Nabith 1

Ashim Nabith
English 113B
Professor Ditch
11 February 2015
Being In Two Worlds
Throughout my entire life I lived in two separate different cultures, both influence each
other either for the better or for the worst. They both made me be more serious and out going in
my private and personal life. Many people live in different cultures. I personally live in two
cultures, academic and peers. I try my best to have the best of both worlds, however I cannot. I
am expected different thing in both cultures. In school I am expected to do homework and study
almost all the time. With my friends I am expected to be more outgoing, have fun and do not
worry about school. Everyday Im mostly a part of my academic culture however in other days
Im with my peers culture and not worrying about homework and essays. I try to my best to be
part of both cultures because if I am not part of these cultures I lose a part of my identity. If I was
only part of my schools culture then Ill only be a person who is serious about his education
instead of having fun at times. If I was only part of my peers culture then I wont be doing well
in college and probably not be serious about my education. My peers culture can and does affect
my academic culture for the worst part. I will tend to procrastinate and not do certain homework
I promised myself to do however my academic culture does affect my peers culture by pushing
my friends to do their homework and study for quizzes and test. Both of these cultures I live in
affect each other either for the better or for the worst. I try to have the best of both worlds
however theyre both polar opposite. These cultures I am a part of make me who I am, a person
who can have fun with his friends and is serious about his education.

Nabith 2
Everyday I go to school and become part of the academic culture of Northridge. Being a
part of this culture I follow certain expectations. In California State University Northridge I am
biology major, being a part of the science department my culture differs from a History major or
an English major. I have different rules to follow and different expectations to achieve. I go to
class on time and do all my homework that is due that day. I act more professional; by the way I
talk, act and behave around other students and professors. I am more formal with my professors
whether its the way I talk or communicate with them through email. I follow certain culture
expectation so I wont be seen someone who isnt professional and will become an outcast who
doesnt belong in that particular space. If I act the way I do in my peers culture I would
definitely be seen as an outsider because the two cultures, school and my peers culture, are total
opposite. In the past my academic culture was small and didnt mean much to me. When I
graduated high school I realized how important college is and how serious I must take it to be
successful. Now the academic culture I am in made me more responsible and smarter as a young
adult. It shaped my opinion on how important education is and how it can affect my future. In
this space I have been very school orientated I focused on my education and studied to have a
future career. My academic culture influenced me mentally and morally. I learned to be more
serious about my education and not to take it lightly; also I learned how to properly communicate
with my professors and older advisers formally. Comparing this culture to my peers culture I
can see that there are many differences to the way we act to the way we speak to each other. If I
every try to be professional and serious with my friends I would be treated as an outcast because
being part of my peers culture I am expected to be a sociable and act in different ways compared
to how I would act in my academic culture.

Nabith 3
In there article Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glen, and Kesha Williams, Mead introduces the
idea that, We carry on a whole series of different relationship with different people. In Meads
view we interact differently with different people depending on who they are and what kind of
relationship or culture we share with them. Once with my friends I belong to a totally different
culture and space. In the morning and the afternoon they are serious about their academic
education, however once nighttime comes they are more social and outgoing. For me I am
serious about my education the whole day till the mid of night. My friends and I dont share the
same work and social schedule however I do try my best to spend time with them. Once I do
spend time with my friends and become part of my peers culture I use certain words that arent
necessarily appropriate in any occasions and certain jesters that can be viewed as inappropriate
and strange to other people not in the space I am in. Being part of my friends culture I am
expected to follow certain expectations, which are to mostly have fun and not worry about
homework or college. Writing in the short story My Hips, My Caderas, Valdes-Rodriguez
complains, My mothers people hate my hips. According to Valdes-Rodriguez her mothers
people dont like her hips because it not part of their culture. For me its the same, if I bring up
homework and studying my friends wont like it. If I do try acting professional and trying to do
homework and study I wouldnt be spending times with my friends Ill be alone and not part of
my friends culture. I do spend time with my friends however I juggle between my school and
friends culture. I dont spend all my times with my friends playing games and engaging in
certain activities. Being with my friends makes me act more openly and become more social with
other people my age. I try to be with them as much as I can however also being part of my
academic culture it is very difficult to do. Being in my peers culture does however give me an
additional identity to my personality.

Nabith 4
Being a part of two different cultures can be difficult, you have two different sets of
expectations to fill, and you probably cant be part of both cultures at the same time. I try to have
the best of both worlds however its so far impossible because both of my cultures are polar
opposite. While one is serious and professional the other is more out going and social. I juggle
between these two different cultures everyday because I cannot be just part of one culture. These
cultures however make my identity as a person who is serious about school and his education but
also out going with his friends and new people. I cannot have best of both worlds because the
two cultures I live in are polar opposites, however I do juggle these two cultures in my everyday
live to get the most out of each of them. Even though these two cultures are polar opposite I do
enjoy living in both of them. While these two cultures affected each other either for the worst or
for the best it mostly influenced me. It made me more responsible and sociable in school and
outside of school. I still try to juggle between these two cultures, however I cannot spend time
with them equally. I will usually choose my academic culture over my peers culture. In the
future Ill probably manage my time by finishing my school work earlier in the day so I can hang
out with my friends and most importantly I wont stop giving my education the top priority. Each
culture is different to each other they cannot coexist because they dont follow the same rules,
have different expectations, and act in a different way. My peers culture influenced me to be
more social and outgoing instead of serious and shy. My academic culture made me be more
serious about my education and be smart as a young adult. I juggle these two cultures everyday
in my life. One day I would usually spend more time in my academic culture while other days I
would spend more time with my peers culture. I cannot spend the same amount of time with my
peers culture and academic culture.