Cultural Anthropology: What Has Shaped My Identity

Before Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, I did not give much thought to who I was. After being assigned the paradigm paper, it made me sit down for a couple of hours and really think about what has shaped my identity. Ethnicity was the first topic of thought concerning my identity. This was difficult to figure out as my family is a melting pot of ethnicities. However, the one that I identify with is German American. I am an American with German ancestry. “Grummert” was assigned to my great-great-grandfather when he arrived in America with the last name “Grummet”. In German, “Grummet” translates to “to cut”. When digging deeper into my ancestry, the defining traits are evident. My personality traits are almost stereotypical for a German.

My parents classify our family as somewhere between working and middle class. They make enough to own a house, put food on the table, put clothes on our backs, even take vacations every once in a while. However, my parents and I combined do not make enough to pay for my education. In fact, I am the first person in my entire family to go to a four-year institution. The main reason behind that is lack of money. Hooray for student loans (not)! Education is significant though. Throughout high school, I was involved in three different clubs and was a student athletic trainer for two and a half years. That drove the ambition to go to college and earn a degree. It also drove the need for a car. After buying my first car, I was able to start working and have a little bit of an income. Even now, I go to class during the week and work during the weekends. In today’s world, it is in the best of interest of not only today, but the future. We are often asked if we want to turn out to be like our parents. Money is included in this question and that is why working now—even while going to school—will prepare me for the future. I have the opportunity to move up in class, be in a better place financially than my parents, and eventually pay my parents back for everything they did for me. While it will take some time, it will be worth