Running Head: PERSONAL CULTURAL PROJECT 1

Personal Cultural Project

Alanna E McCarthy

College of Southern Nevada

Abstract

This paper explores the ethnic and cultural background of my family and who I identify myself

as. It will discuss my religion and my family life. In addition, this will discuss what has shaped

me as a person including my life experiences, interests, hobbies, and skills. Lastly, this summary

will illustrate how I think as a person and how I see the world through what I choose to follow

and believe.

Personal Cultural Project

My Cultural Belonging

I am a little bit of everything. I am a female. According to my ethnic background I am

Irish, Polish, German, French, Danish, English, and Scottish. Culturally I define myself as

American. I was born and raised in America and so were both of my parents. The only language

that I have known with my family is English. During elementary school I was taught Spanish

from kindergarten to fifth grade but since no one at home spoke it and I never had anyone to talk

to in that language it is no longer apart of my life. English is and will always be my first

language but Spanish can come and go as a second. I am a citizen of the United States of

America, and I have never been to another country.

In my family I have my mom and dad, my younger brother, my parents siblings and my

parents parents. I have grown up with my cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents in my life.

They have been the biggest influences on my outlook of life. In my family Christmas and Easter

are the biggest celebrations because my parents are very religious. But surprisingly St. Patricks

Day is very big because I am Irish. Every year for St. Patricks Day the family will gather and we

will have a huge traditional Irish meal. The minor holidays are Thanksgiving, Halloween, and

any other holiday throughout the year. The religious holidays are always practiced. My family is

LDS, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is what my mom grew up with

around the house with her grandmother. Later on in life my dad converted as well. I was baptized

when I was eight years old and I went to church every Sunday.

Life Experiences
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The first life experience that shaped me as a person is the passing of my grandfather. I

was raised by my grandparents for the most part of my early years because my parents were

always at work. He passed away during my first grade year. This is what made me realize that

tragedy does happen; I was just never surrounded by it. This gave me the mentality to value life

and to cry for a long time.

A challenge that I have always faced was asthma. It runs in the family, I have had it since

a young age. At one point it was so bad that in elementary school I used to have to carry my

inhaler around my neck because I would have asthma attacks about two to three times just in one

school day. Wearing the inhaler around my neck it caused me to be bullied but it also saved my

life many times, especially when I needed someone else to help me get to it. This taught me to

rely on people when you are in need. I can not do everything in life, that is simply impossible.

I was born into the technological era. I am surrounded by smart devices, this has influenced me

because I have always been around computers and phones. It has helped with my knowledge of

technology but in a way it has also made it harder to communicate. Everything is done

electronically and never verbally. I am always nervous to speak up or say anything to someone in

person but I could tell someone my whole life story through a text or message.

I was born and raised in Las Vegas. This is the only city that I know, this has given me the

knowledge to meet other people from various cultural backgrounds and to accept them without

question because everyone is different in Vegas. Being born and raised I did receive a Vegas

education, but my education was as good as I could have asked for. My elementary school was

an amazing one where I was able to learn English and Spanish all in one school day. The
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teachers were phenomenal and inspired me to go into schooling to be a teacher myself. My

middle school years were at just a regular public school. It was not until high school where I got

to expand. I went to the Las Vegas Academy of the Performing Arts where I got to expand on my

musical talents. This established my hobbies and what I did for fun. I perform and I love it.

While in high school I was cast in one musical, Rent, I had a role in the ensemble and as the

producer Alexi Darling. The experience of being in the musical was incredible. I was able to

work alongside Broadway legend Freddie Walker Brown. I wanted to be in the play for the fun

of finally being in a play. Even though it was fun I gained an understand and sympathy for what

the musical is really about underneath. It is the Aids epidemic in the nineties and how everyone

was passing away. It made me realize how short life can really be and the horrors of what is

around me everyday but that I have gone blind to it. This experience was the eye-opening

experience of my life.

Since a young age I have always been influenced by music. At five years old I joined a

performing arts group called Talent Team and I have been on stage since. I am a singer, actor,

dancer, and musician. This is what I do for fun and it is also a talent of mine. My one hobby that

I have kept over the years is my sticker collection. My mother gave me her sticker collection

when I was eight years old. Now I have around ten thousand stickers to that collection.

My Worldview

I was raised in the LDS church but it is not a standard that I live by. My personal code of

conduct is that whatever happens, happens for a reason. I always try to trust my gut while
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making my choices in life. My parents are very strict in the LDS religion and base their life off

of those standards. The Bible guides them and they feel that Jesus Christ will guide their life.

My longterm goal is to be an elementary school teacher, private music coach, and to be a

performer on the strip. My short term goals include finishing the current TV series that I am

watching on Netflix, finishing this semester of college, and finishing this project.

I honor friendship, honesty, humility, loyalty, patience, and compassion. These are all the

principles that are important to me. My friends are big in my life, they are my supporters and I

support them. I always make sure that they are happy and have everything that they need. I do

not appreciate liars. I strongly believe that honesty is the best policy. Humility is what keeps me

centered. I would rather do a good job and thank myself for it rather than boast about it. Loyalty

is what makes healthy relationships. You have to always be loyal for anyone to trust you.

Patience is key in life. Things will not always go your way and you do have to wait sometimes

for what you want. I struggle with patience sometimes when I really want something but I have

to remind myself that great things will come in time. And compassion is a human instinct, I

instantly care and show compassion to what a person has to say or feels.