Exploring Cultural Identities And Raising Global Consciousness

My contribution to UC Santa Cruz Merrill college’s ethos of Exploring Cultural Identities & Raising Global Consciousness has exemplified my awareness and sensitivity towards promoting an inclusionary environment. Merrill’s ethos means to stimulate respect for world cultures and to nurture each students’ culture through the university curriculum. I contributed to Merrill college’s ethos as a teacher assistant who seeks to nurture diversity by helping first-year students adapt their unique culture to a university culture, which led to an inclusionary environment. As an assistant in a university, I worked with a vast number of students from different backgrounds. For instance, international students from a variety of countries, Asian American, African American, and Latino/Latina. I helped stimulate respect for world cultures by having office hours where the students and I dialogued about cultures and how culture affects the college experience. This created a space for students to practice portraying their culture in academics and the opportunity to dialogue

As a Hmong American who believed in shamanism, I struggled to find a space in the university where people can relate to me and that I can relate to. This negatively affected my academics and well-being because very little people understood the emotional, spiritual, and physical struggles I endured. In addition, there were very little or perhaps even no resources available that catered to my needs. This struggle lasted for half of my undergrad and after countless searches, I discovered a space where I felt included and relatable. Thus, I concluded that I did not want any passionate students to struggle with cultural isolation and an exclusive work environment because the students should be focusing on their dreams instead of trying to survive