Cultural Upbringing
Most children are put to bed with tales of princesses and fairies, but not me. When I was young, my father would prop open a book, titled something along the lines of Evolution for Children and read to me about the first cell division. I also remember coming into the living room to watch The Smurfs and my father happily suggesting The World of Chimps on PBS, instead. I did not quite understand what I was being shown. Nevertheless, I was exposed from very early on to the world of science. It did not occur to me to embark on a formal study of Anthropology until recently. I was always interested in the field, however. My father had planted a seed that grew in time. When I was in high school, my father did not have to ask anymore. I voluntarily would watch Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth on television. In school, I tended to not give a second thought to The Grapes of Wrath, but anything by Tolstoy, Dumas, and Austen stirred my imagination. Stories of times and cultures unlike mine, plucked melodically at my psyche like a harp. Russian, French, English (especially the English) presented to me another way of life, alluringly different from my American one. I soon found a way to also find my own culture fascinating, through religio
I worked as an usher and learned much about the British movie industry. I only met maybe four or five true Londoners. Though a precise awareness of what I am doing is new, I realize that I have been participating in Anthropology from a very early age, even if I did not call it by that name. Even my love for words, language, and their origins, was there under the category Linguistics. I soon realized how similar my own culture could be to others in its beliefs. I even studied ASL (American Sign Language) for a while, and learned about the amazing culture of the deaf. At the same time, I developed a love for languages. Quickly, I realized that lifestyle was not for me. I watched movies from other countries, from England to India, to learn more about different cultures and their languages. I saved up for a year and participated in a work exchange program in London, England, where I lived for 5 months. I began to read the Bible, the Torah, the Ramayana, the Qu'ran, anything I could get my hands on. I delved into the dead religions and myths. As the professor explained the different fields, I realized almost all involved one of my passions. Cultural, encompassed not only my love for religion, but its impact on the followers and much more. I taught myself to read some Russian when I was fifteen, and through that, some Greek, just so I could pronounce the names of the Tsars and gods properly.
Common topics in this essay:
Ramayana Qu'ran,
French English,
Physical Biological,
Chimps PBS,
French Spanish,
Finn MacCoul,
England India,
Sign Language,
Paris Scotland,
Evolution Children,
movie industry,
own culture,
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Acceptance Essays
