Self-Awareness and Cultural and Linguistic Assets

Cultural and Linguistic AssetsMind Map

Traditions in my Community

Traditions in my Family

Who helps me understand my culture

What is important in my culture?

100%

When it comes to culture, a lot of it has to deal with the people you surround yourself with but also the envirnonment you grew up in!

Mi Familia

I grew up in a two-parent household with 3 siblings, making me one of the middle child. With the help of my two older sisters, I was able to have an easier trasntition from home to school unlike them. Since there was always that language barrier between my parents and schools, my sisters took care of the issue so they would not have worry if I was going to fit in with the rest of the kids at school. Throughout the years, I keep learning so much about who we are, my parents childhood, my OWN childhood and without a doubt will continue to do so.

Around the world exists so many cultures that we have yet to learn of and each one celebrates their unique traditions. Here are some but not limited to traditions that are celebrated in my community:

Traditions in my Community

• Sombrero Fest

This event is held to celebrate Mexican heritage between the two border cities, Brownsville and Matamoros It is usually a three day festival with music, business stands, food and drink booths where people can spend their evening. At the end of the night one artists gets to perform for the crowd.

• Charros Days

In correlation to Sombrero Fest, this is a two day event held the same weekend as the previous festival. It holds the same meaning as Sombrero Fest but instead of a festival it is a parade where schools, businesses, etc get to decorate their own float and have it showcased during the parade. The event is held downtown and the parade ends just a couple feet from one of the borders.

"The American Dream"

I come from a family where my parents sacrafised their life for their children's life to be better than theirs.

What do I know about my culture that is important?

I am a Mexican-American daughter who has always lived only a couple minutes away from the Mexican border. Whenever there is an opportunity given, I take it because not many of those appear from where I am. An example of this is college. My siblings and I are First Gen since our parents highest level of education was only middle school so we strive to one day graduate with a degree. We remain humble and if there is someone in need of assistence we go and help them. I think this is one of the most important things I have learned from my culture.

What traditions are important in my family

There are two types of traditions that are important to us:

• New Years Eve

Due to our religion, we do not celebrate any holidays besides our birthdays and New Years Eve. It wasn't until a couple years ago when we started to actually plan out the day of the event, and eveyr other factor you need to throw a "party." This is a significant event to us because it is the day everyone in our family spends together since every other day of the year we have schedules of our own. We have a nice dinner at our house, wait til the clock ticks to midnight and we open each other gifts. Although this tradition is for one night maybe even for a couple of hours it holds a special meaning to all of us.

• "Familia sobre todo"

A simple phrase or word can mean so much than to others and this is the case with the phrase above. Both my parents and siblings have been ina situation where they might feel as if there is no one ekse who will be able to help thembut we remind ourselves of this. Even if we are apart from each other, even if we have a huge age difference, even if we are upset at each other we have to keep in mind that we will be there for each other at the end of the day.