“What’s one word that describes you”. That’s a tricky question to answer. I am music swimming through the air vents and freshly fallen snow on the autumns leaves
from the passing fall days. When it comes to identifying one person, we focus so much on the outside and sometimes ignore the inside. When you’re eating chocolate, the outside is not as significant as the fact that it’s peanut butter and you're severally allergic. I was breed for solitary, drifting further away from where budded. When it comes to cultural identity, I’m far away from it because I always feel like an outcast in the groups to which I'm supposed to belong. When it comes to cultural identity, my traits and personality define me, the surface of who I am mean little when one asks “Who I am”. Cultural identity is much, much more than just someone's heritage, ancestries, and Their race.
I guess if anything, I’d say I'm from Hobart, but I refuse to call myself I Brickie.
Not because I dislike the town, but because it’s so forced, people are perfectly content here, and I very much dislike the fact that the mascot is a bricklayer. Even though this town is extremely lame, it has helped me become who I am today. My family’s pretty rude when I compare it to how I act in school. Hobart tends to emphasize kindness on to its student and in doing so I give off the impression of being not a horrible person.
However, students are not willing to take a walk in other’s shoes to see where they're coming from, so I try to do that. Everything is a learning experience for me. Thanks to
this, Kids, when they first meet me, get the impression I'm nice or weird. Going to school here has taught me to be accepting and to give people second chances and Also, to be
honest with myself and others because by being fake all you’re doing is wasting yours and everyone's time.
Another big thing that helped shape me is the influence of media, mainly books and a type of foreign cartoon called Anime. With both, they served as a form of escapism, and still do. I’ve always loved reading, even if the task itself is not the easiest for a slow reader. I’d find myself wishing to be in the character's shoes, that I’m discovering the truth of the witch on the hill rather than finding the next three numbers in
a sequence. The stories found in these works were always better than the world around me. Thanks to my love of reading, I'm always ready to learn something new. I love
discovering new things in fiction and nonfiction. There is always something that can be gained from a story being read, even if you dislike the book( with me this is To Kill a
Mockingbird).
With anime, it wasn’t the same as books. These stories were coming from halfway around the world. The difference in cultural became apparent in all a couple of minutes, but it was captivating. It also serves as something that connects me to my older sibling, whose relationships hangs on a thin, tearing. Sitting down on a rainy afternoon and watching “Lucky Star” on Youtube, is something that gives back playful, pleasant memories of a blurry remembrance almost a what seems like a decade ago.
Those are happy memories in a sea of monsters. Because of this, I appreciate the little things, the small moments I cherish with me. I prefer watching atrocious movies on the
couch than flying halfway across the world because those little moments are my world.
On another note with anime, it aided to a world of creativity. I now have an appreciation for art and passion for creating stories that are heavily inspired by the anime genre.
In conclusion, culture is not one thing, just like people. There’s a reason that when you ask someone, “What’s one word that describes you”, it takes a minute to
answer. It is impossible to define someone by one word, by one characteristic. If you do, you're not giving that person a fair chance. People (are) like crossword puzzles, not just one piece.
Each of us is made up of multiple ingredients that turn into a spectacular cake, but if you forget the eggs and the flour, you do not have a cake anymore. We are not just labels to
fit into a box, humans are much more complicated than that. As much as we or others wish we were not, our behavior can be simple, but the reason as to why are not. So to answer the questions of, “what’s one word that defines you” or “Who are you,” and “What’s your cultural identity”, all of them have the same answer: me.
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