Running header: CULTURAL SELF-ANALYSIS 1

Cultural Self-Analysis: Comparing Two Different Lives

Caitlyn Hinnerschitz

Professor Hollis

Coastal Carolina University

Education 215
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Cultural Self-Analysis: Comparing Two Different Lives

Autobiography

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”, once said Aristotle. But how much

time do we as individuals take to find ourselves and what makes us unique? The purpose of this

section is to tell my story and life events to you so one can grasp a better understanding of what

and who helped to shape me into who I am today. To get started, my name is Caitlyn

Hinnerschitz and I am a nineteen-year-old female who resides in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I

am currently attending college at Coastal Carolina University in hopes to one day be an

elementary school teacher. I have been raised as an only child, even though I have five older

half-brothers. I always yearned to have a sibling while growing up; to this day all but one of my

brothers has chosen to communicate with me, which has caused a lot of pain and grief

throughout my childhood and life thus far. My mom, dad, and I have always been a tight-knit

unit and they have always provided a positive and encouraging home environment. We refer to

ourselves as “The Tribe” who cannot be separated or broken. My parents have served as such

positive role models while supporting me in all aspects of life, such as my education and life

choices. Family is important and invaluable, we get together for family reunions annually and try

to have family dinners with my grandparents at least twice a week. It has been instilled in me

that as a family we stand up for each other and love each other unconditionally, through good

and bad times.

My parents both have highly qualified jobs. My mother is a seasonal account while my

father works for one of Vice Presidents of Sprint in the finance department. Both of my parents

have obtained master’s degrees. Because I was raised as an only child with two older parents

(compared to the age of my classmates) who are both classified as the Upper-Middle class and
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high socioeconomic statuses, I was able to attend very diverse educational settings throughout

my academic career. In elementary school, I went to a private Catholic school called St. Mary’s

in Fishkill, New York. We wore blue and green plaid uniforms and had very strict teachers. But

in 2011, my whole world turned upside down when we moved to South Carolina, which is when

I had my first interaction with a public school: Ocean Bay Middle School. This was a big change

in academic settings and I struggled to fit in and often fell victim to bullying. Proceeding middle

school, I attended a charter school called the Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology.

For my first two years I was considered a STEM student and for my junior and senior year, I was

a Theatre Major. For me, this school was the perfect blend between a private school and a

traditional public school. The Academy offered me a place to fit in and love school again. I

believe that the different settings I have been a part of during my academic years correlate to my

study habits, high grades in school, and good behavior. Throughout my educational experiences I

was the student referred to as the “goody -two-shoes” who never had any infractions with the

rules in regard to my behavior; in fact, in middle school, I was one of the select few who never

had a lunch detention.

I believe that my faith also played a role in my temperament and behavior as well. I am a

devout Christian that belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Church has always played a huge

role in my life from attending a Catholic school, to attending religious classes at my church in

middle and high school, to attending bible studies, and to now teaching Catholic supplemental

classes to those who are behind in their faith at our church. Now my father is also in the process

of becoming a deacon in our church, which is considered a milestone in our faith. This process

has brought our family closer to Christ that we have ever been before. In my family, we
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participate in all of the Catholic holidays and traditions such as Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy

Week, Holy Days of Obligation, and Christmas festivities.

In addition to my faith, my work ethic and personality are other areas in my life that I

highly value and make me who I am. I have instilled a life motto to turn in quality work first and

on time; I am also not content with average grades. I believe that we as human beings should not

be seen as a number, but also have the mental capacity and ability to exceed in certain areas of

life. My outlook on life is to not only live each day to the fullest but also give it your all every

day. Because of this, I approach every day with a positive outlook and try to never criticize

others or their behaviors. I enjoy meeting new people and have never been socially awkward; I

look forward to presenting and talking in front of groups as well.

The socialization aspect of my life could be correlated with all of the extracurricular

activities I was able to participate in. Since the age of three, I have been dancing and the art form

has had a tremendous impact on who I am today. In fact, after my thirteen years of dance

training, I am now a dance teacher at Silver Lining Dance Academy. My first dance competition

in eighth grade made we realize that performing in front of people is what I am called to do, and

it also instilled confidence in myself as an individual. After that moment, I broke out of my shell

and always volunteered to participate and voice my opinion whether in the classroom or in

another social setting. My parents always encouraged me to play outside with friends and

neighbors instead of sitting alone glued to the television, which is the main reason why I am so

outgoing and sociable today. Overall, my parents, education, religion, and extracurricular

activities have all helped to shape me into the person I am today. I cannot wait to see what other

interactions and forces help me to develop my sense of self-identity in the future.

