I can never have my father’s smile or my mother’s eyes, and my skin tone will never match their pale skin, even though I am their daughter. My parents’ DNA cannot be traced in my body nor my siblings’. Growing up in this family has given me a future I would never have had if I were not adopted. At the age 10, I saw the world from another perspective when my family and I embarked on a journey to adopt my younger sister. Traveling back to my birth country shaped me into the person I am today because I have become open-minded through having a better understanding of privileges and values. Traveling through China broadened my perspective when I grasped the concept of privilege. For 10 years, I thought privileges were leverages that influenced an individual’s status, but then I learned how …show more content…
After I traveled to China, I realized the qualities of love, humanity, and happiness were much more valuable than posterity of wealth. However when I immersed myself within Chinese culture, I was exposed to another facet of humanity. As I took a step back to appreciate China’s natural beauty, I noticed how much people devoted their full attention on something. When I saw people interact face-to-face, this same principle applied of focusing on the present. I saw values of respect and love ingrained in their character because they disregarded any outside distractions that swayed their attention. By seeing this, I realized how much these people appreciated companionship when their smiles lit up the room. I learned that the values of love and happiness were derived from living actively and feeling important to others. Cultural sensitivity has influenced my mindfulness by giving me the ability to shift perspectives and evaluate my priorities. Having a deeper appreciation of values has helped me understand someone else’s point of