FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Tyler Dobbins
EDU 280 - Personal Artifact
 FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Cultural Belonging
Where do I come from?

Italian Food
My grandma has
always cooked
Italian food and it
has been a big part
of all our
celebrations. This
tradition gives me a
sense of belonging
because we can all
bond over it.
Being the only one…
In my family, as you can see, I am the only African American. I come
from a large Italian family, and my father has never been a part of my
life. My mother and I also have a strained relationship so my
grandmother has raised me, and all of my half siblings. There have
been no African American role models in my immediate family or
young upbringing so I have always felt a sense of separation and lack
Along the Way…
of belonging.
I have been very
lucky that along the
way some of my
1 2 3 friend’s parents
have stepped in to
help raise me and
ENGLISH ARIZONA ORGANIZATION have accepted me
I do not have Other than Nevada, I My grandma is the only as a part of their
experience with any have lived in Arizona mother and father I family too.
other language. for a brief part of my recognize.
childhood.
 FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Filling the Roles…

Others help me and I help others.

As I mentioned, other people have

filled various family roles for me along the
way. A family that has many British
traditions includes me for their family
celebrations so I have experienced some of
those cultural components. They open
Christmas crackers at their Christmas Eve
dinner and do “First Footing” on New Years
Eve. Throughout my life the one gap has always not having a father figure. When my
half brother’s dad also left his life I knew I needed to do my best to fill that role.
Attached is a picture of the text message he sent me on a holiday we both struggle
with… Father’s Day. This part of my family orientation has been detrimental in shaping
who I am and helping me find my cultural belonging. Those who have had to live
without one or both parents, such as I have, give me a strong sense of who I will not be
which has helped me to find who I am.

“Tyler Dobbins in Italy: finding my past

and deciding my future”
Although I have not left the country, I hope to travel to Italy as that is the only part of my
ethnicity that I feel truly connected with. This is a trip that I hope will give me the sense
of belonging that will allow me to also be comfortable with being the only African
American in my family. I also dream of taking my children to Italy one day and teaching
them to be proud of their heritage.

ETHNICITY WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING

I was unaware that I was any different than my family until I began
going to school. When I was first being called “black” I didn’t
understand what that meant. As time has gone on, and although I
don’t really think of myself as anything other than Italian, I have
become aware of how others see me.

I know am comfortable with my ethnicity and cultural understanding

but that was difficult for me as a child.
 FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Life Experiences

Friendship
All of my closest
friends have come
from playing
different sports
together. Years after
high school I am still
best friends with my
fellow athletes.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Sports Gives Young Man A Sense Of Direction

I have always loved and been passionate about being physical, but
when I first started playing sports I knew I found my calling. What
started as playing football and basketball in recess later became being
the only freshman to play varsity basketball and being the starting
quarterback. Coaching Emotional Outlet
Sports became an
outlet for me to get
rid of my emotions.
1 2 3 Having a broken
family can be
difficult and sports
DROP BACK PASS SCORE was a safe place for
Football gave me a It forced me to do well Now, I hope to be a me to express
sense of discipline. in school so that I could coach and help other myself.
play. kids.
 Coaching
Passion To Play Turns To Passion To
Help

The greatest sense of belonging I had ever

felt was on the court or field. I was part of
a true and complete family, with my team
and my coaches.

Sports helped me through the worst times

in my life. When my great grandmother
died, I felt lost. My family was devastated and my grandma, who lost her mother, was
broken. It was so hard to watch her struggle and while we were there for each other, I
needed to get out my anger and sadness.

Playing high school sports not only kept me out of trouble, it let me express myself safely
and during that terrible time I was able to clear my head and this allowed me to be
strong for my family at home. Now I want to coach and teach physical education so that
I can help other students with broken home lives find their outlet.

“Coach Dobbins leads his team to Victory”

I have been coaching at the high school I attended for a few years now. I have coached
both basketball and football and one day hope to be the head coach of a football team. I
briefly played football for a junior college in California but was unable to maintain my
grades and lost that opportunity. I now have realized the importance of my education
and hope to help other student athletes do the same.

FRIENDSHIP THAT LASTS FOREVER

The friends I have gained from playing sports have become my
family and we continue to play adult sports for with park and
recreation for fun.

Growing up and losing my relationship with my mother, and never

having one with my father, has been difficult but playing sports has
been my greatest life changing experience.

This is why I feel like I will be best using my skills to help other
students pursue their dreams like I did with mine.
 FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Worldview
The Values That Shape Me

RESPONSIBILE
Being responsible is
a value that I
learned from a
young age. I had to
make many choices
for myself and now I
ask myself if what I
am doing is
responsible
multiple times a
day. My actions
need to be leading
me to where I hope
How I Live… to be and so if it
does not correlate
Making Choices Based On Who I Don’t Want To Be! with my goals than
it is not a
Having a very unstructured upbringing, I learned a lot of things the responsible choice.
hard way. Many of my mistakes formed the values I have now. Many
times I made the wrong decisions and then upon reflection realized
what I had done, so now my moral and values are formed not from
having been taught them, but from having realized them myself.

1 2 3 Judgement Free
Zone: I do my
best to not judge
GRADUATE COACH DAD or have biases
against anyone
My first goal is graduate I want a career that My biggest goal is to because I have
so that I can get to my allows me to really be a great father and know how it
long term goal of impact struggling kids. husband one day. feels.
coaching.
 Family First
I crave nothing more than to have a
family and create my own sense of
belonging.

While having such a supportive

grandmother and having such wonderful
teammates that all have helped teach me
what it means to be a part of a family.

The most important thing someone can do

in my eyes is make you feel wanted and
accepted. I view this trait so highly.

I also value loyalty, because I think that it speaks to who you are as a person. I know and
understand the feeling of abandonment, both of my parents created that reality for me.
But there have been so many people who have shown me examples of loyalty and never
giving up on someone, which is invaluable.

“Religion”
Although I am not particularly religious, my grandmother is Catholic and takes her faith
very seriously. I grew up with her views being shared with me, and one particular point
has always brought me comfort. The phrase that God is greater than the highs and lows
has always been important to me. This saying reminds me that no matter how difficult
times get, they will get better and that there is someone greater than myself looking out
for me.

GOAL SEEKING
I briefly listed my three biggest goals above, but now I will better
explain them. I want to graduate college and be the first of my family
to ever do so. Graduating from high school was such a huge moment
because I was the first of my family to do that, but this will mean so
much more. My goal of coaching has been realized in some ways, as I
am currently coaching, but I want to be teaching and hired as a head
coach one day. Lastly, to start my own family and be everything for
my children that I never had. This is something that I have always
wanted and being a great father is my ultimate goal in life.
 FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Cultural Artifacts

Miami Dolphins
This is the team my
family has bonded
over, and thus is my
favorite team. It
symbolizes family
memories of
watching the
games.

Things That Matter To Me

These are some of the items that mean the most to me!

When I played high school football, my senior year I received the MVP
(Most Valuable Player) award and it is one of my greatest Los Angeles
accomplishments. I use this award as motivation in my coaching and Dodgers
it reminds me of the opportunity that playing sports gave me. The other team that
we watch play as a
family is the
Dodgers, and when

1 2 3 I was little I would

watch sitting on my
great grandma’s lap.
SINGING CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTS
This is a talent that not My friends and I won Sports clearly represent
many people know I the championship for me, as they have been
have, but I was in choir flag football. the biggest influence in
growing up. my life.