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Biography

Have you ever stopped to think what the cliché saying, “do not judge a book by its cover

really means”? People have been told for centuries not to fall victim to the saying, but as

humans, we do often. It is not until after getting to know the person do we get to read the pages

of their book that provides us with the facts of what makes them who they are. Now that you

have a basic understanding of what makes me who I am, let’s dive into who exactly my mentee

is. After conducting multiple interviews with my mentee over the past six weeks, I have realized

just how much our lives differ in almost every area, except for race. My mentee is nine years old

and is a fourth grader at Waccamaw Elementary School. First, we will begin with an analyzation

of the school my mentee attends, and it is important to note that this information came from the

South Carolina Department of Education’s South Carolina Report Card and interviews with

Melynda Duncan and Haley Seasor. Waccamaw is considered a Title 1 school and has

approximately 852 students. The school is made up of 52% females and 48% males. At the

school, there are also five different races present: White (50%), African American (25%),

Hispanic/Latino (18%), American Indian or Alaska Native (1%). In addition, 5% of students are

comprised of two or more races. At the school, 76% percent of students receive free or reduced

lunches. One could say that the school is a melting pot that embraces all cultures and diversities.

Now that we have analyzed where my mentee goes to school, let’s get back to his story. He

has lived in South Carolina for approximately three years now. He moved to Conway from

Cambridge, Ohio and he says all the time that he wishes that he could go back. He stated that he

misses the cold weather and playing in the snow with his siblings and making snowmen and

angles. Since moving to South Carolina, he has adopted and assimilated into much of the

southern culture such as talking with a southern accent and saying yes, ma’am and sir. He
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described the move as being hard on him because he did not want to leave his friends and neither

did his siblings. It is important to note that he is the middle child of his family. He has three

sisters and two brothers, but only one brother and sister live with him. The brother that lives with

him is younger than him by two years and his sister is older than him.

The reason why the other siblings do not reside in the household is because of a nasty

divorce that took place many years ago. My mentee does not have a positive relationship with his

biological dad. When he was asked why he hated and resented him so much he responded by

saying “I hate him because he is stupid and every word out of his mouth is a lie”. He has

admitted that his biological father has not been a part of his life for quite some time and that he is

closer to his step-father. He yearns for a positive male role model in his life. He and his mother

have a very close bond and relationship. His mother works as a substitute teacher at Waccamaw

Elementary School and he makes frequent stops to the class she is helping with each day. His

step-father works for a heating and cooling company called SWIFT and is one of the managers

for the company. His family falls into the middle-class portion of society; his mother is a white-

collar worker, while his step-father is a blue-collar worker. In regard to socioeconomic status, the

family would most likely fall into the lower portion due to lack of collegiate degrees and job

occupation held by family members. My mentee has noted aspects of finical restraints in the

home, such as not having enough money to buy him newer clothes.

Although the family is not rich monetarily, they are rich in another aspect: faith. An

important area in my mentee’s life is his religion. He constantly reminds me that he is a Christian

that loves the Lord. He is a Southern Baptist and everyone in the school knows it. At recess he

conducts his own bible study; he leads a group of students in discussions about the Bible, which

is pretty impressive for a fourth grader. His personality is very mature for a fourth grader as well.
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He likes to talk about topics that are not usually interesting for a child of his age. My mentee

does not participate in any extracurricular activities except for music club after school on

Thursdays and when asked what his favorite hobby is he could not answer, which plays a role in

his lack of socialization.

In addition, he is very inquisitive, and because of this, he struggles with socializing and with

making friends that are of his age. In fact, he is bullied often by classmates. When asked what

was the worse form of bullying that has occurred this school year to him, he said it was when

another male student (who had been harassing him the whole year) randomly came up and

punched him in the stomach. My mentee then defended himself by the punching him right back,

which resulted in both students getting in trouble. A few weeks later, he confessed that the

student had also been kicking him underneath his desk and left purple bruises on his shins. The

bullying that has occurred throughout the school year has made him apprehensive about going to

school and he has lost some of his alacrity for learning.

My mentee participates in the special education program at the school as well, due to

socialization and academic problems. He told me that at first, he was placed in the program due

to speech and pronunciation problems, and now his reading and comprehension skills are

lacking. Since he is placed in the special education program, he has an individual IEP and is

pulled out from his regular classroom for two hours each morning for intervention. His grades

are mostly below average, but his goal is to get all of them either A’s or B’s. When asked why

his grades are low, he responded by saying “I do not know why”; he likes school but hates

reading and has a hard time staying focused on a certain task. It is important to note that my

mentee often gets punished for not paying attention or wandering/walking around during class

without permission. Even though he is faced with learning adversities, he never fails to have a
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smile on his face and something positive to say. His personality can brighten up any room and

put a smile on anyone’s face. His family, home life, education, and religion have all shaped him

into the young man that he is today. Anyone who gets the chance to know this child is very

lucky.

