Taylor Christensen

English 1050
Introduction to Reading Diverse Culture

Authors Note

This project has made me think of experiences that I have had throughout my life.

Reading my stories will not only let you understand what I have adapted to, but also what I feel

as though my cultural identity is and how diverse culture can really be. You will also be able to

understand a little more about what Diverse culture is, as well as learning how and why I feel

my cultural identity has grown even more from this class.

 My Diverse Culture Stories

Story 1:

A long time ago when I was in the seventh grade. I was chosen to become a student

ambassador. When I first found out about it I was pretty excited. I had not expectations and I

had never been out of the United States which made me even more excited. When I found out

that I would be able to go to Australia, I was super excited to go visit a country that far away.

Little did I know that this trip would put a lasting memory as well as imprint a different culture

into my mind.

When I was preparing to go to Australia. As a big group that we had, we were able to

take a few classes and learn different things about Australia. These classes set an expectation

as to what we may learn, what we can and can’t do, as well as how the different types of

people are in Australia. In these classes, they made me a little nervous to go venture out and

experience what it is like in another country compared to the Salt Lake City life that I was used

to. I started to get cold feet because I didn’t really want to experience “Crazy” and “Different”

people. As the date started to get closer to when we would be leaving, I realized that the cold

feet was no longer there and I just wanted to get away from where I was living and go

experience the real world.

On the fourteen hour flight there, I was like a kid on Christmas night wondering what I

was really going to experience. I could not sleep because I was super anxious. When we landed

in Australia, we got started right away. As we were walking around the first thing that caught

me off guard was their accents. I knew right away that they were “different” from what I am

used to. Everyone that I met out there was super friendly and helpful. To this day I look back
and talk about all the experiences that I had out there. Specifically the different cultures that

are out there. Japanese people live out there, as well as native Australians and tribal

communities called Aborigines. These different ethnicities of people are all living in one place.

They all have different cultures, as well as commonalities.

Part of the culture that I consider to be the most common to me as well as what I do

that is pretty much the same is the Aborigines culture. They hunt, live off the land, play

homemade instruments, as well as are very kind and generous. I feel like I do all of these things

and that I have adapted and applied some of their culture into my life. Cultural Diversity is

something that we all can see every day, as long as we know what we are looking for.

Story 2:

My biggest and most culture identifying story begins. Nine years ago, I decided to go on

a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I really did not want to go because

I was being pressured by my father. When I decided that I wanted to go, I knew from that

moment that I was not going to tell my dad until my papers were turned in. When they got

turned in, I decided to tell my dad and let him know. When my mission call came I opened it

and found out that I was headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was super excited because I

have always been a Steelers fan.

When I got out on my mission, it was a culture shock. I was not expecting to see as

many races of people as there were. I also was not expecting to have so much diversity. When

I got to my first area of Bloomsburg, I was pretty happy to see how much diversity there was. I
grew to love and adore the people of Pennsylvania. They are pretty humble but also set it their

ways. If you try to change them in any way, they do not want it. The most interesting culture

that I experienced out there were the Amish. They are very fascinating and it made me wonder

if I really needed all the electricity, phones, cars, etc that the world has. They are living without

owning any of these. Not being able to own any of these items right now would pose a

problem with my culture and job because of school and work needing to have a phone and

computer.

Learning about cultural identity and diversity in this class has really helped me

understand and want to seek out what my true culture is, or if I just like to be a part of a few

cultures because of the differences and experiences that each bring. We can all sit here and be

content with the area that we live in, the people that we talk to, the job that we work. Can we

all really go out and experience different cultures as they come, or are most of us just content

with how we are today? I know that over time we are all going to start to understand the

different cultures and hopefully help each and every one of them out.

I know that I have grown so much from the different cultural experiences that I have

had. I am excited that I have grown my knowledge more in this class. Knowing what I know

now makes me want to go and explore more of the world to learn more about the cultures that

I have yet to get involved in. I would love to see what Egypt’s culture is like.
Analysis:

Between both of my stories, I feel as though they describe my cultural background

pretty well. They outline things that have happened in my life as to why I identify with the

cultures that I do. I think that both of my experiences gave me a look into the real world since I

was not longer living with my parents when I was in Australia and Pennsylvania. These

experiences I believe are the pinnacle of my culture and what I have done to identify this way.

We all have our own experiences, likings, and other things that play roles with our own

identities. We just need to look into what we have done and identify those pieces of

information that shape who we are.

Sources

• Module 1 – Components of Culture

• Module 1 – Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism

• Module 10 – Food Culture

• Module 11 – Diversity in the Workplace