process events based on their culture. However, I have never questioned myself or how I understand my own culture. So here I am, doing my best to try and answer this intriguing question, although I know it is not an easy one. I could begin by saying that I am a Venezuelan, sophomore student at the University of Texas A&M at College Station, but that is not even the tip of a glacier, let alone the heart of the question. As a Venezuelan I can tell you that my culture is the best. For us family comes above everything. We are overly talkative, friendly, and we love to drink alcohol. In fact, we are among the countries with the highest rate of alcohol consumption per capita. In addition, people try to somehow enjoy our country, which is immersed in a political-social chaos. Catholicism is the predominant religion, baseball is the main sport, and we have a lot of cheesy/fancy music genres, which are really popular around the Spanish-speaking countries. Our traditions are heavily influenced by European cultures, principally Spanish and Italian ones – i.e. we have similar traditions as Spanish and Italians. However, our main most prevalent tradition is ringing in the New Year. Everyone gets excited and participates, even my grandmother who doesn’t like alcohol. Moreover, one thing that I have realized is that friendship is important for us. Friends are the brothers that we can choose and then, one day, become our family. Also, I consider my culture to be the least racist culture, most humble, and collective. I have been living in the United States for three years, two years in the north and one in the south. I am amazed at how cultures vary by cities here in the United States. I am still adapting to the south; however, I will always be a Venezuelan regarding my culture because there is no other culture like it and no matter where I go I will always call Venezuela my home.
Marilyn
I identify with a fairly standard idea of culture in the south. I am a second generation Aggie
and I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I grew up very secure in my
Christian faith and I still consistently practice it today. I went to a private
Christian school for all of my education before college and was in school with
the same group of people form 6th-12th grade, so my
exposure to different types of people was very limited. I fall under the
category many would refer to as a “basic white girl” and I’m fairly “country.”
I was raised around military and I am a strong republican. That being said, I
do recognize the generational differences in the Republican Party and I do
disagree with my parents and other family members on certain beliefs. My family
on both sides is all white and nobody married out of that realm. I wouldn’t
mind living in Texas for the rest of my life and raising my children around
family, but exploring the Northern end of the U.S. sounds interesting. I’ve
never really been one too terribly interested in traveling all over the world
and I never really had a burning desire to learn more about other cultures but
I’m not against it either. I don’t know much about my family’s heritage other
than a good amount of German on my mom’s side. If I had to summarize who I am
and what identity I have, I am a white conservative Christian woman from the
state of Texas.
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