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I was born and raised in the city of San Antonio, and although both of my parents were born American citizens, both sets of my grandparents were Mexican immigrants. My parent each grew up on loving, comfortable households, but my grandparents would tell my siblings and I countless stories of the things they endured while attempting to build a life here in the United States. It was from their stories, traditions, and love that I derived an understanding and appreciating for my family's deep Mexican heritage. The way I was raised and who I was raised by have molded me into the man I am today, and through exploring and experiencing my own culture, I have learned to embrace diversity and learn about where those around me come from.

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My culture is that of typical Mexican-Americans. Very family oriented and outgoing. I was raised by a single mother, and that taught me to be a little compassionate towards others cause my mom was a very giving person. She always wanted to help and I feel I am the same way. Traditional values were instilled in me, especially hard work, but I am trying to become more open minded to things now that I am older and wanting to pursue a career in teaching.

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I think this a good question to reflect on. I have come to realize that things like respect in my household were definitely much more important compared to many people. I grew up in the church and always went to diverse schools. Those are always things I now realize have had an effect on me. Especially when it comes to hearing different peoples perspectives on everything in life. I went to a school that most of the people there parents had more money than mine. But my parents were both the first to go to college in both there families. So compared to a lot of my family we did a lot better financially. Having both those perspectives while in high school really makes you appreciate things but also want to do more. That stuff made working after school to serve my classmates at fast food restaurants easier with that. Little things like that stick out to me till this day.

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My background seems normal where I come from. I was born and raised in Brownsville Texas just across the border from Mexico and I grew up in a household with a sibling to be with since we were only eighteen months apart. I am Mexican-American with my skin color and features being "Mexican." The cool part about moving to San Antonio is a lot of the culture is Mexican and it kind of feels like a bigger Brownsville. My identity hasn't affected me as some others have but I know when I go out of town or go to the "white" side of town I get a lot of looks but I haven't been discriminated in front of my face. My mom and dad have always wanted the best for me and I have faced challenges in my life from when my grandpa past away to missing rent, to breaking up with my girlfriend of six years. But I love my culture and I am proud of who I am and I cannot wait to spread my culture and share it with everyone!

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My culture is not the same as everyone else's mexican family as my family does different things from my girlfriends mexican family and there are things that we do that they think is weird. For example, my family loved to eat chicken soup with bananas and yes that may sound weird but it just something we do and my girlfriend thinks its extremely wrong. What my culture has taught me is really different from other cultures and it gives a new meaning to being different from other people and I take that wholeheartedly as I am proud of my culutre.

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I was born in a sheltered military family, but my family left the military when I was young. Despite this, many family friends were military, and was a common worldview I experienced. My household was also a conservative one. I make this statement separately to make it clear to my ex-military classmates that I am not connecting the two or the values of my family as connected to their military background. I only make this clear because it was part of my upbringing and affects me today.

My Dad often stated he wasn't on either side, but I remember lots of complaints thrown at Democrats and remarks made about Obama that would quickly be followed by "don't say this outside the house." My Mom was a lot more open about all of this and made it clear she was not a fan of the left side of the isle. Due to my sheltered upbringing, I did not have many chances to expand my worldview and ideals, and felt a sense of a renaissance upon reaching college as the views my family instilled in me were challenged.

I mention all of this because the mental renaissance I experienced influences my views as a teacher greatly. I want to make my students uncomfortable with ideas that may challenge them because they will experience this when they leave the classroom. I want them to be prepared to handle this, to discuss it, and to accept or deny new ideas. This way, when students enter the real world, they know how to navigate this and don't feel the same shock a sheltered military kid did upon leaving the bubble his parents made for him.

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I grew up in the early 80's, a time when black people were still very much looked at or treated in a negative and inferior way. The schools that I attended or places that I grew up in were clearly defined by race, mainly white and black. I had plenty of teachers that made me feel as if I had no real place in this world. In our school, every African American child was automatically placed in a special reading class. I never thought about this until I started going through the teacher certification courses years later. I can not recall ever taking a placement test or anything. When I had my own children, I started to ask questions about recommendations concerning my children in school. Today, I have learn so much, about how culture plays a big role in the schools. I have also learn that it is important to seek what each child is bringing to the classroom. This will keep me as a teacher from excluding students because of limitations.

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I was raised in single parent household. I would say this did have a impact on me but not exactly in a bad way. It feel my upbringing gave me a appreciation for everything I have in my life. I still was able to participate in different activities growing up. And honestly feel like i did not miss out on anything growing up.

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I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Thankfully I was raised and went to great schools that embraced all cultures. El Paso is predominately hispanic, so most of my teachers and students were hispanic. The schools I attended hosted events that promoted other cultures, such as Black History month. This gave us the opportunity to learn about other cultures and develop a sense of respect and appreciation.

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Culturally I have grown up in what I would consider a traditional American household. The only major differences from an average household for me is the fact that my dad is in a wheel chair. This has shaped my view of the world differently as dad was never interested in sports I never gained that interest either. Instead as someone in a wheel dad encouraged a culture of reading and research and investigation on topics that still largely affects how I view the world to this day. In therms of teachers I have noting of note I always felt that most of them cared about my interest in the topics.

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I'm a first gen immigrant so the culture I was raised in might be different from others. I often struggle with my identity because here in the US I'm not American enough and in Mexico I'm not Mexican enough, so it's a constant back and forth trying to prove myself to two different cultures. I think this struggle and the experiences I've lived so far have really affected and influenced who I am today. I think a lot about students who have recently moved to the US and automatically feel a connection to them because in a way I know what it feels like. I hope to use these experiences in my own classroom once I become a teacher.

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I was raised by my single mother who worked full time while taking care of my handicapped grandmother. I would not say that my life was "rough" growing up, but I know it made things challenging for my mom. She wanted to make sure I did well in school, participated in extra-curricular activities to boost my college applications, and my grandmother was in good hands. At first we had lived in a trailer house in Brownsville until she was able to find a home for us in San Benito, but we were always the "white" house in the neighborhoods. I often got teased in school for being the guera and tried fitting in as much as I could with my classmates. I know it is assumed I am privileged, however, the circumstances I have faced in life have helped me to become the individual I am today. I am always appreciative for what people do for me and want to be the advocate for my students who have also encountered what I have. Having gone through what I went through growing up as an educator I will do my absolute best to be culturally aware of my students in order to make them feel seen, heard, and appreciated.

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The culture I was raised in is very weird and I believe it did affect me to a certain extent. I moved around a lot in elementary thru high school. I would say I went to 12 different schools total from k-12, but one thing stayed constant, I did keep 3 other friends that help me see people and society in a different way. 2 of my friends were AA and the other was a white kid living in a predominantly AA neighborhood. They gave me different perspectives I would have not seen living in a completely different part of town.

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I was raised in a traditional Mexican household with a large family. My mom was a housewife who would cook for my dad and my dad was the breadwinner. Now that I'm older, I've made it a point to shy away from the cultural expectation to be in the same position as my mom and instead become independent. Growing up in big family has also instilled in me how important family is and I want to be able to have a big family of my own when the time is right. When I do have my own family, I want to continue to practice traditional Mexican customs, such as hosting big family get togethers, but I want to make it a point to teach my kids to be their own person and not have to depend on anybody.