Juan S.

Cardona
Comm- 110
Prof. Judith Dutill
23 February, 2014
Case Study-1 Prompt #1


Since I was very young both my parents have continuously taught me lessons about life,
respect, hard work, and dedication. All of these lessons have shaped me to be who I am, and it is
something that I am forever thankful for, however there is only so much that parents can do to
completely shape who you are. When my mother and I moved to the United States from
Colombia in 2005, I was shocked by the cultural difference. This meant that not only did I have
to learn a new language, but that I also had to completely adjust my ethical guidelines in order to
establish relationships with the broad variety of people from all different races that I encountered
at my new school. Throughout this learning process I must admit that I judged a lot of people
prematurely, and created stereotypes based on how people were portrayed and how they spoke
and dressed.
One of the first stereotypes that I created about someone was when I first started playing
soccer for my high school. At that point my English had started to get better, but it was still not
completely fluent enough to understand someone who spoke at a fast rate. Ian Williams who was
African American was one of my teammates, and he was a prime example of someone who I did
not need to listen because of what I expected him to say. First of all it was extremely difficult to
understand him because of all the slang he used and how fast he spoke. Judging by his facial
expressions and hand gestures, it looked like he was an aggressive person and uneducated. Since
the only thing I knew about African Americans was what I saw on TV shows and on the news, I
had automatically built an image of him that was completely incorrect.
As my English improved, Ian and I became great friends, and now I was actually able to
communicate with him. During this time I learned a lot about his past, and all of the struggles
Juan S. Cardona
Comm- 110
Prof. Judith Dutill
23 February, 2014
Case Study-1 Prompt #1

that his family especially his grandparents had gone through when this country was still
segregated. This was a complete shock to me because I had come from a country where we all
saw each other as equals regardless of color. This experience taught me a valuable lesson on
cultural relativity, and also on how people can easily create a stereotype of someone without ever
giving them a chance to speak.
Another similar experience occurred when I took an Ethics: Belief and Action class at the
HACC Lancaster campus. When I saw that the professor was an older man, judging from
previous experiences I expected him to be unenergetic and boring. Before allowing him a chance
to speak, I had automatically made up my own expectations of him, and I could already tell what
he was going to say without having to hear him. To my surprise he was one of the most
energetic, involved and well-spoken professors that I have ever had. Once again I was taught a
valuable lesson on stereotypes, and on why I should let someone speak and express themselves
before making my own conclusions.
All of these experiences have helped me further understand the importance of Ethical
communication. Another important lesson I learned is that Ethical communication is an ongoing
process in which a person must continuously keep learning. As we meet and try to understand
the cultures of more and more people from all different places around the world, we expand our
Ethical knowledge and communication. Doing this effectively contributes to becoming a better
communicator overall.