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.

Week 8, Rethinking Immigration--Allison Miller

On my trip to San Diego, I noticed a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment.

 

 

In the small town that I grew up in, when I was younger I would always hear my friends’ parents complaining about how immigrants would come here illegally for the sole purpose of “stealing our jobs.”  Suarez-Orozco (x’s 2) summarizes this idea well:  “In recent years, the dominant anti-immigration narrative has ignited fears that immigrants are flooding our shores, taking our jobs, overwhelming our social services, and inflating our crime rate” (p. 38).  Since I was only in elementary school when exposed to these ideas, I didn’t really understand what they meant.  As I have gotten older, however, I realize how ridiculous this viewpoint really is.  As Suarez-Orozco (x’s 2) claims about immigration:  “the preponderance of evidence from the most reliable sources points to a relative economic benefit at the national level and modest economic costs at the local level” (p. 45). 

Contrary to the opinions I grew up hearing in my hometown, immigration actually benefits the economy, and many immigrants who are supposedly “stealing our jobs” are actually doing jobs that many Americans don’t like to do. 

            I think that since there are so many Americans who are all for this anti-immigrant sentiment, that the government needs to address this issue head-on by exposing the truth about immigration.  Americans should know that immigrants are helping our economy, not stealing jobs.  In addition, since so many people are under the impression that most immigrants illegally living in the United States, they should be publicly informed that this number is actually significantly smaller than they think.  I also believe that the American public should be taught more about the psychological stressors that immigrants face in the hopes that maybe our entire viewpoint will shift and we will see immigrants as equals.  The first step to acceptance is empathy, and many people do not partake in this empathetic attitude because they are ignorant to the facts.

Week 6, Intercultural Interactions--Allison Miller

My roommate from last year (Hannah) and me

Intercultural interactions take place more frequently than many people think; the United States is often referred to as a “melting pot” due to the vast amount of cultures it contains.  Though this is true, there are many existing obstacles when it comes to interactions between different cultures.  For instance, “People may speak the same language but do not have a ‘bicultural’ understanding of another’s cultural background, which can be problematic” (Vaughn, p. 101).  People need to acknowledge the differences in culture, even between themselves and people who look like them (but are culturally different).  If there is no acknowledgment of differences, people may feel as though their culture is not being respected, and this may lead to them experiencing culture shock.     

Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic

For many people, it is very difficult to interact with someone from a different culture.  So many misunderstandings can occur within seconds—from eye contact, to personal space, to something as simple as smiling.  This reminds me of my experiences in the Dominican Republic two years ago.  I went on a mission trip with a very small group of people, and we built a house in Luperon, Dominican Republic.  Unfortunately, my four years of French studies did not do me much good in a predominantly Spanish-speaking country.  I therefore experienced a very frustrating language barrier with all of the Dominicans.  Reflecting upon my trip, I now realize how awkward the whole situation was, for not only me, but the Dominican people with whom I had come into contact.  I did not know anything about their culture, and thus probably obliviously broke a million unwritten ‘rules’. On the first day of class when we talked about having a mentee who may not speak English, I was extremely nervous that I would not be able to adequately communicate with him or her.  Luckily my mentee is fluent in both Spanish and English, so we haven't had much of a problem when it comes to communicating.  

           With that being said, I think it’s safe to say that I am not as culturally competent as I would like to be, although I think that I’ve made huge strides since coming to college.  Another eye-opening challenge that I faced was living with an Asian-American roommate throughout my freshman year.  We held different beliefs, celebrated different holidays, and essentially had vastly different ways of viewing the world.  Our family systems were different, as well as our values.  In hindsight after learning a bit about cultural competence, I think many of our miscommunication issues could have been avoided.  As I have recently learned, cultural competence includes (but is not limited to) cultural diversity, cultural sensitivity, and cultural awareness (Vaughn, p. 102).  I thought it was very interesting learning about the different approaches to cultural competence.  As I will be entering the healthcare field as a nurse after college, I feel as though I will be pretty familiar with the ResCUE method (Respect, Communicate, Understand, Engage).  My goal is to eventually work at Children’s Hospital, where I would experience several intercultural interactions every single day!