Everyone is born into a certain race and culture, and this can reveal a lot of things about how that person's views and attitudes may vary from someone else's depending on where and how they were brought up. All cultures have different expectations and criterion on things such as values, norms and the social roles that one plays. Therefore I will be discussing the major roles, basic underlying values, and norms that have helped me to develop a self-identity and the different expectations that members of society expect from me. Thesis statuses set in my life are old son (brother), student, and foreigner.

I will start off with my role as the oldest son. Being the oldest son gives me lots of responsibilities, and my parents expect a lot more from me than they do from my younger sister. And since I was socialized in a more traditional Spanish culture, I think that they expect more from me than other parents would of from other kids that are the oldest in their families here in Canada. The values that I was taught by my parents as the oldest son are things like being a good role model for my younger sister, being loyal, honest, caring and protecting my sister from any danger or trouble, and to protect my family's reputation and to be strong and fight back if anyone puts down any of my family members or myself. I am also expected to help my sister with anything that she needs as I have already been through her stage. Thus I have no choice but to help her because I am the only family that she has here in Canada.

The next role that I play, and will probably play for the next few years, is that of a student. The values and norms that help my studies are determination, self-discipline, honesty, communication (associated with friends and teachers), and motivation. I guess I have always been hard working and I know my place as a student and what is expected of me as a student. I know that I am expected to come to class on time, bring all the necessary material for that class, to participate such as being involved in discussions, and to work in groups with friends if necessary, and most of all to show the teacher that I am trying my best by putting in a maximum effort. Since all of my high school days were spent in a catholic school, I was forced to learn all of the above values and norms, and the classrooms were small, so a major goal of the teachers at my previous school was discipline. As a consequence of that I have got that discipline which not only helps me in my studies, but also in everything that relates to my life.

Finally, a role that I am getting familiar and comfortable with is being a foreigner. I have been in Canada for two years and takes a lot of courage to face all the problems and issues that arises since I came here. I think that the most important values and rules about being a foreigner are to be able to communicate comfortably with the people, to gain people's trust and to show the people that you are interested and respectful for the values and norms of their country.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that where one is socialized can really tell a lot about that person, especially the values and norms that they were taught, as they may vary from someone who was raised in another culture. Since I am in between, I think that I can look at both the Spanish traditional culture and the more liberal Canadian culture and pick out the norms and values that best suit me and will help me conform to the people around me.

November 13, 2000