Reflective Essay On Anthropology

If someone was to ask me what anthropology was, prior to this assignment, I would have probably taken an educated guess such as “the study of life”. In a sense that is correct but not entirely accurate. Anthropology is defined as, “The study of human kind in all times and places” (Haviland, Prins, McBride, & Walrath, 2017). After an extensive analyzation of my experiences, I concluded that I don’t practice anthropology in my life enough. In addition, I discovered that my life doesn’t have much diversity in it. With that said, I am moving forward with an open mind towards new cultures and am eager to learn more about the people that make up this planet. I grew up in a town with less than thirty thousand people. Most the population being White/Caucasian and a small population of Hispanics. An obvious observation would be that my hometown doesn’t consist of a variety of cultures. With that, I grew up with an ethnocentric mindset. As I have grown up, I have learned that by being open minded to other cultures means that I can become more educated and expand my experiences. By carrying this mindset with me wherever I go, I can comfortably let my guard down and be willing to have a different perspective on life in general. As well as educate myself on the variety of cultures that make up our population. After reflecting on my past, I observed that I grew up in an enculturated environment. I never questioned my parent’s ways of doing things. In addition, I trusted that my parents