Unfamiliarity, in the broadest sense, can evoke a feeling of fear or anxiety. However, my unique cultural upbringing has made me comfortable with unfamiliarity, and eager to embrace differences among people with compassion and tolerance. I am the product of a cultural infusion—I was born in the United Kingdom to an English father, but was influenced by the Turkish customs of my mother. While living in England, I grew up eating dinner on the floor, listening to Turkish music on the radio, and waking up to a poster of Kemal Ataturk. I spent every summer living in Turkey where I learned the language, saw the way different people lived, and became familiar with the practices of Islam. At 14 years old I was immersed in yet another culture when I …show more content…
moved to the United States. Even though the two countries speak the same language, the tremendous differences broadened my cultural knowledge. Adapting made me more mature, as it required me to be open to a novel way of life. Seeing the way other people live has made me naturally comfortable around those who are different to me, and this will serve as a valuable asset as a medical student at Stritch. Along with my unique upbringing, I will offer a keen sense of empathy to the class.
This sense of care was called upon when a woman grabbed my arm to ask “My dad is going to be ok isn’t he?” while I was scribing in the Good Samaritan hospital. The 78 year old father was suspected of having a heart attack, but I had to ease her worry. “Yes he is going to be okay. The doctor thinks he is having a heart attack, but…” and at that point she started crying. I took ahold of her hand, and gave it a warm squeeze. I knew, from when my mother had cancer, that the unknown outcome of a loved one evokes a horrible sense of worry and fear. She needed reassurance that her dad will be ok. While her tearful eyes looked at me, I comforted and stayed by her side until she stopped crying. The woman thanked me and hugged me tight. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I tried to put myself in her shoes to ease her worry and guilt. I believe my biggest asset is my openness and willingness to learn. There is a Buddhist concept called the ‘beginner’s mind’ in which one maintains a sense of openness and abandonment of preconceptions in order to learn as much as possible from a given situation. A beginner enters a moment knowing that he can learn a lot, but an expert has less opportunity because he thinks he knows it all. I work hard to always maintain a beginner’s mind, because I want to learn as much as possible in each
moment. My unique upbringing, sense of empathy, and willingness to learn will contribute to the diversity of Stritch School of Medicine.
I often ask myself, “Can I handle it?” I learned from other doctors that in order to provide the best care, a physician must be able to detach himself or herself from the patient; they say it would be better for both the doctor and the patient. But, with that kind of thinking, the doctor is not fully giving himself to the patient. So, is it right to not fully give oneself to care for the patient? Learning from Patrick Dismuke and those who loved him, it seemed that the hospital was able to care for him best by loving him. Nurse Kay, Patrick’s favorite nurse, not only answered his late night calls, but enjoyed talking with him. This always calmed Patrick down before and/or after surgery. Dr. Aceves was always optimistic and hopeful for the future of Patrick’s health, never giving up on him by pushing for surgery. He did this because he knew Patrick all 16 years and was emotionally attached to the boy, even though Patrick did not feel the same way. Thus, though I can understand that a physician must put a wall between himself or herself and the patient, there should still be a strong connection in which they would do anything for the patient’s comfort and
In such a multicultural world, being knowledgeable and understanding of not only your cultural background, but that of others is essential. Building my awareness on cultures different from my own, and how it shapes an individual’s identity, will foster my personal and professional development. Subsequently, I conducted a cultural interview with an individual whose cultural background differed from my own. Several similarities and differences between our cultures were apparent in the interview, specifically in the areas of race, ethnicity, language, values, and worldview.
Becoming aware of a culture supersedes the individual emotions you may experience in trying to understand how a group of people have become, through their own experience, different from the identity that you have attained from your own culture. “Cultural awareness is one being aware of their personal attitudes, beliefs, biases, and behaviors that may influence the type of care they are able to render in an environment.” (Mopraize)
That night I excitedly learned about my blood in Russia and Portugal. From my young middle school years to now, I love learning about foreign cultures especially in Asia and the Middle East. I would sit pondering what culture was my favorite and what one I felt I belonged to. Approaching high school I asked my teacher, “can you pick your culture?” standing in that vast classroom with maps plastered to the wall I learned a lot about myself. On the way home from school I reflected on my father’s morals and teachings, I loved what he preached. Although I know where I come from by blood, I feel the deepest comfort and joy practicing my father’s heritage.
Maybe it’s the fact that I tend to stay in my room all weekend, which leads to people thinking I’m studying when in reality I am probably binge watching a TV show or maybe it’s my glasses, but most people who don’t know me too well assume that I am smart. Now that is a great thing for me because I don’t have to try as hard to impress them, but I end up finding myself in a bit of a problem. The problem is that everyone thinks I enjoy admiring school textbooks. But the truth is I’m usually admiring my Justin Bieber poster on my bedroom wall. Ever since I was in sixth grade I’ve been a huge fan of Bieber. His music always brought a feeling of calmness and back in the day his “never say never” motto, was what I lived by. I might still be living by that motto because I’ve decided to write this essay
I feel I have a responsibility to act when I feel compelled by that knot in my stomach or a tug at my heart. Instead of ignoring the prompts, I want to take the time to reach out to those in need. The lesson here is simple: While empathizing with others is worthwhile, it is not truly valuable until action is taken in response.
