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Sandra De Paz
Professor Ditch
English 113B
8 May 2015
I will not Give Up
Culture can have many different meanings it can be from a group that has religious
beliefs, languages, or a set of values. Cultural identity can be the image of yourself from
someone elses perspective; it represents who you are and being accepted culturally. By
experiencing the Cadet Program and my Family culture I get to experience more than one
identity of myself. Although it can be challenging due to their differences of culture, I believe I
can embrace two different cultures because I get to experience both sides of the cultures and see
their different elements.
Being in different environments can change someones character. Everybodys identity
moves through cultural spaces without even realizing it. For example, I am currently in the
LAPD Cadet Program, graduated November 17, 2013. This program helps teens ages from 1420 years old to learn about leadership, honor, citizenship and responsibility. It is a program that
can help you out if youre seeking to become a police officer but as well helps teens aim for a
better brighter future. I meet up with my station occasionally and when I do meet up with them
my whole identity changes. I know that once I step into that station I have to get my act together
and be serious most of the time. It is a different identity I have to play while being at the station
vs. being at home or hanging out with friends. For example while being with my friends I can act
and dress like myself. While being in the station I have to act serious, respond respectfully, and
look different. When I say look different I mean I cant wear makeup, dress how I want due to
wearing a uniform, have to have my hair in a tight bun, and cant have my nails painted. Theres

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a place and time where my fellow cadets and I can act like ourselves but still follow commands.
It depends on our environment. For example, when we have field trips we can loosen up a bit by
not having to listen to their commands all the time or wear our uniform. With this different
environment around me my identity has to change constantly.
In addition, while in the program I feel as women should try things that other people may
think we cant do or try jobs that you mostly see men do. My sisters think that being a police
officer is only a mans job since you dont see much woman out there in the field. I wanted to
break that domestic traditional norm from their heads. My sisters believed I was going to give up
just because I am a girl and most people in the academy are boys, which pushed me more into
putting my effort into the academy. My family including my sisters went one day to the station to
see what my fellow cadets and myself were doing. By the end of the session my sisters were
impressed because the environment that I had to be in changed my whole identity. They were
able to see my different identity as I couldnt be a sweet soft girl I had to be the total opposite:
aggressive and loud.
In the article Culture and Communication, Anastacia Kurylo talks about the different
cultures someone can have. Culture doesnt only have to be about culture but instead it can be
about many things as religion, dancing, sports, symbols, communication etc. Culture doesnt
only have one identity instead it has many. She mentions you manage your identities through
your communication (Kurylo, 4), which means the way you communicate with someone is how
your identity is represented. Your communication can be the other persons first impression of
yourself. Identity doesnt only have to do with the change of environments you are in but it also
has to do with communication.

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Communication isnt the only element that someone can represent their identity, instead
there are many other ways. As for example someone can manage their identity by music or
dancing. Everybody has their own point of view to manage their own identity. But I will have to
say, that I agree with Kurylo because I can relate to what she is trying to say in her quote. When
Im with the officers my whole communication changes towards if I were to communicate with
my friends. I have to communicate with them with respect and always either call them sir or
maam. If I dont communicate with them respectfully they can simply misunderstand me and
think I am not taking the program serious or see me as someone different. The cultural space
around me causes me to have a different performance.
Moreover, in the article Self-Identity and Culture Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glenn, and
Kesha Willams mentions about how someone can discover their culture not only by religion
culture but as other ways. You get to notice your own culture and identity by communicating
with others. They mention People begin to see culture when they begin to interact with others
who do not share their same beliefs and behaviors (Jackson,Glenn,Williams, 117). Meaning
when you have your own belief and someone disagrees with it; you will start to notice that
youre protecting that belief. As youre protecting that belief you notice that its not a usual
culture as others but instead it seem as abnormal because youre not used to learning about this
culture. For the most part, I can agree with Jackson, Glenn, and Williams because I started to
notice that in the Cadet Program it had a different culture than my home. I started to realize it
with my behavior towards the officers. My behavior will change drastically from being at the
station as if being at home or hanging out with my friends. For example, being at the station my
behavior will turn out to be more respectful due to so many officers being there; while being with
my friends or home my behavior will be more like myself, acting how I want and not being

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controlled with every movement I make. I didnt know that my behavior could have been some
type of culture till I read the article Self-Identity and Culture by Ronald Jackson, Cerise Glenn,
and Kesha Williams.
Furthermore, in the article of Why Dont More Men Go Into Teaching? Motoko Rich,
talks about how men dont really like going to the work field of becoming a teacher or nursing.
Men believe this two type of work fields are focally more for women. He mentions were not
beyond having a cultural devaluation of womens work, so that if a job is done primarily by
women, people tend to believe it has less value. Which means careers that women tend to
choose pays less than the careers men tend to choose. Which in my point of view, I disagree with
him because men should be able to cut that cultural belief that only women choose nursing and
teaching. Men should seek other options and not keep the chain of where mens should work and
where womens should work. I can relate to the article Why Dont More Men go Into
Teaching? by Motoko Rich, because I was in the same situation when I started my Cadet
Program. My sisters didnt believe in me because of identity; which was because I was a girl and
I wasnt aggressive. Not only because of my identity they judge me but they also didnt believe I
was going to make it because the majority that were in the Cadet Program were boys. They said I
shouldnt even bother to go when the workouts that we have to do in the academy were intense
and only boys can handle it. When I heard this, it just pushed me more into not giving up because
I wanted to break that cultural tradition that only boys/mens can do hard things.
So too, in the article Teaching Our Girls, Dr. Suszanne Steinbaum mentions about how
women that have the same careers as mens end up getting paid less. She talks about how
equality still hasnt changed between genders when it comes to jobs. She argues that women that
have great GPAs in college and have higher degrees then men, should have the same advantage

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as men do in the work field. She mentions and, most of all stand up for who you are and what
you want meaning women should stand up for their rights and their identity shouldnt affect
their workplace. Why should someones culture identity affect their careers? Its like saying a
mens identity will be better off than a womens identity when it comes to jobs.
As though, everybody has their own different ways to express their own identity or
express their cultural aspects; mine happens to be with the change of the environment I tend to
be in. My identity changes with whoever I communicate with, it can be at home, work, school, or
my Cadet Program. Wherever I am my identity wont be stable. The only stable thing I would
have is knowing how to communicate with each person I talk to. Perhaps I can notice more ways
to find my cultural identity, but for now this is my way to discover my different identities in the
world and break certain cultural beliefs that my family believes in.

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Works Cited
Jackson, Ronald. Self Identity and Culture Paper Article, Inc. Web. 19
Feb 2015.
Kurylo, Anastacia. Culture and Communication Paper Article, Inc. Web. 19
Feb 2015.
Rich, Motoko. Why dont More Men Go into Teaching? New York Times. New York
Times, 6 Sep 2014, Inc. Web. 19 Feb 2015.
Stienbaum, Dr.Suzanne. Teaching Our Girls Huffington Post. Huffington Post,
21 Oct 2014 21 Dec 2014, Inc. Web. 19 Feb 2015.