Week 10, Learnings/Summary--Allison Miller

This quarter has sped by, and now that it’s coming to a close I must say that I am extremely grateful for the enriching experiences that this class has given me.  Being a mentor to an immigrant child taught me more about immigration firsthand, reinforcing what I was learning about in the readings every week. 

            Overall, I have learned about immigration as a whole; about the many different experiences that people have when immigrating, how the situation affects peoples’ outlook on their new land (i.e. leaving because of persecution vs. leaving for better opportunities).  I have also learned about the effects immigration can have on some individuals, namely culture shock.  However, that being said, I have also realized that just because someone is an immigrant, doesn’t mean that they are escaping persecution and experiencing culture shock in America.  Immigration is not a single experience that millions of people go through; immigrants each have their own individual stories, which may not be applicable to the rest of the immigrant population.  There is no such thing as a “cookie cutter” immigrant experience, so we must try to refrain from making general assumptions.

I really hope to stay in contact with my mentee!

            This experience has also taught me more about myself.  Throughout this blog, I do quite a few comparisons of my mentee, Lizbeth, and myself.  I compare her to myself at age 8, how I interacted with my peers, my experiences with schoolwork and family life.  Though there are quite a few distinct differences between us, I have come to find that Lizbeth and I (particularly at age 8) do share a number of similarities.  In terms of applying this to my life, it has shown me that no matter who someone appears to be, however different they may seem, it is quite possible to share similarities and thus relate to one another.  I think that this is something the entire world should take into consideration:  empathy.

            As I continue to pursue my career in nursing, I wish to always remember this fact.  Since I plan on eventually working at Children’s Hospital right down the street in Cincinnati, I will undoubtedly come into contact with many types of people who are different from me (be it religion, sexual orientation, language, and culture in general).  I always want to keep an open mind about people, and search for the similarities between ourselves so that we may find mutual respect and understanding for one another.  While I’m sure that it is not always going to be as easy to do this as it was with Lizbeth, I’m sure it is still possible, no matter what the circumstances.  I plan to pursue cultural competency as a goal, and implement the strategies that Vaughn discusses in chapter five of her book.  And I know that if I ever have questions about how to interact with those of another culture, there are a plethora of resources available to me to further educate myself.