Photo Board Reflections
I was weary whether or not to use my #myidentity image at first because I had seen various photos on google plus that were so colourful and cheerful, I did second guess myself but decided I connected with the photo and posted it because It’s who I am. What encouraged me to post the image was the values that we spoke about in my tutorial class, one of the main ones said by many was respect, so my second thoughts had disappeared because I felt that I would not be judged and I became confident in sharing my image. This exercise has taught me that I am allowed to be unique and portray myself to people in whatever way I feel comfortable.
As said in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a nationality, which of course played a big role in the #myhistory topic. James George quoted the American Phycologist Carl A. Rogers in his lecture he said that our stories make us just as much as we make them and it was intriguing to see others speak about their history with passion. “History give us ‘roots’ – it grounds our understanding,” When learning about my history this quote really made sense to me, seeing others passionately write about their history gave me a personal urge to find out more of mine, to understand where I came from, and learn about where it all began. In doing so I discovered that my roots were deeper in the Tahitian side of history than I first thought.
Michael (2010) writes that ‘culture is inseparable from human life,’ however reading this I was stumped on the topic of #myculture I felt I did not have one worthy enough to share, after seeing peers posting about their different cultures and how they follow their traditions. I was frustrated as to why having a culture didn’t come to mind easy for me. I thought for a long time when really, it was staring me in the face. The traditional family Sundays that my family and I share together. Coming from a small town that caters to many families of culture I related to Edward T. Halls statement when he wrote that ‘we cannot judge culture on what we see when we first enter it, we must take the time to get to know the individuals and interact with them, by doing so, only then can we uncover the values and beliefs.’
I feel a personal connection to my #humanarts image, as 6 years of my life was dedicated to ballet. I knew the pain, but the overwhelming sense of completion and happiness once you’ve preformed something that you have been training so long for, urges you to forget the aches you went through. I believe that everybody has the right to stand tall and be proud in everything that they do. As all humans are born to be free and equal in their dignity and rights (UDOHR).
References:
George, J. (2016). The use of Narratives in the Shaping of Personal and Collective Identity. Lecture, AUT University.
Hall, E. (1976). Beyond culture. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press.
Michael, R. (2010). Preface. Cultural Studies: A Practical Introduction.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations. (2016). Un.org. Retrieved 21 August 2016, from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html
