For this paper, I have chosen to interview my dad, Lester Everitt, because we have several statuses, both ascribed and achieved, that vary. His ascribed statuses include that fact that he is a 66 year old, white male; these have contributed to his achieved status of completing some college, being married, and being currently retired. Although he is now retired, Lester served 20 years with the United States Air Force, which included several deployments during the Vietnam Conflict, and then worked for 25 years at the North Dakota State Penitentiary until various health issues forced him to retire. When Lester was asked about his “master status” or the one status he feels he is most often regarded as, he struggled to provide an answer. Upon further …show more content…
questioning, he admitted that since being forced to retire, he has struggled to find a new “identity” of sorts (role exit). He said that he now feels regarded as an elderly person, and while he realizes this sometimes is accompanied by a negative connation, he likes to think of himself as a knowledgeable person with many years’ worth of experience to offer advice from. As was to be expected, when Lester was asked how his ascribed and achieved statuses have shaped his experience, he struggled. Upon further prodding and after providing some examples from my own life, he admitted that his ascribed status of age and gender back in 1968 contributed heavily to his achieved status of Air Force member and eventually veteran. Back then, being a young male meant that you either willing joined a branch of the military or that it was a matter of time until you were drafted. Now, this shapes his interactions with others because he is respected by others because he proudly displays his veteran status on his car with decals and he jacket with a pin. He also feels as though the fact that he is married has shaped his life experiences and interactions with people. He mentioned that since we are in the midst of tax season that he often takes for granted the privileges of marriage such as the tax breaks, and the knowledge that if something were to happen to either him or his wife, they would be able to be at the others side in the hospital. He said that he has also taken for granted always having someone to attend events together, you always have a dance partner at weddings, and there was always someone else to go out to eat with or to a movie. While Lester feels as though these achieved statuses of being an Air Force veteran and married have provided him with certain privileges in society, he also feels as though his achieved statuses of age and disability have provided him with some disadvantages. When his was overseas during the Vietnam Conflict, his shoulder was injured and was never able to be repairs 2to its previous state, he also suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his time in the Air Force. In addition to these disabilities, as he has aged, he has gotten considerable weaker. He feels as though this is a disadvantage because sometimes he must find a wheel-chair when we are out and about or find somewhere to sit down because he cannot physically keep up with his children anymore. He acknowledged that he knows we are understanding and do our best to slow down and help him, but that he is mentally discouraged that his body no longer allows him to do the things he wants to. While my dad and I are fairly similar, we do possess different statuses in society.
My ascribed statuses include the fact that I am a 19 year old, white female. My achieved statuses included the fact that I am in college working toward a degree, I work as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in a nursing home, and that my marital status is single. Currently, my master/dominant status is that I am a Student at the University of North Dakota. I believe this is currently my master status because whenever anybody asks about what I have been up to, the answer is usually school; family members, friends, and acquaintances are usually interested in where I am going to school at and what I intend to major …show more content…
in. My statuses have shaped my experiences by allowing me opportunities that I would not have had otherwise. For example, if I would not have grown up in a comfortable middle class family I may not have been able to participate in certain school trips that I did. I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C, Illinois, New York City, and several other trips around North Dakota/Minnesota throughout high school. I also feel as though my experiences have been shaped by my age. On several occasions, I have been denied certain experiences due to my age at the time. The older I get, the less often this happens, but I still have several memories of not being able to attend certain events because I was not old enough. I have also had some experiences working in the nursing home that have been shaped due to my age. Since I work almost exclusively with the elderly population, sometimes their attitudes toward the younger generation are not the greatest. I have had several residents refuse to have cares done by me, simply because I am a “young girl”. Fortunately, once these residents get to know me better they realize that I am capable of giving quality care even though I may be much younger than them. In addition to age, I feel as though my experiences have also been shaped by my gender. Also while working in the nursing home, nobody has ever refused care from me because I am a female, but it happens all the time for male CNAs. This allows me to never have to question if I am allowed to give care to somebody. I believe this happens because females are socialized to be caring and nurturing. My gender has also given me certain disadvantages in my experiences. These disadvantages include being subject to the “pink tax” and the “tampon tax” on necessary hygiene products. For example, when shopping for shaving products, you can have the same razor but one from the men’s section and one from the woman’s section. The woman’s will cost at least two-to-three dollars more simply because it is pink or another pretty feminine color. The tampon tax is also unfairly geared toward a certain gender. Men, usually have no need to purchase tampons, but women must do so fairly often and not by choice. When women must purchase these products, they are subject to an extra tax that men will vary rarely ever contribute too. I feel as though my socioeconomic status, my age, and my gender have shaped my experiences. Overall, I feel like it was easy to relate to my dad during this interview.
