My Family: A Cultural Analysis

Growing up, my parents never instilled the concept of culture in me. I was born and raised in Southern California with a half white half Guatemalan mother and a caucasian father. My grandparents did a better job at teaching me about my own culture. While my parents focused more on teaching me the sociofacts they wanted me to follow. Even though I still wouldn’t consider myself to have a strong sense of culture, my upbringing shaped the person that I am today. Over the years, I have become more aware of the views my family has on subjects such as religion, education and values, and how they passed them on to me. I never really put much thought into my own culture until I started elementary school and began to make friends with other kids who had different backgrounds than my own. Around the

I consider my cousins to be more like the siblings I never had. My aunts, uncles and grandparents are also very special to me, because they helped raise me. My grandma still has an extra guest bedroom set up that everyone refers to as the “kids room”. It earned this title because my cousin and I spent so many nights at our grandparents and that’s where we always slept. The room is complete with board games and even some stuffed animals that I played with when I was younger.

My grandparents definitely instilled the importance of being family-oriented in each member of my family. By making an effort to get the whole family together whenever we can, it strengthens our bond and keeps us close. When I have children one day, I will definitely do my best to pass on the importance of family. My dad and step-mom also do their best to keep our small immediate family close. Whenever i’m home, we have a social practice of always eating dinner together at the kitchen table and talking about our days. This tradition allows us to spend time together and talk even with our busy