Week Four: Psychosocial Experiences

Contrary to how it appears,
Jose was happy to see me.

This week Jose seemed extremely excited to see me. He rushed up with a huge smile on his face and told me all about his visit to the circus on Sunday. This reminded me of Vaughn's section about happiness in which she states that forty percent of our happiness levels are controlled by personal actions and attitudes. Jose’s trip to the circus was enough to make him happy for days; Jose allows himself to be happy and seems to approach day-to-day life with a positive attitude, which I am sure has helped him to adjust and grow in a healthy manner.

Cultural Distance

I would tend to say that I am pretty even-keeled. I obviously get excited about things and have both good and bad days, but things never tend to get me down. I guess this more constricted range of emotion can serve as both a detriment and an advantage. While I may not be excited for days by a happy experience, I also tend not to allow things to get to me as easily.

This week was also the first time that I saw Jose working on school tasks. Helping him with an English worksheet and reading an Arthur book with him showed me that he still does have a few difficulties in school. Once when he misspelled a word and I corrected him, he explained to me that he used the incorrect vowel because they are pronounced differently in Spanish. It does seem that being a part of an immigrant family that speaks Spanish at home. Vaughn also talks bout the importance of language in the same chapter and notes that it is an important component of culture. I would imagine that it is hard for Jose to feel completely “American” while he is still learning the intricacies of the English language.