Basilio 1

Bryant Basilio
English 113B
Professor Beadle
February 23, 2016
Student Life Culture
Cultures are a group of people that gather around with the same mentality of achieving
something. Indeed, cultures play a big role on a persons life because it defines the person but
also it influences them to live by the norms of the culture. Many people are exposed to different
cultures and that is what makes them different from others; unique. However, different spaces
change a persons behavior and actions in its culture. Certainly, different spaces change my
behavior in the student life culture. As a student I have many behavior changes of my culture in
different spaces. This is mainly because most of these behaviors were influenced to me from my
parents. Coming from family that get paid the minimum wage, my parents strictly raised me to
go to school. They strongly believe that education is the key to a better life and future. The
lifestyle they raised me affects my attitude and behavior in this culture because after analyzing a
seven-day experiment, I came to see that the space that surrounds me changes my emotions and
actions of what I am to the culture. My parents strongly encouraged school as the only way to
have a better future therefore when I am in school living the student life culture my behavior
changes to a positive mindset than when I am outside of school which shows that my culture is
affected in different spaces.
In my seven-day experiment, the days I went to school I realized that my environment
and behavior of the student life culture changed as soon as I stepped in school. Indeed, every

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student consider themselves to be unique individuals with their own set of personal opinions,
preferences, and habits. However, as students we all share a common goal, which is to finish
school and become successful in life. This creates a positive environment because I know that
Im not alone. All students are in the same boat striving for a better future. What really creates
this positive environment is hope. Hope is what motivates me as a student to push my academics
ahead. Hope is what creates a positive environment in the student culture because we know that
our hard work will not be vulnerable; it will pay off. Hope is what brings people together. I came
to a situation where I needed help on one of my math homework problem, I asked for help and
right away I got it. People are willing to help others who are needed. All resources are there for
us to become successful. In the article, Culture and Identity by Anastacia Kuyrlo. The author
mentions that the cultural communication shifts the identity of a person. you engage in cultural
communication, which forces on the way in which communication enables people to create and
negotiate their cultural identities within a cultural community (6). Previously I mentioned that
every student has their own personal preference and habits but in a cultural community,
communication is what brings people to understand others and their role in that culture. For
example, on my third day of my experiment I encountered a person in my religious studies class
with a different way of seeing the student life culture. He mentioned that majority of students in
school do not know who they are. The first step to success knowing who you are as a person and
accepting it. Also knowing your abilities and capacities as a student. Just like Jason Del Gandio
mentioned in the book Rhetoric for Radicals, you want to know what you are good at and then
develop skills that maximize your full potential (95). We are all in the same path, students have
different opinions but in the end we all are aiming towards one goal; success. In my seven-day
experiment I never encountered negativity in school. I did see different point of views but there

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was always a positive environment. On the other hand, people outside of this culture do not
comprehend our ideas and behavior therefore they cannot understand our culture. These ideas
and behaviors are part of what I mean by culture. I begin to become aware that my culture is
different when I become aware that others have different feelings, beliefs, and habits from mine.
This changes my behavior because I cannot comprehend what their mentality therefore I cannot
connect with the person and this forces me to feel and behave a certain way with the person.
On the other hand, the days I was outside of school I noticed that my behavior changed to
an isolated emotion. Yes, I am still part of the student life culture but outside of school the spaces
that surrounded me affected my culture because everywhere I went there were people who were
arrogant, stubborn, and rude. Since, their behaviors were negative I could feel this feeling of
hopelessness. I never approached people because they had a different mentality than mine. Of
course mine is about hope and striving hard because I know that I will get rewarded one day. Yet,
I became aware that my culture is different from others when I saw many people with their
dreams crushed and other who were on the hurry to go work or back home. People were eager
and impatience to do things. Outside of school the environment is only hopelessness but also it is
a fast paste of living. I acknowledge the people outside and the people in school. Unlike school,
people are open and willing to help others. Students know that the road only gets harder
therefore we help each other to become successful. However, on the the fourth day of my
experiment, I parked my car in a residential area. I saw a gardener sitting down in a shade eating
his food. I approached him and asked him about his job. He gave me details and information
about what he does in job but what caught my attention was the look of the man. He was in his
mid 40s but this man looked like he was in his 60s. He told me that he encounters a lot of racism
and criticism because of his skin color and most the time customers look down upon him because

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of his social class. I realized that this man had broken dreams just by the way he spoke and
looked at me. As one of the articles I read by Celestine Chua she mentioned about impatience,
This means that youre not impatient because thats just how you are or thats what you were
born with. You are impatient because of certain beliefs you have about yourself and the world.
After reading this I could understand that many people are cruel and impatient because of the
what world has become. Also, culture falls down into it because we believe things has to be right
due to our culture. As the author Sandi Mann explain in her article Why are we so angry these
days, she states that culture plays a big part in this, Our raised expectations mean that we, as a
society, have much higher expectations of our world; we believe we have the right to expect
things to go well, indeed, to be perfect. Part of this raised expectation is fed by the 'customer
charter' culture which has mushroomed over the past decade; this is a charter for our 'rights' and
leads us to have high expectations that we receive superlative service in all aspects of our life.
When, as is inevitable, reality falls short of these expectations, we feel that we have the right to
get angry about it. When people dont meet their expectation they have broken dreams or there
are angry because they felt they have let down their culture. Every time I was outside of school I
felt lonely, I seek for help but people were too busy solving their own problem. I came to a
conclusion that my culture does get affected by the spaces I was in because when I was outside I
tend to stay isolated from the rest because they had a different belief and feeling mine. I saw rage
in peoples eyes, people that with regret, and others with sorrow. All that affects my culture
within that space because I cant share my values with others if they are hopelessness.
Many people are exposed to different cultures however cultures are changes in different
spaces. Being part of the student life culture I have different emotions when I am outside of
school than when I am in school. Indeed, people have different opinions and habits but when I

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am in school we all share a common goal, that is to become successful. This creates a positive
mindset through hope because we know that our hard work will get rewarded. On the other hand,
outside of school I isolate my thoughts and my feelings because they dont have the same
mindset as mine. I see people that are rude, cruel, and stubborn which creates this negativity
environment that I cannot be a part of. Outside of school everything is a hurry and rage. I
become aware that this changes the behavior of my culture when I isolate myself from them
because I know they have different mentality, beliefs, and habits from mine.

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Work Cited

Mann, Sandi. why are we all so angry these days. Psychology today 23 January 2013. Huff
post Lifestyle.
Chua, Celestine. How To Be Patient: The Only Guide Ill Ever Write on Becoming Patient 13
December 2014. Personal Excellence.

Kuyrlo, Anastacia. Culture and identity Inter/Cultural Communication. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications, 2013. Print.
Del gandio, Jason. Rhetoric fro Radicals. Canada. New society publishers. 2008. Print.