Culture Bound Listeners

"Culture bound listeners" refers to the type of listeners that we become as early as our 1st birthday. The first year in a child's life is the most critical period for learning. Moreover, it is the most critical period for cognitive development. Being a nutrition student, and having taken a few psych classes, I have come to learn that this couldn't me more true. Without any doubt, first and foremost, children learn through observation and experience.While they may not know exactly what they're doing at first, they tend to mimick our actions. Overtime, this mimicking is converted into habits and thus, when they are older, they are aware of these actions. It is also very important to note that participation is key. Whether it be routines, rituals, etc., participation results in repeated experiences which creates multiple opportunities for learning. It is critical that the activities of which the child participates in are goal directed and positive! As well, parental expectations have a large impact on the outcome of the experiences.

We Are Family

My family has first and foremost had the greatest impact on any of my personal opinions that I have formed about anything, ever. One of the main things that has stuck with me throughout my whole life is to treat everyone equal; treat someone as you want to be treated-- even if they look different or do things in another way. One of the first times these statements really meant a lot to me is when we welcomed my Dad's cousin's new wife and sons into the family. As our family is entirely Caucasian, it was odd (especially at a young age) to all of a sudden consider someone who is of Asian decent as part of our family. This was the point that I learned that although they may speak, act or look different, we are all family. From then on, this is how I view the world. The phrase "so many cultures, so many possibilities" is my ultimate view point on the world in general in that no one culture is the same, nor is any one person the same. Furthermore, with culture comes variation, and with variation comes possibilities-- endless possibilities to be exact. However, with all this variation I stand to focus on the fact that when it comes down to it, we are all human and despite our differences, racism, discrimination, prejudice, etc. are completely unnecessary. Hence, the phrase: "we are family".