For the sake of continuity with my blog’s theme of exclusively writing in list format, here’s my reflection on this research project + senior year in bullet points.
First off, the two (2) most important things I’ve learned from this project:
- Being open to new ideas!
- Obviously, learning about diverse voices helps to expand your understanding of the world and consequently, your sense of global ctizienship. However, through this project, I was able to better understand precisely why this phenomen happens. For instance, using The Namesake as an example, Gogol only learned to be more accepting of his given name after he heard about the cultural history of his name through his father’s perspective. By empathizing the experiences that his father endured, Gogol was inspired to embrace his cultural identity by the end of the novel. Through understanding different aspects of humanity, we are able to be more accepting of not only others, but of ourselves as well.
- It’s totally OK to lose sight of your cultural identity once in a while
- Okay yeah, it’s definitely ideal for you to always be unyieldingly proud of your identity, but it’s certainly an unrealistic expectation to have, especially in this day and age. In straying, you’re able to develop a deeper understanding of the culture that you’ve deviated from when you gradually come back. Temporarily losing parts of yourself is inevitable, but it is the process of returning that ultimately makes you stronger in the end.
One (1) thing I hope you, darling reader, learned from this project:
- Acceptance!
- In other words, welcome the voices of people who come from different backgrounds than you do. Loss of identity is a universal experience, but with nuances for each individual. Everyone has their own story to tell, and hearing others’ stories can help with understanding your own.
^^ Link to my video project!
Three (3) things I’ve learned during my time at NNHS:
- About myself: I am – and probably always will be – a mess, and I promise I don’t mean that in a self-deprecating way. Every birthday, I’ll look back on the past 12 months and think that I’ve finally got everything figured out. And every year, I’ve proven myself wrong – there’s always so much more to learn about myself and the world.
- About the community: It can genuinely be so so supportive. Looking back to the protest we had during the first week of school, I think it set precedence for the rest of the year in the best way possible. If you’re talking, people are willing to listen.
- About the world: It can be a kind place, sometimes – there’s still hope in humanity (mostly)!
My one (1) golden rule for surviving – and thriving – senior year:
- Go for it!
- Nothing matters as much as you think it will. Choices will either turn into happy memories or nostalgic sighs of embarrassment, and what’s life without a few good embarrassing moments to look back on? Every risky decision that I’ve made this past year has ultimately manifested itself into something (mostly) positive, even the ones that I initially thought I’d end up regretting. Senior year, anything goes!
Hi Bibiane! When I saw your research question, I was really interested in seeing how you answered it may speak to my experience in the United States and that of a lot of my friends. Your answer also makes a lot of sense. I see a lot of people discuss how they didn’t embrace their cultures as children because they were judged by their American peers. The simplest, yet somehow also most difficult way, to overcome that would be if everyone was empathetic of other cultures. I definitely got the message you hoped to share with your project — acceptance is really important and empathizing with others definitely helps us get to know ourselves better. I love your advice for incoming seniors too! I agree — nothing matters as much as we tend to think. I’m so glad that all the risks you took this year had positive outcomes — senior year is the best time to try something new. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Bibiane! Nice job with your final video essay! I think you did a really good job of raising relevant examples of first generation voices and how they feel about assimilation into American society. It truly is a complex relationship that first generation Americans have with heir own ethnicity and American culture. On one hand, one’s native culture or culture of their parents can hold a lot of fond memories and even pride on your background, but assimilation can be so much simpler than standing out and even being ostracized for your background.
Hey Bibiane!!! I think you make a really good point here in your video essay. I can see that cultural identity can be difficult to accept when others around you don’t have the same or even similar stories. I would think that an immigrant would feel the largest part of this but I would also say that cultural loss of identity could be a generational thing as well. I think it’s really important to look at your family’s history if you’re able to regardless of whether it’s nice, boring, or messy.
Alsoooo, hope your college stuff goes well in the next few yearss! Gl!
Hi Bibiane! I loved the perspective you took on in your video essay, as we usually hear about how important it is to embrace one’s cultural identity, but you made a strong point when you pointed out that it is sometimes difficult to fully do this. Your video essay did a great job of highlighting the first generation voices, and the real challenges they face when trying to fit into American society. The example you used of Namesake also perfectly fits your argument, as Gogol was a great representation of someone who needed time to come to fully embrace where he came from in the light of American society. Overall, great video!
I really enjoyed your attention to detail in the visual and auditory aspects of your video essay! Specifically, the contrast between the (stock) footage you used and the slides that present information about your sources resulted in a video that is both engaging and relevant to your actual essay. I’m also impressed by how you were able to include so many novels within your sources and how many diverse perspectives you were able to cover in your video as a result, all within 5 minutes. One of your points that caught my attention was the pressure of assimilation felt by the individuals from all your sources, and how it is of note that the pressure of assimilation stems from power dynamics within our society. There exist cases of bullying and abuse of educational authority, as you highlighted in the TedTalk and Halo of Beasts, but I found it especially intriguing that Gogol felt more of a social pressure than an authoritative pressure to become Americanized. In trying to appeal more to his American peers and friends, however, he consciously pushed away his Indian heritage, thus revealing how he unconsciously internalized his Indian culture as inferior. Overall, your video gave me a lot to think about so good job!