Monday, October 26, 2009

NATURE & NURTURE

Nature is defined as what a person is born with, and nurture is defined as the environment a person grows up in. Both are essential for socialization, the process and factors that create the social animal in the existence at that moment.

I am like my family in several ways. First, I am very organized. I like to keep all my belongings in order. Secondly, I am similar to my family in which we all have our minds focused on happiness, ability to be successful, and having good relationships with the people around us. I am like my friends by mostly having the same sense of humor and interests. I was not born being like my family and friends, and it is because of nurture that I am who I am today.

My parents first realized I had an unique personality when I was a few days old. My parents noticed that I was much louder than my sisters were...I had more "ummff". My parents also noticed that I was easy going and happy as an infant. I do not want to be like my parents in the sense that they are really bad with technology. I believe it is possible to work against both nature and nurture and to be different if a person "looks outside the box" and at other cultures in order to adapt the agents of socialization within that culture.

The most significant groups in my life that have affected my self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, and other orientations toward life would have to be the neighborhood I live in, sports I participate in,and school. I am fortune enough to live in a neighborhood where everyone is connected. If one of my neighbors need help with something, I will usually help them...this has affected my attitudes towards people in my life. My neighborhood relationships will help guide me to a successful life because I know how to help people in need. Sports have also affected my self-concept in a good way. Throughout my life, sports have taught me to be a team player. To help the bigger cause instead of your personal accomplishments. Finally, I have been fortunate enough to have attended the schools I have went to, which have been rich in education. I have learned so much from school, in that it has made me a better person, and it has made my self-concept, attitudes, and behaviors on life better on the community. On the flip side, someone going to school in the inner city may have a totally different outlook on life, because the agents of socialization in their community is different. Nature and Nurture have a huge impact on children as they grow up to be adults in society.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Significance of Water in My Life

1.There are several unique examples of water in my life. Water is defined as culture and the way it affects our behaviors. An example of water in my life is school. I've gone to school my whole life, it surrounds me, and sometimes I don't notice it, because it's a daily routine. Just as culture surrounds us humans is to how water surrounds fish. The culture that we live in around the Stevenson area is to perform to your best abilities to achieve greatness. School affects my behavior greatly, because I take my grades seriously, as in other cultures, people may not care about there grades and just drop out of school, and get involved in crime. So different cultures around the globe view school differently. In the Stevenson High School District, your grades are the most important, and you are pressured to do well. If we do good enough in school, we will go to college. This is the college mindset in our culture, that everyone is going to leave high school and go straight to college, and become successful. This is the culture that we live in. But, in other cultures, their view on schooling is different than ours. For example, in some foreign countries, after a certain amount of years in school, you may just be thrown out into the real world either working a low paying job or joining the military, rather than going to college. As where in our culture, we go to college. School is a good example of water in my life, and depending on your culture, you will view the world differently.
2. As I am surrounded by water, I am able to navigate through water by looking at the different cultures around me, and studying their culture, and then trying to understand my culture. This is challenging, because when you look at your own culture and who you are, it is hard to figure out. This is because you are like a fish in the water trying to figure out the significance of water to you. Culture is a humans water. To behaviorally adjust to the cultural forces going around me, I stay open-minded to new ideas, but I also have to keep my morals in my mind and not go against them. I also think for myself and not let other people influence my decisions. I try new things, but if I do not agree with what I'm doing, then I won't do it again. An example of staying open-minded but not going against your morals would be if I was peer pressured into doing something illegal, and I was thinking of doing it, I am staying open minded. But if it is against my morals, which it would be because it is illegal, then I won't participate because I don't agree with it and its against my cultural behavior.
3. Personal values that I embrace are Education and Choice. I embrace education because it is the foundation to success. I have to stay in school and get good grades in order follow my career plan for the future. I also embrace choice because I am in control of my life. I can make any choices I want to to direct my life path. Both Education and Choice will lead me to happiness. An example of how I embrace Educaton is that I am planning on going to college, from getting good grades 1-12th, and trying me best. An example of how people embrace choice would be portrayed in the movie Tuesday's With Morrie. The main character(I forget his name-The Journalist) see's on the news that his college professor is dying from a disease. At first he is hesitant to see Morrie. But after his first visit, he is amazed by all the good talks him and Morrie will have to come. So therefore, because of the American value of choice, The Journalist was sad before he met up with Morrie, but when he finally took that first step to seeing him, he lived a happy life, and understood what life was all about because of Morrie's words of wisdom on life to him. The last example of choice is assisted suicide. It is hard to believe that in the world we are living in today, it is legal for a doctor to help kill you. So if I was faced with a decision like this I would decide to keep living unpeacefully because nothing beats life. I would not want to have someone help kill me, even if I would die more peacefully, because I don't want to take the easy way out. If my personal values are different than those of America's values, than I will adjust them through America's trends and traditions, so then my values may change over time, because I may change them here and there.