MLO 5: Cultural Praxis
Description:
The student demonstrates that he or she has been actively immersed in and has internalized Hispanic culture.
How I fulfilled it
A wealth of enriching experiences have led me to feel as though I have gained a large amount of cultural praxis, many of which occurred before my time at CSUMB. Though I did not participate in a program of international study due to being a transfer student and being in a time of restricted finances, my previous travels abroad and experiences over the years have expanded my world view immensely. My parents are both Spanish speakers and have lived and traveled throughout Mexico and Latin America. During her time at Stanford university, my mother published her master’s thesis on the street trees of Mexico city after an extended period of living and studying there. She now teaches horticulture and still uses her Spanish to lead bilingual tours of the school facility. My father spent the majority of his career as a landscape architect, working closely with Spanish speakers, ensuring that messages were effectively communicated to his labor force. Both still utilize their Spanish whenever they are presented with an opportunity. I must say this has been consistently intriguing, seeing the folks who raised me able to interact with and understand the people of various cultures, and it inspired me to learn the language myself.
When I was 12 years old I was lucky enough to travel in Mexico with my family, providing more inspiration for my linguistic journey. I took Spanish courses up to the highest level possible while was in high school, receiving no lower than a B grade in any class. It was at that point I realized that Spanish would be a good course of study for me. Once again I was given the opportunity to travel and I vacationed in Europe for a month with my close friends. While in Spain, I conducted all of our transactions, reservations, and interactions in Spanish, to the delight of my traveling partners. It was empowering to understand the words of others in their own heritage language, and to be able to put myself on their intellectual level. Upon my return from Europe I started attending Cabrillo College, where i took just about every Spanish course they had to offer. I graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in the Spanish language in June 2012.
During my time at CSUMB i have participated in various events and activities in and out of class that contributed to the attainment of cultural praxis. The first and most important activity was the participation in a service learning course. The goal of the service learning program is to involve the student in their community in order to build a higher sense of responsibility and teach them to give selfless, heartfelt service to other people. For my service learning course I worked at community environmental science workshop in Watsonville, CA. The goal of the workshop is to provide elementary, middle and high school students a safe space to work on projects geared toward the environment, and learn about science. The project is fueled entirely by grants, donations, and a small amount of money from the city. I built many new skills during my time there, including a better grasp of how to work with young children, the use of equipment such as table saws and general building materials, and most importantly I was able to interact with the students and coordinators in Spanish.
I’ve also participated in some extracurricular activities that complimented my studies. My classmates and I took a day trip to San Juan Bautista to see firsthand the work of the legendary Fray Junipero Serra. The historic building offered a view into the life on the misioneros, and how they left their impact on California. Though surrounded with controversy, the legacy of the Spaniards lives on today in California and must be recognized. Another cultural event that I attended outside of class was the painting and creation of sugar skulls for Día de los Muertos with Dr. Ruben Mendoza. This allowed me to learn a bit more about the history of the holiday and to take a well needed break from reading and writing, to instead express myself artistically.
Through these experiences I broadened my horizon of how I view the world and learned to think critically about culture and how it evolves. I’m immensely grateful to have experienced these moments because they have propagated a new appreciation of Spanish speaking cultures, that shall serve as a launching point for my future endeavors.
When I was 12 years old I was lucky enough to travel in Mexico with my family, providing more inspiration for my linguistic journey. I took Spanish courses up to the highest level possible while was in high school, receiving no lower than a B grade in any class. It was at that point I realized that Spanish would be a good course of study for me. Once again I was given the opportunity to travel and I vacationed in Europe for a month with my close friends. While in Spain, I conducted all of our transactions, reservations, and interactions in Spanish, to the delight of my traveling partners. It was empowering to understand the words of others in their own heritage language, and to be able to put myself on their intellectual level. Upon my return from Europe I started attending Cabrillo College, where i took just about every Spanish course they had to offer. I graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in the Spanish language in June 2012.
During my time at CSUMB i have participated in various events and activities in and out of class that contributed to the attainment of cultural praxis. The first and most important activity was the participation in a service learning course. The goal of the service learning program is to involve the student in their community in order to build a higher sense of responsibility and teach them to give selfless, heartfelt service to other people. For my service learning course I worked at community environmental science workshop in Watsonville, CA. The goal of the workshop is to provide elementary, middle and high school students a safe space to work on projects geared toward the environment, and learn about science. The project is fueled entirely by grants, donations, and a small amount of money from the city. I built many new skills during my time there, including a better grasp of how to work with young children, the use of equipment such as table saws and general building materials, and most importantly I was able to interact with the students and coordinators in Spanish.
I’ve also participated in some extracurricular activities that complimented my studies. My classmates and I took a day trip to San Juan Bautista to see firsthand the work of the legendary Fray Junipero Serra. The historic building offered a view into the life on the misioneros, and how they left their impact on California. Though surrounded with controversy, the legacy of the Spaniards lives on today in California and must be recognized. Another cultural event that I attended outside of class was the painting and creation of sugar skulls for Día de los Muertos with Dr. Ruben Mendoza. This allowed me to learn a bit more about the history of the holiday and to take a well needed break from reading and writing, to instead express myself artistically.
Through these experiences I broadened my horizon of how I view the world and learned to think critically about culture and how it evolves. I’m immensely grateful to have experienced these moments because they have propagated a new appreciation of Spanish speaking cultures, that shall serve as a launching point for my future endeavors.