Kristen Fidler 09/10/13 Idiosyncratic Cultural Mapping During the Idiosyncratic Cultural Mapping I frequently found my self belonging

in the minority. Though, a few times I was a part of the majority. This class activity gave me insight and opened my eyes to a new outlook. I never thought of myself as a minority before I thought I was pretty common and basic in regards to my roots and where I come from. I would be considered Caucasian to anyone who did not know me but in all actuality I have very strong Native American roots. In this aspect I was a minority in the class. My grandfather was a full blooded Cherokee Indian, my mother is half Cherokee and I am one fourth Cherokee. I grew up in Oklahoma, this was also unique in the class. Every fond childhood memory is of the countryside, forests, and back roads of Oklahoma. I moved to Missouri as an adolescent and no I am here in Chicago. When we were told to pick whether we were a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or None of the above I found myself once again in the minority. I am a Democrat and most of the class was undecided or had no opinion. I think that this can sometimes be a problem amongst the youth of our nation. Throughout history college students have been known as the voice of America, the force that moves the nation. How are we going to move a nation if our youth does not care about our government and world issues? If we live in a country where no one cares about what our government is doing what is in store for our future? As intelligent college students of America we should be involved in government issues and we should make our voices heard. Minority was not always the case on Monday's Idiosyncratic Cultural Mapping. I was part of the majority group when it came to placement in the family. I am first born, but I also have a blended family. I have eight younger siblings, five of which I saw on a regular basis when I lived in Missouri. With large families comes knowledge that I think the newer generations are losing,

large families teach responsibility, money smarts, social skills, and how to work well with others. I was also part of the majority when it came to smoking and vegetarianism, I do not smoke and I am not a vegetarian, it seemed that most of the class was on my side. The Cultural Mapping made me think about who I am and where I come from. My name is Kristen Fidler, my mother chose my name only because she thought it was a nice, pretty name for a little girl. My first name, Kristen, means Christian, or of Christ. Fidler, as one can infer, means one who plays the fiddle. I cannot play the fiddle, though I was brought up in a Christian family. I grew up in a baptist church and I was taught by a non-denominational mother. My mother later married a man from a devoted methodist family. Religion was never forced upon me. My mother never made bedtime prayer a daily ritual like my baptist grandmother did when I was young. I started to lose faith like many teenagers do and I thought to myself that I might be an atheist. Recently, I have been studying the similarities between Christianity and Hinduism. This had lead me to pursue Hinduism or even a duel religion. Idiosyncratic means 'unique to the individual' I interpreted it as characteristics that make someone special and different. Idiosyncratic characteristics make me who I am. This activity made everyone in the class reveal their idiosyncratic characteristics and it made them shine. It really highlighted interesting, unique traits about each of us. It made me proud to know that I was representing Native Americans in my class, as there were no others with Native American heritage. I know who I am and I know my identity, this activity was a reminder to me and it gave my classmates a glimpse at who I am. People are very commonly grouped into stereotypes. In class we broke out of those stereotypes and became our own people. Someone could walk into class and make a general statement about the students but not everyone can be squeezed and fitted into the same mold. Objectivity is reachable but in the purist form is not possible. As humans we can be objective and non-judgemental but not without a hint of bias. We will always have our opinions and for this we have our morals to blame. Morals develop from how we were

raised, by whom we were raised, when we were raised, and where we were raised. Everyone has a natural response towards those who are different than themselves and it is usually a cautious or defensive response. The unknown is threatening to us as humans. I know that this activity has lessened the severity of the unknown, I am more comfortable around my peers after this activity. Tolerance is tricky. When someone says they are a tolerant, open-minded person I generally do not believe them because I know it is hard to do. My favorite writer and philosopher Elie Wiesel stated, "I think it was after the French Revolution when they said, 'No tolerance for those who are enemies of tolerance.' Look, we don't have the absolute answer. There are flaws in every ideology, and there are flaws in every solution." If a classmate says they are tolerant and open-minded I think to myself, if they were confronted by a racist or a homophobic would they be as tolerant as they say they are? Being completely tolerant and wholly open-minded in the most pure form is impossible. This exercise has made me more familiar and closer to my class mates. I believe that my peers are more open to the differences and uncommon qualities each of us posses after they understand we stand on the idiosyncratic map.