Who Am I: Culturally

I am an independent female who is culturally more than what I physically might be. The discovery of my culture came at an early age with my dad always calling my sister and I, mija. It wasn’t that I was raised in a family that spoke Spanish, but my dad partaking in his culture and passing it on to us. To understand who I am, I have to look back and remember what I am.

I know I am Mexican, English with a couple other European attributes thrown in there somewhere, but just because that is what I am, does not define who I am. When my aunt adopted my cousin many years ago, my family started to partake in her culture as well, the Hawaiian culture manifested into our home, an ocean away. Two years ago they moved in with us, which only made us richer in the Hawaiian culture and language. Even though I might physically not be Hawaiian, I defiantly am, culturally. We (ohana/family) participate in a number of the Hawaiian holidays, language and the general laidback ways of Hawaii.

I may be hearing, but I proudly surround myself with friends and family that are Deaf. And yes, that is big “d” deaf; little “d,” states that someone is deaf, while big “d,” deaf means that person actually participates in the Deaf culture. My little cousin is totally Deaf, and while some people might think of him as a disability, personally I love him even more! With the Deaf culture, American Sign Language must be included. I fell in love with the language before my cousin became deaf. I often find myself signing to songs, and to people that I know that aren’t deaf, nor do they know what I am saying/signing. Honestly, I think I do this because I want to spread the love of the Deaf culture onto other people. It is because of my wonderful experience in the Deaf world, that I have decided to become an Interpreter for the deaf and maybe one day go back to my original dream of becoming a teacher for the deaf. I honestly could not think of a better way to live my life then teaching students how to embrace their culture.

I am culturally, a techie. With so many electronics around the world I am amazed when I meet someone my age that’s not. I am that person that facebooks constantly. I think it shows the importance of it, when a simple term has become a verb. Not only do I have this need to facebook, which I can do from my phone, but the need be on an actual computer is much like a desperation. I am one of those people that have to be logged in, a couple times a day, I do not understand how people can go days without checking their emails or just logging on. But being a techie is more than the internet and computers, it’s the phones! Personally, I fell naked without my blackberry glued to my hip, knowing that at the simple hit of a button I have all my contacts, email, facebook, internet and other apps constantly available to me. It is not about the fun and entertaining apps, but the necessities, it has become my alarm and planner. I am not crazy to think that the world would end if it broke, however I do know that I would have no idea on how to call my parents, when the numbers are stuck in my phone! I understand that to an older generation that I seem to rely on my phone too much and perhaps I do, but it my culture, and I love it.

A big part of my culture is cancer. People that are surround with cancer have their own language and programs that get them through the days. From an early age I have always been surround by family with cancer, which helped when friends started to get diagnosed with cancers too. I was able to refer them to different places and programs that are great resources, like the American Cancer Society. With the American Cancer Society, the culture of Relay For Life must be brought up! I have participated in Relay For Life for over eight years now, and have been an Event Manager (overseer of the whole thing) at Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus for the last two years. Relay For Life is such a huge part of my cancer culture, because I get to celebrate all the survivors, remember the ones that I have lost, and fight back for myself! Relay For Life is more than an event people do to raise money for cancer, it is a network of people that live in the same culture as I do. Unlike many other friends I had no fears of going to chemotherapy and/or radiation appointments with them. It’s not that I have become callused by living in the cancer culture, but the understanding that sometimes the risk is worth it- because who knows if you will ever have another opportunity.

I am a retail employee, and unless you personally worked in retail there is no way to understand the culture behind it, at times I still do not understand it. The customer complaints about a shirt not looking right on their body and getting really frustrated over it makes me roll my eyes. But the real challenge is telling them they have the shirt on backwards without laughing at them. The retail lingo is a major factor into the culture, for example if I was to say “take the ‘z’ rail to Sonoma and size it,” only people from my department store would have any notion on what I was saying. My favorite though is when I have a customer that hangs and puts away her own clothes, I tend to smile and they quickly tell me they understand.

Being part of a culture is more than sharing backgrounds and traditions, it is understanding that who I am is intertwined with hundreds of people all around the world. I am Katie, the Mexican, Hawaiian and deaf lover, techie, retail person that surrounds herself with cancer. It might be a weird combination, but it’s me, and I love my cultures.