Final Reflection

     This class has taught me so much, and doing these blog posts have taught me how to be more observant of the world around me and see how culture affects my everyday life. I have been able to think more critically about culture and the lens in which I see it. Doing these blog posts has been crucial to my understanding of the class material and has helped me implement what I have learned into my everyday life, and this has been helpful for me to absorb the material in a way I understand and can hopefully keep with me for many years to come.

    For the majority of my blogs I related my personal experiences to things learned in class so that you could see in real time the way my thoughts are changing and forming new opinions about the things we have talked about. The lens through which I see culture is completely different than it was in August when we started, and I'm so grateful for all of the things I have been taught. In my blogs I focus on things like privilege, Language, culture as a whole, gender stereotypes, code switching, romance, and more. In doing so I have been able to build on what I already knew about culture and refine it into something much more complex and curious. 

    One of my biggest takeaways from this class is that culture is a spectrum, there is no right or wrong when it comes to culture. What I mean by this, is that cultural behaviors and values exist within a range, and different people and groups fall in different areas within that range. It is complex, and with wide variation, and I think that's one of the big things that makes it so special. I used these blog posts almost like I would a journal or diary to document my growth and the new knowledge that I have gained. Doing this have allowed me to share and bring you along in that process with me.

    Another major takeaway I will carry with me forever is the power of having a multicultural approach in life, in education, in relationships, in research, in parenting, ect.. When we are able to sit back and recognize our differences and how those differences might shape the way we behave, think, and interact, we can have better outcomes. It's so important to see everyone for who they are and learn about each other's backgrounds and how that might play a part in the way others choose to live their lives so that we can have a better understanding of others and they can understand us. When we don't see color, when we don't see culture, when we don't see people's backgrounds and how that has affected them, then we are missing out on making others feel seen, heard, and understood. When we don't see these things we are causing more harm than good. When we take the time to recognize these differences, that's when we see relationships flourish and grow into something meaningful and true.

Overall, I know that implementing these things is something that takes effort and is not always easy, it's not easy to unlearn unconscious bias yet when we put in cognitive effort to be better at these things they can make all the difference. I am grateful for the many lessons this class and these blog posts have taught me and will continue to teach me. I have loved the opportunity to document what I have been Internalizing during this class and the freedom these blogs have given me to be creative in sharing it with you. I have not only grown in my understanding of culture, but as a person and student during this process. 

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