Ashim Nabith

English 113B
Professor Ditch
3 May 2015
Being In Two Worlds
Throughout my entire life I lived in two separate different cultures; my
academic culture and peers culture, both influence each other either for the
better or the worse. They both made me more serious and out going in my
private and personal life. I try my best to have the best of both worlds,
however I cannot. I am expected different things in both cultures. In school I
am expected to do my homework and study almost all the time. With my
friends I am expected to be more outgoing, have fun and not to worry about
school. Everyday Im mostly part of my academic culture however in other
days Im with my friends and a part of a whole new culture. I try my best to
be part of both cultures because if I am not a part of these cultures I lose a
part of my identity. If I was only part of my academic 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 affect my
academic culture, and does 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 tests. 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 opposites; they dont have the
same expectations or the same rules. 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.
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 a biology major, being a part of
the science department my culture differs from a History major or an English
major. I have different rules and different expectations to achieve and follow.
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 as 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 from 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 focus on my education and

study to have a serious about my education and not to take it lightly; also I
learned how to properly communicate with my professors and older advisers
correctly. Comparing this culture to my peers culture I can see that there are
more differences to the way we act to the way we speak to each other. If I 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
sociable, compared to how I would act in my academic culture.
In the 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 afternoon they are
serious about their academic education, however once nighttime comes they
become 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 to do 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 necessary 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. Writings in the short

story My Hips, My My Caderas, Valdes-Rodriugez complains, My mothers

people hate my hips. According to Valdes-Rodriguez her mothers people
dont like her lips because it is not part of their culture. For me its the same,
if I bring homework and things related to school with my friends they
wouldnt like it. If I do try to act professional and try to do homework and
study I wouldnt be spending time with my friends Ill be alone and not be
part of my 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 its very difficult to do. Being in my peers culture does however give
me an additional identity to my personality.
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 life 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 affect each other either for the worst or for the best it mostly
influences 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 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.
Work Cited Page
1. Valdes,Alisa."MyHips,MyCaderas."UnderWireMSN(2000):n.pag.

Abstract.TheContemporaryReader10(2008):5759.Print.