Hey Everyone!
Another week, another blog! I am so thrilled to share with you what I have learned this week of class. It has been an interesting topic and an eye-opener somehow to learn about social class and cultural diversity and how both can be related and have an impact on our families. I want to do a friendly reminder that we all come from different backgrounds, have been through different experiences, some of you might belong to different cultures that in the long run make you be who you are, and I love that. I firmly believe that we can all learn from each other and enlarge our knowledge by sharing insights in a respectful manner.
Each of our families encounters distinct experiences that may be influenced by social class or privileges and cultural diversity that sometimes can be visible or unseen. Understanding these influences can make us aware of the challenges and opportunities we are presented at various moments of our lives. Some of the influences that come from the social class are related to how we dress, the way we speak, or actions, our jobs, education. They all influence our families in a way or another. Social class is related also to socioeconomic status. Although is not the same for everyone, I can speak for myself and how in my own experience I have seen how social class has affected my family. I was not raised in the US; therefore, my experience varies in a different way from those people who were raised or born in the US. In the country I was raised I had great opportunities compared to my relatives from my extended family. In El Salvador, children with a good socioeconomic status are due that their parents in their majority-because there is always exceptions-were people who had attended college or had a job with a good income for their families hence the education they could afford for their children was greater than those who parents who did not have education more than High School. Being able to attend a private school in El Salvador is considered someone with privileges than those who attend a public school.
Another example that I can think of related to social class would be how they dress. I know this topic can be sensitive to many and I understand. I hope not to offend anyone with any of the comments I would make. The way we dress can be considered either higher or upper class. I remember when I was in my adolescent years my family did not have the socioeconomic status that we have now. We probably had fewer opportunities in many senses and one of them was the clothing that we could afford. I remember many of my friends buying brand clothes or brand shoes and, on many occasions, I would ask my parents why we could not afford those types of clothes so I could fit with my friends. See? Social class can affect our family experiences and how sometimes decide to act and the stages that we encounter them whereas cultural diversity as most of us-including myself-could think of cultural diversity as people from different countries, food that relate to its country, music, etc. In reality, culture is not always related to skin tone, language, or geography. Each family has its own culture that is created or shaped by different factors some of them could be grandparents' costumes, religious values, or even the affected by the community where we reside.
In my personal experience, I have never realized about my own family culture until I was exposed to other families culture. I was able to see how they did things differently as my family did. One example would be when I was serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I was able to meet families from a different country than mine and sometimes I was exposed to their food. Some food can be similar but it was not the same as I was used to. It was an eye-opener for me on how we are all different even though we speak the same native language, our families had some similarities I was able to see cultural diversity and I learned to love every moment I was exposed to something different than I was used to because helped me to grow and be more open to learning from other cultures and experiences that were different to the ones I was used to.
It is interesting to learn more about social class and cultural diversity. If you guys have some experiences or even different factors others than the ones I mentioned feel free to comment on them. I would like to hear from you. Have a great week!
Nahomy S.
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