Cross-Cultural Analysis

Caitlyn Hinnerschitz Similarities Mentee

 Upper Middle Class  Christian  Middle Class

 Private and Charter  From the  Public schools
Schools North  From Ohio
 From New York  Good teachers  Baptist
 Catholic  Dislike reading  IEP Plan- Special
 Raised as only child  Bullied in Education
 Five older half school  Has three sisters and
brothers  Christian two brothers
 Parents still married traditions  Divorced parents
 Close relationship  Has siblings  Bad relationship with
with biological  Supportive biological father
parents home-life  Male
 Female  Celebrates  Below average grades
 Above average Christian  Lower socioeconomic
grades holidays status
 High socioeconomic  Caucasian  Socially awkward
status  Positive  Parents did not go to
 Parents have attitude college
master’s degrees  Struggles in school
 Success in all aspects
of school
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When analyzing the similarities and differences between my mentee and I some

discomfort started to arise. I often do not like comparing myself to others because it makes me

feel bad for having what I have or not having enough. This broke my heart when listening to all

of the advertises that my nine-year-old mentee had to face. I also often have discomfort when

comparing religions to each other because often people become offended and start preaching that

their religion is superior to that of another. The areas of personal discomfort that were faced

throughout this activity impacted me by realizing that I needed to complete a self-reflection that

would show my own biases, especially when interacting with others. I feel as if I only felt

discomfort when my mentee and I were discussing topics that were controversial, such as

religion or politics.

I believe that my identity, mindset, thoughts, values, beliefs, and biases all stem from two

interacting forces throughout my development: my parents and my religion. My parents have

influenced me greatly and although I am a strong independent individual most of my values and

beliefs correlate to the ones that they associated with when raising me. Without them, I believe

that I would have walked down so many wrong paths leading to a very negative outcome. My

religion has impacted who I am today because as stated previously I am a devout Christian in the

Roman Catholic Church. I believe what the Bible says it what is true and what should be lived

out in our everyday life, such as treating people kindly to loving everyone. My religion has been

there for me in my darkest times and again I do not know where I would be in my life right now

without it.

Prior to this analyzing my own biases, my present beliefs shaped my thoughts and

perceptions about my mentee’s culture. I found myself jumping to conclusions about who he was

based off first glance, not spending the time to know his story. I assumed that everyone was like
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me in elementary school and that they did not have to worry about adversities upon leaving the

school. I was too focused on the superficial details of my mentee’s life story. Upon first glance, I

also assumed that my mentee could read at his grade level, not that he was two behind. All of

this being said, undergoing this process has made me realize how much my biases can stand in

the way of getting to know an individual at a personal level. I feel as if now I can better

understand my mentee and where he is coming from, why he acts the way he does, and how he

thinks.

Reflection

When first asked to complete this assignment about my mentee, I was a bit apprehensive

because I honestly did not think that we had that much that differed. He is Caucasian and so I

am, he is a Christian and so am I, he has blonde hair blue eyes and so did I at that age. I was

scared and expected that I was not going to be able to conduct a thorough cultural analysis due to

too the many similarities observable at first glance, but then something happened. The walls

between us started to break down and the superficial thoughts about each dwindled as we talked

about what events in our lives that made us who we are. This is when I began to realize just how

judgmental society, including myself, are when looking at others; especially because we tend to

compare our lives to others just by first glance. I had no idea of all the hardships that my mentee

had gone through. Upon completing this assignment, I have learned just how different people are

once you get to know their life story.

You do not only get to know their life story, but you also get to dive into their culture as they

explain it. For example, before completing the assignment I always frowned upon physical

punishment among children by their parents, but now I realize that it is the only way that works

when punishing my mentee and that it is how children were punished for in generations in his
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family. When assessing the individual’s life story/culture you get an inside glimpse of what

reality is like for them just by having a series of genuine conversations with the individual. This

project has taught me just how imperative it is to get to know a person to understand who they

are, which is a valuable tool to use in my future classroom to get to know my future students. I

have learned through this experience just how diverse our educational settings are and immersed

within them are rich cultures.

I feel that every future teacher should have to undergo this process with a student and reflect

upon it at least once before being certified. It has taught me how to relate to my mentee/student

on a personal level that segued into valuable conversations. If I had not completed this

assignment, I would have never known that my mentee had the absence of a true role model and

father figure in his life for quite some time or that it is a big deal for him to read a book out loud

on his own due to his developmental speech problems. I would have never known about his

biological dad and how much that affects him on a daily basis and that that is the reason why he

is apprehensive about forming new relationships with people. I would not have known what

makes him unique and special from all of the other students in the school. So now I am asking

myself and other educators the question: Are you the teacher who wants to know or builds up

walls so high that you will never get the chance to?
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References

SCDOE. (n.d.). South Carolina Department of Education. Retrieved March 1 2018, from

https://ed.sc.gov/data/report-cards/state-report-

cards/2017/view/?y=2017&t=E&d=2601&s=042