I am an undocumented student at UC Davis. When I am asked a simple question such as, "describe your personal experiences", I ask myself: Where do I begin?
I feel like an outsider or an alien is something that is not native to where ever they are. An outsider to me is someone who doesn’t fit into any type of social group and has very little to no social contact.
Identity-“Ones personal qualities.”Identiy is something only he or she can fully define. My uncle says I am affectionate,cheerful, and calm. My grandmother sees me as slim, pretty and sweet. My dad described me as perky, cheerful and happy, my mom says beautiful, gentle, and self-conscious. These adjectives describe me accurately, yet they are only abstract versions of me. Adjectives cannot begin to describe me and I aknowlege these descriptions for what they are, a condensed translation from my outward self to the world. It is impossible for anyone to understand me completely because nobody has experienced the things I have. My mother has never cherished a raggedy doll named Katie and my father never spent hours upon hours making collages and scrap books for his future children. My uncle never hid in the back of a pick-up-truck and traveled four hours to New York and my grandmother has never walked hours in the rain looking for the Queen of England. My identity is something only I can define.
Some people like to stay in control of their life and avoid any amount of extraordinary risk to protect their self-disclosure. Other people don’t shy away from challenges as they are confident that certain obstacles are nothing more than just another thing standing in their way from living life to the fullest extent. Through personal experience, I’ve realized that personal comfort is nothing more than a variety of fears that limit me from challenging myself.
Within two days of my father's mothers death, there was a receiving of friends gathering at the Church on Tennessee's campus. At first it started off with just family members and close friends talking and comforting each other. My grandmothers passing was very tough on me and other members in my family but it hit my father the hardest. After several moments of catching up with family members the first of many people started piling into the Church. Many of my family's friends and loved ones of my grandmother began to make there way over to me and my father. Each person that greeted me would say the same thing. "I'm so sorry this happened to you Stokes. Your grandmother was an amazing woman and she will be deeply missed. She is in a better place now." I thanked all of these kind words while fighting back tears. One of the toughest parts of the evening was when the people inside the Church would offer their condolences to my father. "If there is anything you need, just let me know" was one of the more redundant and frequent sayings that were spoken to my father. Even though all of the condolences were worded differently, I noticed the same sound of hesitance and uncertainty the voices. All of the people who wanted to offer help to my father in this time of need, were unsure how to do so. I understand what the people must have even
At some point in our lives we experience a culture as an outsider by moving from one culture to another.In the world today there are so many different cultures and not one of them is found to be the same.Instead they all have something that makes them unique, whether its language or even the clothes they wear and their behavior as well.The differences they have is what separates them from one another and who ever joins that particular culture must get accustomed to their way of life.In the society today we have many people immigrating to the United States to start a new and better life but what they soon begin to realize is that it’s a whole new world out there and in order to survive they have to get accustomed to the new way of life which is much different from their lives before.
The ability to take each and every one of my experiences and attributes and use then to keep moving forward. Over the years I have watch myself confidence rise as a result of trying new things such a new career venues, succeeding at some and failing at other but learning from all them. Learning the importance of what matters most, my self-respect and pride that my family has in me for doing what’s right and ethical verse what I think or believe that someone expects of me. One of the most profound statement that I ever heard was told to me by one of my directors. She told me that the most valuable lesson she ever learned was that “People change! The things is…its people that don’t allow people to change and to recognize the change one has to fully present.” It is through these things that I was drawn to the career choice of Human Relations, to have the ability to be a part of something bigger than myself in the corporate world but yet have the compassion and ability to help others discover their own abilities and passions, within the structure of the work place is a challenge that I am looking forward to and know that it because of my past educational and work experiences and my ongoing educational and work opportunities. That I will continue to grow and mature daily both professionally and
Canvassing donations and searching through flotsam was laborious and tiring; I had pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone I found myself facing a new reality. What a relief it would have been to just foist the mother and her children off to that benevolent figment! Yet her sobs resonated in me, and I heard the sobbing of my mother, my aunt, my sister, and myself. Any of us could have been crying on that curb, waiting for someone to help. Her pain brought me face to face with my own misconception about sympathy. There is a difference, I realized, between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy is listening and walking away, pitying. Empathy is embracing others’ pain as if it were your own and acting on it. My belief on helping others was rooted in sympathy and, by extension, indolence and naiveté. In responding to this mother, I realized that helping others is a an unremitting
Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences.