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Self-Reliance
After my mom got a job in Denver, she wanted to come and make sure everything was in place before bringing me over. While she was gone, I stayed with my aunt and uncle and cousins for about three months while I finished school. Although I wasn't alone, I felt like I had to look out for myself because the person closest to me that had always taken care of me was temporarily gone. -
Assimilation-Moved to U.S.A.
A few months after my eighth birthday i moved to Colorado from Mexico because my mom got a teaching job with Denver Public Schools. It wasn't too hard for me because i spoke fluent english since i had gone to a private bi-lingual school in Mexico. So, the language aspect wasn't difficult but what was new to me were the norms and the culture. For a long time, I felt a little different than everyone else just because it took time for me to compleately learn the "ways" of American culture. -
Ethnocentrism
After I moved here, something that really bothered me was how ethnocentristic everyone seemed to be. Always saying things like "We're the best country in the world," and "Everyone in the world should just learn english, it wouuld make things much easier." I understand nationalism, but sometimes it can be taken too far and make people sound like jerks or snobs. My first impression was that they are ignorant and narrow-minded. To this day, my opinion on ethnocentristic people hasn't changed. -
Status Symbol-Cars for the Lower Class
When my mom and I drive down to the other side of town, I always notice that the lower class have very nice cars. they may not have a very nice house or clothes and such, but is seems like it is important to them that they own flashy cars as if it is a crucial status symbol to them. -
Norms
In Mexico, it's normal to see people walking the streets late at night and catching a taxi. Here, it's very rare. I think that there are several reasons as to why. Here, almost everyone has a car, and there it's very cheap to take a taxi or just walk since everything is nearby. Also, I think that the weather has a lot to do with it because it is a lot warmer down there! I think that if there were people just walking outside here in Littleton, they would get weird looks because it's out of norms. -
Social Charachteristics- LOUD
I have always noticed that us Mexicans seem to be a lot louder than most other cultures. Whenever my family gets together, there is sure to be loud converstaions, music and dance. It is always very festive. It may be that this stands out to me because of how contrasting Mexican culture is to U.S. culture. It seems to me that people in the U.S are much more laid back and "politically correct," always trying to make everyone happy. In Mexico, people say what they think...no politically correct. -
Agents of Socialization-My First Job
In my life, adults have never really been "scary" to me. I feel comfortable approaching them. In school, most of my teachers treat me like a friend not a student and I don't see them as a "scary" authority figure. When I started at AE I was somewhat shy since i didn't know anyone. As the months went by, I grew more comfortable but soon learned that there are times that lines have to be drawn and that I cannot treat my bosses like my friends because to them that takes away their superiority. -
Conformity
a few months ago I was at a tutoring session and I heard a girl say that she was going to give up on Chemistry. She was saying that she was just going to fail the class and take chemistry principles as a semester course next year. I think this may have been not only because chemistry is hard, but because she felt like she could conform to the bare minimum because a lot of other people were as well. -
Deviance-Penny Pinchers
In sociology, we had to carry out an experiment to observe society's reaction to deviant behavior. My partner, Emily, and I thought that paying with pennies would be a simple yet deviant enought act to get good reactions out of people. We were right. When we paid with pennies, people gave us weird looks and just stared. -
Agents of Socialization- Media
By now,I had been with American Eagle for a long time.I learned that media can be used as a way to try and mold people into what they think they should be like,or look like. Working at AE, I saw the many ads that they put up around the stores,emphasizing certain looks. they even told us that we had to start wearing clothes that "reperesented the look" of the brand or else we wouldn't get as many hours.The media can defianately influence what you do because they make you feel self-conscious. -
Social Inequality-Stereotypes
Just the other day, a kid in my French class was talking about doing community service at a battered women's shelter. he said that they were mostly "my kind of people" referring to Mexicans. This just goes to show how people hold on to stereotypes. Some people may automatically assume that all Mexican are low class and trouble makers because of the big controversy with illegal immigrants in the United States, but until you meet an individual you shouldn't judje them because everyone is different -
Culture-Hard Work and Material Success: different defenitions
When I talk to my Dad, I notice that we disagree on what it means to be sucessfull. He thinks that sucess is having money and nice material posessions. I tend to think that sucess can be defined by happiness and if you are happy with yourself. I think that happiness is very important in life because that's what keeps you going. I would also define sucess by "doing the right thing" or a good deed that helped others. -
Socialization- I'm a behaviorist
I'm a behaviorist because i do beleive that people are the way that they are because of outside influences. People grow and change based on who they are around and how those influence them. I don't think that "nature" plays a big role in who a person is. For example. My cousin is nothing like the rest of the family and I think it may be because she is aroun her friends more than family and they are compleatley different than our family.
