Narrative Essay about Culture and How It Has Shaped Me

Culture is a word that can mean a lot of different things to many different people. It can mean a way of life or belief, from attitudes and values, to how you choose to celebrate different holidays, even to the kind of food that you eat. To me, culture is a place or group of people where the attitudes, values, and expectations are shared amongst all that either were born into or shared the same attitudes, values and expectations.  It is a word that carries a lot of weight and everybody has been a part of some culture that has shaped them, myself included. I have had a multitude of cultures to thank for shaping me into who I am today. The most influential cultures I have been a part of and had the biggest impact on me are the cultures of my family, school and the many activities I was a part of, and my home away from home, Camp Abe Lincoln.

In my home with my family, the culture was one of success, family, and supportiveness. In my home it was always expected to put your best foot forward in all that you do whether that be the smallest activity like cleaning your room, or how you perform on a test. My father always told me to take pride in my work and that if I cannot stand confidently by my work that I had done, that it was not enough. It wasn’t the pursuit of perfection, but rather of reaching as far as you can and doing as well as you possibly could. If that was done, the outcome was always enough for my family. My mother was always my biggest cheerleader as well, which I believe the rest of the family picked up from her as well, adding a new layer of supportiveness into what anybody was doing into my family’s culture. My family is also extremely competitive, even from when I was young. Whether it was a video game against my father, or a game of tag against my siblings we all wanted to win no matter what. This competitiveness is definitely part of my family’s culture that was passed down to me. I believe that a lot of this comes from my heritage of being German, as my grandfather is one hundred percent German and brought that attitude with him when he came to America. An important part of German culture is how we celebrate holidays. Getting the whole family together and celebrating with as much food and positive energy as possible. We would always take trips to places where my whole family could meet up so that way we could celebrate christmas, thanksgiving, and birthdays together. Christmas was always special in my family, we would get all of my mothers family together and enjoy some German food and songs to celebrate the holidays. The feelings I would get from seeing cousins, aunts, and uncles from these gatherings taught me the importance of making sure to keep in touch and see your family, no matter the distance. The importance of success, family and supportiveness are just a few examples of what I have picked up from one of the cultures I have been a part of. The next culture I was introduced to would show me many new meanings I long thought I had already figured out.

Another culture that helped shape me into who I am today is the culture of the schools that I went to as well as the clubs and activities I was involved in. I know it’s not a very typical place to consider a culture but hear me out. I had played sports for my whole life and the culture around school sports was very similar to the one that I had experienced in my home which is why I was drawn to them. However, I grew tired of the culture around football at my school and looked for other outlets to be a part of something and I eventually ended up in band. Immediately I could tell things were different than what I was accustomed to. In football, I never felt as if I were part of a group, but an individual expected to put in the work on my own to put my best foot forward for the game. There it was as if everybody was a part of a big family and welcomed me in my freshman year with open arms and warm smiles. They had no care for how good you were at playing your instrument or if you put in extra work, they were nice and welcoming regardless of all that. The culture was one of mutual respect and kindness to all. They were always supportive and accepting of whoever you were regardless of gender, sexuality, race or any other factors similar to those. I consider myself very lucky to have been a part of a culture like that as it changed the way I felt not only about myself, but all others around me as well, teaching me to accept others with a smile and zero judgement for almost anything. They also defined success in a very different light than what I had been accustomed to. In the music world, the pursuit of goals is not always defined by success , but rather growth from where you started to where you finished. That way of defining success led me to try many new things that I never thought I would, such as singing in shows, dancing, and tons of other options that I would have otherwise, and previously had, dismissed without a second thought.  It also introduced me to how it’s ok to be yourself and put the best version of yourself forward as it is your most authentic self. This alone has led numerous people, myself included, to lead a happier, more fulfilling life of being who you were rather than who somebody expected you to be. Not to mention the creativity, the culture around music is different than anything I have ever experienced. Creativity, confidence, and giving everything you have is the key when it comes to everything that you would do, whether that's singing, dancing, acting, playing your instrument, or even the way that you are talking to your peers. This was a new and refreshing culture to be a part of, however there is one more that I can say had an equally big impact on me, if not bigger.

The last, and quite possibly most important culture to me, is the one that I experienced at a summer camp by the name Camp Abe Lincoln. Camp Abe Lincoln is a YMCA run camp that is open year round that I would attend every single summer of my life until I eventually became a staff there as well. The culture of that camp is fairly simple. They prided themselves on four core values that, if you had and showed, would make you a more complete and better human. These four values are caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. As a camper in this camp it taught me many things from every age. When I was young and in elementary school I was a shy kid who was scared of his own shadow, but when I went to that camp every person I encountered was so kind and caring it made me feel safe and at home. That alone is something I picked up from that culture from a young age. It taught me to also never judge someone from how they dress, where they came from, or what they were interested in. Just because somebody was not the exact same as you doesn’t mean you couldn’t be friends with others. Being in an environment where I was to be with five to ten kids from every walk of life for a whole week taught me all those values. Not to mention this is the place where I was taught how to believe in myself and that if you push past your limits you will be amazed at what the outcome is. We had this 50 foot tall wooden tower that I was scared to death of. For a long time I never even considered getting close to that monster, but my peers and my counselors expressed belief in me and because of that, I got on that tower. Never got to the top but I was amazed that I even made it onto it in the first place. Putting your belief in others and pushing people to reach their max potential is something that I have felt and that I continue to practice in my daily life.  As I got older, I realized that the values I learned there when I was a child still apply to all that you do. I have always made an effort to put my faith in others to help them reach their potential in whatever they do, treat them with as much kindness and respect as possible, no matter the age. Whether you were the youngest person on site, or somebody who had been there for years it was no different. As I began to work there, I could see the change in how people would react from the beginning of the week to the end from those values. It was very rewarding to have put my faith and best foot forward for others and to see the positive growth and change from  anybody, whether it be a fellow counselor or any number of children that would be under my guidance for the week. The feeling of helping others in such an impactful way is something that was supported and encouraged by their own culture and it is something I carry with me every day I wake up. The culture was always to have anybody who showed up there leave as a better version of themselves and I cannot think of a more impactful or meaningful culture than that.

Overall, I truly believe that everybody is shaped by some culture that they become a part of. Cultures have such a unique effect to teach you new attitudes and beliefs just by being a part of them. In my case it was my family, school and the activities I took part in, and my second home at Camp Abe Lincoln. I am aware that my opinion on culture may be different than everybody else’s but culture is a word that carries a lot of weight. It means a lot of different things to many people, and the cultures I have been a part of certainly meant a lot to me.