When I hear someone say, what is your culture? I get a little confused. The first thing that comes to mind is the Southern culture and the differences of the Northern culture. After taking a better look into the true meaning of the word culture, it is difficult to relate to my German heritage. My great grandparents were direct descendants from West Deutschland in Germany. This of course was prior to the Berlin Wall being torn down which led to the name change eliminating East and West Deutschland and combined them into one. My family name is Richter but before my descendants came from Germany it was VonRichter.
They dropped the Von and left it the shorter version Richter When my German descendants arrived in America, the lived in Wisconsin until a job opportunity led them to Tennessee. My great grandfather worked as general labor for the Core of Engineers and helped to build the Old Hickory Dam in Old Hickory Tennessee. He was injured on the job and lost the use of his legs, becoming paralyzed due to having a large container of concrete dropped on him. My great grandmother spoke only German and did not communicate with anyone other than her husband. When Vincent Richter died, she lived alone for almost a year before the loneliness and depression caused her to take her own life. My culture would most likely be summed up in a couple of words including; hardworking, family oriented, and dedicated. These are also the terms that I would use if someone asked me what my core values were. Coming from an entire family of hardworking blue collar factory workers it is easy for me to see what cultural variations can add to ones daily life as well as the total life experience. That cultural vision has help me to see how others family are structured as well as their work ethic and so on. I have learned a great deal about many different social cultures as well as religious beliefs by working in environments with a wide range of people from many different backgrounds. As a child I was part of a new program introduced to this area of intermixing classes and ethnic groups in the school systems. I lived across the street from kids that remained in our original school while I was bussed across Nashville to a predominately black school in the Metro School District. This introduced me to a whole new culture and way of life. Drive by shootings and poverty were an everyday part of life for the children that I learned and grew with. Therefore having experienced some of the cultural differences, I gained a broad perspective of who I am and who I wanted to be.
The middle school experience led me on a path that was interrupted by a total polar opposite experience in High School. I attended a small town school that is located in a town with a troubled past. My first summer there the local KKK would stand out at the red lights to hand out pamphlets. Whoa! what a culture shock, to a young boy coming out of a diverse school district. It was always present in the background due to there being no diversity in that school. Racial prejudices were a part of everyday life and learning from those help mold me into who I am today. Being able to see past the outside of a person and read what is on the inside is the true picture of who a person really is.
My family Culture has always been work hard to provide for your family as soon as you can get a job. I graduated High School early to go into the work force as soon as I could. All of my Forefathers were excellent providers but lacked the vision to see beyond just getting the bills paid. I, upon completion, will be the first of the entire Richter family to attend or received a college diploma. My culture is changing to one that not only encourages me to succeed but to also think outside the box and reach higher than anyone in my family ever has before.
Overall, I can say that my culture has been accumulated over the years and I hope to continue to add to it as I progress through my career. German culture is something that I am not familiar with but am intrigued and plan on focusing on in my future studies. I leave you with a quote from my father… “You will never get in trouble for doing a job too good!”
They dropped the Von and left it the shorter version Richter When my German descendants arrived in America, the lived in Wisconsin until a job opportunity led them to Tennessee. My great grandfather worked as general labor for the Core of Engineers and helped to build the Old Hickory Dam in Old Hickory Tennessee. He was injured on the job and lost the use of his legs, becoming paralyzed due to having a large container of concrete dropped on him. My great grandmother spoke only German and did not communicate with anyone other than her husband. When Vincent Richter died, she lived alone for almost a year before the loneliness and depression caused her to take her own life. My culture would most likely be summed up in a couple of words including; hardworking, family oriented, and dedicated. These are also the terms that I would use if someone asked me what my core values were. Coming from an entire family of hardworking blue collar factory workers it is easy for me to see what cultural variations can add to ones daily life as well as the total life experience. That cultural vision has help me to see how others family are structured as well as their work ethic and so on. I have learned a great deal about many different social cultures as well as religious beliefs by working in environments with a wide range of people from many different backgrounds. As a child I was part of a new program introduced to this area of intermixing classes and ethnic groups in the school systems. I lived across the street from kids that remained in our original school while I was bussed across Nashville to a predominately black school in the Metro School District. This introduced me to a whole new culture and way of life. Drive by shootings and poverty were an everyday part of life for the children that I learned and grew with. Therefore having experienced some of the cultural differences, I gained a broad perspective of who I am and who I wanted to be.
The middle school experience led me on a path that was interrupted by a total polar opposite experience in High School. I attended a small town school that is located in a town with a troubled past. My first summer there the local KKK would stand out at the red lights to hand out pamphlets. Whoa! what a culture shock, to a young boy coming out of a diverse school district. It was always present in the background due to there being no diversity in that school. Racial prejudices were a part of everyday life and learning from those help mold me into who I am today. Being able to see past the outside of a person and read what is on the inside is the true picture of who a person really is.
My family Culture has always been work hard to provide for your family as soon as you can get a job. I graduated High School early to go into the work force as soon as I could. All of my Forefathers were excellent providers but lacked the vision to see beyond just getting the bills paid. I, upon completion, will be the first of the entire Richter family to attend or received a college diploma. My culture is changing to one that not only encourages me to succeed but to also think outside the box and reach higher than anyone in my family ever has before.
Overall, I can say that my culture has been accumulated over the years and I hope to continue to add to it as I progress through my career. German culture is something that I am not familiar with but am intrigued and plan on focusing on in my future studies. I leave you with a quote from my father… “You will never get in trouble for doing a job too good!”
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