Cultural Items of Personal Significance? A Hypothetical Scenario.

Nadiyah Taylor, faculty member of the Early Childhood Development Faculty at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA, (Laureate Education Inc., 2011) suggests that everything an individual does is related to culture- what we say, what we think, what we value, what we eat and how we eat it, what we wear and how we wear it, even how we sleep and go to the bathroom are all defined by culture.  For the purpose of this discussion an individual’s culture is defined by the individual’s environment as well as the relationships and experiences the individual encounters within that environment.   One possible way of defining an individual’s culture is through the symbols and objects the individual chooses to represent the important aspects of their personal identity.  What symbols or objects does one choose to represent the most important aspects of one’s own culture?

Our assignment for this week presents a “what if” scenario:  “Consider that a major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.  You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event… You are told that you are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently… you can only take 3 small items with you… You decide to take three items… that represent your family culture”  (Walden University, 2012).

After being assured that the needs of basic survival will be met, I would simply take photos of my children.  Although there are many objects and symbols that represent my personal identity and family culture, I would not feel it practical to take them given this precarious scenario.  Therefore, I would simply take the photos of my children.  The rest of my personal identity and family culture is within myself.  Any symbolic recreation of that I feel confident I could create anew in my family’s new location.  If I could only bring in one item, I would choose a photo that represented my girls and myself together.  The decision to bring only a photo of my family is reflective of who I am as a person and what I think is important… that being my family, which in this scenario will be with me.  In the case of such a catastrophic event my practical and pragmatic side would surface, guiding my decisions in such a way as to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my children.  Adapting to the new culture would become the priority, reinventing the culture I left behind would be secondary and come after some amount of stability had been achieved in the new environment.

Nadiyah Taylor, faculty member of the Early Childhood Development Faculty at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA, (Laureate Education Inc., 2011) suggests that everything an individual does is related to culture- what we say, what we think, what we value, what we eat and how we eat, what we wear and how we wear it, even how we sleep and go to the bathroom are all defined by culture.  For the purpose of this discussion an individual’s culture is defined by the individual’s environment as well as the relationships and experiences the individual encounters within that environment.   One possible way of defining an individual’s culture is through the symbols and objects the individual chooses to represent the important aspects of their personal identity.  What symbols or objects does one choose to represent the most important aspects of one’s own culture?

Our assignment for this week presents a “what if” scenario:  “Consider that a major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country.  The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees.  You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event… You are told that you are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently… you can only take 3 small items with you… You decide to take three items… that represent your family culture”  (Walden University, 2012).

After being assured that the needs of basic survival will be met, I would simply take photos of my children.  Although there are many objects and symbols that represent my personal identity and family culture, I would not feel it practical to take them given this precarious scenario.  Therefore, I would simply take the photos of my children.  The rest of my personal identity and family culture is within myself.  Any symbolic recreation of that I feel confident I could create anew in my family’s new location.  If I could only bring in one item, I would choose a photo that represented my girls and myself together.  The decision to bring only a photo of my family is reflective of who I am as a person and what I think is important… that being my family, which in this scenario will be with me.  In the case of such a catastrophic event my practical and pragmatic side would surface, guiding my decisions in such a way as to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my children.  Adapting to the new culture would become the priority, reinventing the culture I left behind would be secondary and come after some amount of stability had been achieved in the new environment.