Cultural Diversity Interview

Cultural Diversity Interview I interviewed Adriana Parker-Riggi, a 19-year-old student from Tucson, Arizona. I chose Miss Parker-Riggi for this interview, because I think she has a very unique and diverse cultural background. Her father is half Spanish and half Jewish and her mother is half German and half Columbian. Adriana recognizes the Columbian part of her heritage as her identity. My interviewee is also trying hard to complete college, but is torn by her very family oriented background. She feels like she is forced to choose between her family and her schooling. I automatically felt that her family was in the wrong for not supporting her want to continue her education, but I did not really take her culture into consideration when

I feel like life in the United States can be very self absorbed. We go to work to pay for the debt brought on by things we don’t really need. We spend so much time trying to be in a certain income bracket that we lose the sense of what family and quality time really mean. Even though I feel like I live pretty simple, I still have a high standard of what the right neighborhood or home size is. We really don’t need more square feet to spend time alone and separate from our family members. A family could be just as happy and would probably spend more time together in a smaller home. This interview really taught me a lot about my own culture from a new perspective. The enculturation of American’s really disrupts the beauty of diversity. There tends to be more social distance here than in the way Adriana spoke about Columbia. After conducting this interview, I am more apt to take notice in my daily life and the things I choose to do in my free

Watching the video I couldn’t believe the amount of prejudice taking place. I also didn’t understand why people from old money felt they were better than people with new money. They even had a term for people with new money, “nuvo.” I felt this was an unfair discrimination, because not everyone from old money has worked for it, just as some people from new money may have just fallen into it. The video showed a girl who was judging people on her campus based on their looks. I really respected Adriana’s comment about how in Columbia “people just like you for yourself.” The video never once had people talking about who others were as people. I don’t think I could ever surround myself with the people depicted in the video, whether I had money or not. Then again, I can only say that, because I have never been a part of that social status. I hope that with this class, my goals in life, and my cultural background that I will always want to surround myself with people that care for the well being of others no matter what their social status