Karen Gonzalez

Professor Christensen

EDU 280: Valuing Cultural Diversity

Personal Cultural Identity Collage

My name is Karen Gonzalez, I am Mexican American. I was born on January 12, 1991 in

San Bernardino, California. My family consists of my father, my mother, my older brother and

my younger brother. My dads name is Jose. He works in Caesars Palace. My moms name is

Amparo. She works at Hilton Hotel. Both my parents emigrated from Mexico when they were in

there twenties. They both became American citizens. I have a 24 year old brother. He is the

oldest of three. His name is Hamlet Gonzalez. He graduated from Rancho High School from

their aviation academy. After graduating he left to Loyola University Chicago to study business.

Now he is doing his masters in Law. Im in the middle. I am a 19 years old. I am a very caring,

loving, respecting, supporting person. I graduated from Rancho High School. I was in their

medical program. In the end of my Junior year I found out about a awesome program Step Up I

remember being so anxious to find out if I would be in it my Senior Year. I was so happy when I

found out that I had been accepted to be in Step Up. When senior year came it was an exciting

year for me until the last months when I had to choose were was I going to go after High School.

I wanted to continue with Step Up because I loved the professors and I had gained a lot of

knowledge during that year. When I spoke to my parents about going to CSN and continuing

with Step Up, they were not happy with my decision. They wanted me to attend a University and

follow my older brothers foot-steps. It was a very emotional time for me because I felt like I

didnt have no one supporting me in my decision. I believe my parents should have supported me

with my decision no matter what. I begged them I cried for them to understand that a college is
similar to a University. I was still going to get my degree but it didnt work. I wanted to make

my mom happy and for her to be proud of me so after High School I went to the University of

Las Vegas, Nevada. After my 1st year there I didnt like it. The professors were nothing

compare to what I have had at CSN. In December of 2009 I meet my boyfriend Andy and during

these months he has taught me a lot. He taught me how to be stronger and to stand up for myself.

The main thing he has taught me is to get respect you need to give respect. After my unsatisfied

year at UNLV, I decided to go back to CSN and, believe me, it was not easy telling my parents,

but I let them know that they had to respect my decision so they did. I have a younger brother

name Kent Gonzalez. He is a junior at East Career and Technical Academy. I support him no

matter what and I respect him in whatever decision he makes. I support him in his out of school

activities such as sports and clubs I try to go to every game he has. As you can see education is a

major factor in our family. Thats why my parents came to the United States to give us a better

future and have all these opportunities that they never had.

I lived in Ontario, California for five years and 14 years here in Las Vegas, Nevada. My

values are family, education, loyalty, respect and happiness. My goal is to get my bachelors

degree in Elementary Education. Another goal I have is that my mom wants to go to Egypt so I

want to take her to Egypt. I want to travel, and I would love to have a family of my own, but I

believe that will come when the time is right. One of my biases it's easier to find something than

to find it again and if you wait for the perfect conditions, youll spend your life waiting. My

prejudice is that I had to think for myself and make my own decisions about people. My family

is Catholic when I was younger my parents would take us to a Catholic Church. My older

Brother was baptized; he did his first communion and the conformation. I was baptized and I did

my first communion. My younger brother he was only baptized. What happened was as we grew
older they stopped taking us to church because we had home work or stuff happened, but my

mom always tells us that even tough we dont go to church we still have to pray and there is a

god that we need to believe in.

I read, write and speak English. I learned how to speak it when I started to go to school,

and my first language is Spanish. I also speak, read and write it. I find having to speak two

languages very beneficial when it comes to helping other people. When I was in High School, I

ran Cross Country for three years and I played Tennis my senior year. Those are still my interest.

I also enjoy cooking, making dessert and I love playing and watching any sport. I am creative so

I like to scrapbook and make cute stuff such as cards. I enjoy going to the movies, hanging out at

the park, spending time with my family, spending time with my boyfriend, spending time with

friends, going to the mall and I love bowling even thought I am not good. My family celebrates

every main holiday we have in the United States New Years, Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day,

Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthdays. On Birthdays we

gather family and family friends to celebrate with us on the special day. The only holiday we

celebrate that is not from the U.S. is El Dia de Los Muertos the Day of the Dead. My mom wants

us to keep this as a tradition. My younger brother and me help her set up an altar with flowers,

fruit, candy and food.