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Alexis Quinones
Professor Jon Beadle
English 113B
11 May 2016
Who Am I and How Do I Live?
Culture is defined as a group who has similar characteristics like beliefs, values or morals,
while space is an unoccupied area in which we are free to fill with our expressions, and desires.
Each individual of mankind lives their life differently. We have our own form of happiness.
These incompatible forms come from our own self-culture and space. Specific cultures like high
class, school, and sports, have different aspirations', thus making people unalike. The crosscountry culture and space of relation have an affect on my own self-identity by making me feel
comfortable of who I am today, and how I process the impression of people from different
cultures.
As a beneficial factor from being in the cross-country culture I developed a characteristic
of being a comforter. A person who supplies company is called a comforter. I believe I am an
individual who provides consolation because the amount of experience and relation I can provide
to another human being. As a cross-country runner, you are on a team. A team is a group of
people that form as one. Cross-country has had such an impact on my self-identity by caring for
others, and never leaving anyone behind. I believe in the idea that no individual should go
through hard obstacles alone. Everyone deserves a companion who can relate to their emotions,
and the weight of physical and mental stress that has been put on them. I show this part of my

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identity whenever I see someone having a difficult time or are not in a good mood. Regardless if
it is a friend or not no one should be alone. Cross-country has shaped this part of my identity
because as I ran with my team we were all enduring the same physical pain. We were all in the
same area, therefore, thinking and acting alike. I value my self-identity because it makes me feel
satisfied. I feel satisfied because I know I am not experiencing the way I live my life alone.
There will always be someone who has been in your shoes. Cross-country has been a critical
component by providing me with this delighted characteristic. Therefore, making life feel like it
can be lived with tranquility with the amount of relevancy that another individual can provide.
I find it interesting how as individuals share there cultures and formation of space, we
judge them on how different they are from our self-identity. Everyone has their own shape of
happiness, due to the fact that we are each raised differently. As a human being, we tend to
ignore and outcast other cultures. We do this because we do not want to change what feels right
for us. We will always criticize people with different characteristics they have. Judgement is in
our human nature, however, that does not mean that all of our judgements are accusations. I
communicate with people from different cultures the same way I want to be approached. Every
member of the human race is not the same, because we all think differently. In the article "SelfIdentity and Culture" by Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glenn, and Kesha Williams, it says that While
places are physical locations, spaces are psychological locations that frame understanding of
preferences surrounding closeness and distances (119). This quote means that space is in our
mentality, where comprehension of our liking can get close or pushed far away from us. People
have their right to their own opinion. As from experience, I have not let anyone change my
beliefs or actions because in my space I can do what I please. In cross-country I can run at the
pace I want and if someone passes me, I have the ability to either speed up or maintain the same.

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I can do whatever makes me feel calm. We have the power to create our own realities in our
minds and by doing so we feel at ease. We know that nobody can disturb the world we
constructed, that being the case space cannot be changed by another individual, but rather the
individual who controls that space. Therefore, we should not judge others for who they are and
what they do for happiness, but rather to accept them.
Difficult situations where panic is involved become better when you are not dealing with
them alone. Another contributing factor to feeling less worried is when that individually
specifically has the same problem. When this two things are put together you get this term called
relation. In the article "Culture and Communication" by Anastacia Kurylo, it states that
"Seamlessness is possible because only some identities are relevant in any given
moment...Without always being aware of it, you are actively and seamlessly manage your
identities by making only certain identities salient in a given moment" (4). In other words,
logically it is possible to be in control of different identities at dissimilar times even if you are
uninformed about them, you are still in control of your identity by making it relevant to that
specific moment. However, we the put the most important character depending on the situation.
My cross-country experience relates to this because of competition. During competition I put the
sportsman ship identity. No matter how bad I want to beat my competition, the best thing to do is
to always wish them luck before a race. During the event I transition my character into a fierce
one. This fierce personality becomes the most important one at the moment. The greatest thing
about this is that I am not the only one with this personality during this occasion. Relevancy
makes circumstances less stressful, therefore, this is why it is part of my space.
In my seven day experimental location journal entries I experienced different cultural
settings. The two most important that caught my attention was at a restaurant and my uncle's

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house during the super-bowl. I went to have dinner with my parents at Olive Garden, which is a
fancy restaurant. As soon as I stepped in, the transition of my cultural expectations had changed,
and I adapted to a new one. This new very high class culture I adjusted to was one that was very
rich, and mannerly like. Everyone around me was speaking in a soft voice, and eating slowly.
Laughter was being controlled at a tolerable level, and everything was neat and organized. Being
in this was not something I was use to. I honestly felt out of place. However, I had a different
experience at my uncle's house. It was super-bowl Sunday which meant lots of food and a bunch
of family. The cultural setting here was obnoxiousness, laughter, and talking out loud. The
experience I was having here at my uncle's was one I was use to. During my cross-country
season we went to different places to compete. These different locations never alternated my
identity. Some where serious and quite, while others were loud and fun. I did not let this change
who I have claimed myself to be. I came to realization that these were just physical locations and
my values and beliefs where still the same in my space. All my identities were just relevant for
those given moments. Therefore, regardless how of out place or comfortable I may feel in a
different environment, I will not this change who I am.
In "PROFILES IN DIVERSITY JOURNALS" it states that "Values and beliefs are learned
in a national culture. You may not be aware of your own values and beliefs until you are
confronted with someone different than you. We have a tendency to judge others behavior based
on our own cultural norms, the 'lens' we see through. Here we have lots of opportunities for
potential conflict, misunderstandings and miscommunication. It is important that we try to learn
and appreciate these differences in order to work effectively with people from other cultures."
Also in the "Wall Street Journal" it says "Occasionally, a misperception of societal norms can
have a positive effect. Individuals who hold negative opinions about other ethnic groups, for

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example, may suppress these views if they think the attitudes won't be accepted within their own
group. 'Suppression becomes reality over time' Dr. Crandall says" (Shirley S. Wieng). In other
words, we have to learn to see both sides of everyone's perspectives and why they hold those
beliefs. In cross-country I had many different goals throughout a specific event which were to be
pushing a specific pace throughout the race, or getting a certain time on a course. I cannot always
assume people are mad because of what comes to my judgement. I may have different cultures,
and different self-identities, but that does not mean I have to misunderstand one another. I have
to respect these distinctions among us human beings and function adequately. Holding negative
opinions will only lead to disaster and miscommunication and that is not the reality I desire.
Morals, beliefs, and values are what you obtain from a culture. You are free to fill your
desires and expressions in your space. My self-identity has been formed by my cross-country
experience. The amount of relevancy and different spaces I was exposed to throughout my
journey as a cross-country runner made me realize what kind of human being I am, and how I
view the intuition of people from different cultures. This is who I am.

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Works Cited

Anastacia Kurlyo, "Culture and Communication" Part I. introduction to Inter/Cultural

Communication Chapter 1: Inter/Cultural Communication Los Angeles: Sage
Publications, 2013 Published July 23, 2012
Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glenn, and Kesha Williams "Self-identity and Culture" Part II.
Distinguishing Self and Other Chapter 6: Inter/Cultural Communication, Los Angeles:
Sage Publications, 2013 Published July 23, 2012
Heggertveit-Aoudia, Sunniva. "Culture, Values and the Impact at Work." Profiles in Diversity
Journals. N.p., 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2016
Weing, Shirley S. "Under the Influence: How the Group Changes What We Think." WSJ. The
Wall Street Journal, 3 May 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.

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