This may be due to the fact that we share several statuses and that I have known him for all of my life, so I have seen firsthand some of his experiences. But, I feel like this may contribute to a bias, because my dad would be less willing to share certain experiences because it would go beyond our regular father-daughter relationship. I also have certain expectations of my dad, so I would be more likely to gloss over things that may be unflattering but dive into things that portray him as a strong man. This is shown in the things that I chose to focus on when I talk about my dad, such as his gender, military experience, and age/retirement, are relevant and of interest to me; but I chose not to question his marital status or sexuality because I feel as though that would be inappropriate, but if I had questioned a friend, these questions would have been fair
game.
In 2010 author Andre Dubus III had an excerpt published called “My Father Was a Writer”. The author writes about how his father who was a Marine and how life was as a military family. Eventually the stresses of being a Marine took its toll on the relationship between his father and the family. In 1963, the author’s grandfather passed away and not long after his father retired from The Marines and traveled down a new path and was accepted into Iowa Writers’ Workshop. As time went by the father’s life began to change. From hugging and kissing his wife to letting his appearance change from clean cut and shaved to growing his hair and having a mustache. Showing the author and his siblings more attention from sitting with them at night just to tell
A person’s occupation is what fundamentally determines, what sociologists call, their master status. When a person is asked what they do they will often tell you their master status. For instance, a student, a stay at home mom, or a doctor are all examples of master statuses. In sociology we are taught that a person’s occupation, or master status, is what essentially defines that individual. It becomes their identity and effects every aspect of their life.
At first, I had a hard time trying to find an older person to interview, because I did not want to interview my family since I’ve lived with them my whole life. While I was getting ready to interview my friend’s parent, I started reading the questions to myself, and I realized that I do not know the answer to them if I ask my parents. I chose to interview my mother because I have never sat down with her and have a serious deep conversation with her. I realized that I am closer to her than my father, but I’m not as close as I thought I was with her, and it broke my heart when I finally realized that. At the age she is, I finally realized that I have been taking advantage of her and I refused to live this way with her. This interview was emotional for both of us, and it also brought us closer to each other. I am so grateful and happy I did this interview with her.
From a young age, I was very curious. Curiosity caused my mind to see everything from a different perspective than most. I saw what could be improved and how I could improve. For example, when it came to editing movies, I was always able to see what could how it could have been better or I questioned how they had created it. My curiosity led me to try many different activities throughout high school, such as film camps, stage managing for plays, yearbook, and even creating videos for Rochester High School’s awards day. Finally, my junior year, I decided it was time I made films of my own for competitions. I wanted to have something that I could call my own. When it came to the two films I did for contests, I was there throughout the whole process.
Privilege, Power, and Difference. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print. The. Obama, Barack. Dreams from my Father.
In short, I am establishing the breaking of a dysfunctional cycle for the men in my family. I been among the homeless, the Working poor, and the Middle-Class, as such I am not accepting a class distinction. No, I am challenging it. I am a loving and supportive father and son. I have overcome my own handicaps in order to achieve moderate success and continue to advance. I have traveled the spectrum of social mobility going up and down the ranks. In conclusion I am a better-rounded, critically thinking individual that doesn’t the best that he can to support his family ties and instill healthy traditions by highlighting my own life as an example for those that follow. (TCO 3 & 5)
For my project, I interviewed many different people of all different ages. My Grandpa, Vern, born in 1942, remembers most of the cold war. Our family friend, Terry Markuly, was born in 1950 and she also remembers most of the Cold War events. My Uncle and my Mom, both born in 1967, do not remember many of the big Cold War events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, but they still have memories of the events that they were alive for. Vern lived in Wisconsin for the entire war and still lives there to this day and my Mom also lived in Wisconsin for the entire war, except for two brief periods right after the war where she lived near Berlin. Both Terry and my Uncle also resided in the Midwest for most of the war, but Terry lived in St. Louis, Missouri and my Uncle lived in Indiana. Their experiences were different with each event and place but there were also many similarities among their experiences.
