My culture, my personality
Every human being has complex mental and emotional characteristics that make them unique from other human beings. The unique characteristic s includes patterns of thought and emotions that cause us to do things in a certain manner. These characteristics are expressed by our moods, tone, beliefs, expectations, and values. These characteristics are known as personality (Dennis 7). Heredity and culture are the two basic factors that shape personality.
A person inherits certain qualities from his/her parent, and in turn, these qualities shape who we are. These qualities are inborn. A person may also acquire certain characteristics from the cultural environment and socialization that they grow up in. just like in the case of heredity these culturally acquired characteristics shape us significantly (Watson 10). This essay will highlight how cultural socializing has shaped me as a person and how that has affected my world view.
I grew up in a busy and densely populated rural area. Having been brought up by parents who were teachers, I learned from a very early age how to be obedient, humble, and respectful to God and the authorities. Outside the family setup, I had to compete almost for everything with other boys. This kind of culture influences a lot of aggressiveness and exertion to survive in a group (Simmons 23). There were so many boys such that at playtimes we had to be in the field of play well in time to gain a place in the team. During the game, one had to do their best to be useful to the team, failure to which one had to be replaced.
We played so many games, but soccer was more popular with the boys. It was a game where masterly of ball artistry skills was revered. The boy with the best skills was respected and always found a ready place in the team. So we had to practice during our free time to impress our mates. It was the beginning of my love e affaire with soccer, which runs to date. Today, most people who have interacted with me confirm that I am an aggressive person who gets things done.
In my previous employment, I was in charge of other co-curricular projects such as preparing school teams for competition, sorting out small matters both in and out of school, and acted as an assistant administrator. This acquired aggressiveness has propelled me to such positions.
I enrolled in nursery school at the proper age of 6 years. I was put in the senior class because of my potential. ‘Children are not responsible (and self-reliant) by nature. It’s something they have to learn…’ (Pantley 19). My teachers started creating an environment conducive for all of us to learn how to be responsible and self-reliant. The punishment was meted out for any exhibiting the slightest irresponsible behavior, coming late to school, not completing homework assignments, and staying idle during playtime.
In lower primary school, our teacher punished us thoroughly for refusing to learn the multiplication table. At this level, we took the responsibility of cramming the multiplication table to avoid punishment. This early learning is what taught me to be self-reliant in my academic pursuit, so much that I had to personally put a lot of effort to qualify to join a public university, a no mean feat by that time.
By the time I was in upper primary school, I had matured as a responsible boy who could take on bigger responsibilities. Coupled with my good academic results and a respectful attitude, I rated highly with both the teachers and students; students because I could organize football matches, and I was also approachable to help them to do assignments, teachers because of my grades. I was, therefore, made the class prefect, a position I held up to standard eight. In the church, I was made the Captain of the Boys Brigade because ‘Leadership is a (culturally) acquired skill (Jago 1982). This acquired personality has continued to youthhood and adulthood, where I have held several leadership positions in secondary school, at the university, and workplace.
Despite the competition among us to perform, group activities were inevitable. Such activities as playing in a team, assisting my sibling, to accomplish a joint household chore, helping my colleagues with assignments, slowly molded me to be a team player. I learned the art of helping and collaborating with others to accomplish group tasks. Nowhere was this more applicable than in high school.
It was my beginning to learn that working with others ‘allows members to achieve results far beyond their individual abilities’ (AbiSamra 3). We formed an eight-man study group to study and revise together. As a result, we were all admitted to the university. Group work made learning at the university easier. In my first job as a teacher, I found it easier to collaborate with other teachers to achieve set objectives. Therefore my acquired collaborative skills have helped me progress further in life.
Running a group activity is not an easy task. It is because a group is made up of diverse individuals with diverse attitudes and capabilities. From an early age, the environment taught us to appreciate the diversity in our talent and abilities and employ those talents in arrears we are best suited for the benefit of the group. While playing football, I learned that all of us were gifted to play in different positions. Some were good at scoring, others in defending, and others in goalkeeping. Every time we formed a team, each one of us was given a position according to his ability. I functioned better in the team as either a goalkeeper or a right-sided defender.
In high school group learning, each of the eight group members was gifted in a different subject. I found that I benefited from others in sciences and mathematics, while, the other group members benefit from me in English, Literature, and the Arts, thereby helping to create a self-sufficient group able to meet all its needs. This culture of interdependence taught me to always appreciate and utilize diverse attitudes, beliefs, and coexist harmoniously in a multi cultural environment.
In conclusion, culture is a very important tool in molding a personality. I am ‘A product of the different cultural environments…’ I have grown in (Wallace 12). In my childhood, I grew up in an environment controlled by two parents who were teachers, which taught me to submit to authority, a virtue I find very useful today. In my adulthood, especially, in college, I lived in a multi-ethnic and liberal culture where I had to learn how to make independent decisions and coexist harmoniously with others. It is important to note, however, that not one social-cultural event in life is entirely responsible for my personality.
However, I am a product of the total of those events. Each event has molded a different character in me. Growing up under parents who were teachers taught me to be obedient. Living in an interdependent environment taught me the value of shared responsibilities. My experience in different cultural orientations has, therefore, led to an expansion of my character, which has shaped my worldview, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes.
Works Cited
AbiSamra, Nada. Benefits of “Organized” TEAMWORK; Team Building Workshop. London: Kogan Page, 2003. Print.
Jago, Arthur. Leadership: Perspectives in Theory and Research. Boston, Mass: Cengage Learning, 1982. Print.
Pantley, Elizabeth. Get Kids to Cooperate. New York: New Harbinger Publications, 1996. Print.
Simmons, Rachel. The Hidden Culture of Aggression.: Florida: Harcourt Trade, 2003. Print.
Wallace, Anthony. Culture and Personality; Biennial Review of Anthropology. New York: Routledge, 1961. Print.