“Mauricio Mauricio wake up” my aunt shouted. “you have a new brother!” my aunt scream. I woke up and half of my face is covered by the shiny sun on my face and the other side I see my aunt. I was excited because my newborn brother was born and he was at the hospital with my mom and dad. I was at my aunt's house and I was walking all over the place and wanted to see my brother already. I heard the sound of the keys shaking and heard someone saying “let's go”! It was my aunt waiting for me in front the door to take me to the hospital. I shut the door from the car and could hear my footsteps of all the fast running.
My Brother - Personal Narrative My brother is the most influential person in my life. His name is
After all the seven interviews, the interviews that impacted me the most are my grandpa’s, Mr. Huy Dinh’s, and Andy McTigue’s. My grandpa’s interview impacted me because he showed me how I had to respect and that I had to obey elders. When my grandpa was in the car, he told me, “ I’m just so happy that you are such a good grandchild and that I’m happy that you were able to survive.” “ I’m happy that you were able to become the child who are so I’m thankful that you are raised well.” And I started to cry and so did my grandpa. Mr. Huy Dinh’s interview impacted me because he showed me how you should really love and care for your parents because they are not going to live forever therefore, you have to make them feel like they had the best life
I never talked to him on a deeper level like I would would with with my mother. My father was always there for me if I ever needed anything. However, he never made any effort to speak to me about sensitive situations. If something that was a touchy subject, he would act awkward and try to avoid the conversation. My dad is a great man, who loves, cares, and would do anything for me. He just does not know how to communicate and speak about things that create a bond between us, the way my mother does.
Throughout my academic journey, I have been asked, “who I am” by a multitude of individuals (e.g. colleagues, professors, and complete strangers), and in response I have said that I am the summation of my experiences. At my core I am a family oriented individual as it is my family who has given me strength and positive qualities of working in a network throughout my academic journey. I am a first generation Mexican male college student, who began his academic journey at East Los Angeles College in remedial Math and English courses to surpass low expectations surrounding individuals had to transferring to a 4-year university with honors. I find myself as a mentor and role model to students at my community college of origin being apart of Puente, EOP&S, and the FYE program at ELAC. I am an i3 Scholar from the University of Pittsburgh, Information Science department through the i3 program, which allowed me the opportunity to not only conduct research with individuals across the United States but present set research in Berlin, Germany. I find myself privilege being UC Berkeley Alumni, as it was during my time at Berkeley that allowed me to first introduce to the counseling profession as a Peer Mentor and have my worldly views be challenge through Sociology course work and classmates. I see my self identifying as a
I was born into a lower class family. My father was working class until his diabetes became out of control and due to complications was unable to hold a job. He had no health insurance, didn’t qualify for public assistance because be owned two inoperable vehicles. I wasn’t aware we were lower class due to the tribe we socialized with. Our church was a huge part of our life. It was within walking distance and many people of similar class socialized together. It wasn’t until my older brother and I reached the legal age to hold a job and drive did our family rise out of the lower class. It was a family effort to move up in the ladder. Eventually my dad received health insurance and was able to manage his diabetes. He began his own business and was able to support us. I don’t think I realized my class station until I attended college for the first time. Moving out of the town I grew up in and then returning was when I realized how poor our area was. My hometown looked completely different, when in reality it was just a change in perspective. Having a new car for the first time, attending college, and working somewhere other than a local restaurant contributed in my awareness of social class. Upon getting married I immediately moved to upper working class, always on the border of being middle class, Our families desire is to provide for my daughter things that we weren’t afforded as children. This contributed mainly to my decision to return to college. I want to advance in my career field and be able to provide my daughter with an education that I wasn’t given. This one right as a woman has contributed to my family’s success of moving up the ladder and staying there.
“The team is a body when one part of the body fails to complete its task the entire body suffers.” That's exactly what my father told my entire basketball team before one of our biggest basketball games was about to begin. My father was my first coach and he always preached accountability and being a man of character. Those words he spoke to me had such a strong impact on my life. Going to practice day in and day out was tough; however, once I recognized that I wasn’t just playing for myself it made the hassle more bearable. Having my father as my coach had its pros and cons, I enjoyed the idea of my Dad being the coach; it was cool and provided many hours of bonding. Though the downside was that it always seemed to be more personal when