Meghan Arellano

EDU 280 SPRING 2014

9 February 2014
Artifact 1: My Personal Culture
I was born on June 7, 1993 in Orange County, California, to the Richard Marx 89 hit,
Right Here Waiting which my mother likes to remind me every time its on the radio. I moved
to Las Vegas when I was three years old so all my education was right here. My immediate
family that lives here is my mother, Olympica, my grandmother, Martha and my two uncles and
aunt, Martin, Tony and Irene respectively. Some people think that being an only child is a
fortunate thing and in ways it is, it has its perks. As soon as I was in middle school I always had
my own room, I always got great gifts on Christmas and my birthday was more like a monthlong celebration, every year it was special. But it was definitely lonely too. I am an only child
and the only niece and granddaughter in the family so the spotlight was and is always on me, so
it would have been nice to share some of the attention with others especially when everyone has
really high expectations of you.
Im the first person in my immediate family who has grown up and was raised here in
America. Education was everything to me and my family. They pushed me to be a great student,
but they never forced me to be too hard on myself. They congratulated me with every passing
grade and did their best to teach me when I struggled with any subject. If I ever had a problem,
they would always drop what they were doing to make sure I was taken care of and I am grateful
to them, even when they can be a little irritating sometimes. I never really worried about grades
up until middle school because till then, I was kind of a know-it-all and very bookish.
I loved to read, the Book Fair was like a religious experience to me. It was in the third
grade that I got the book that would change my life forever, Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets. After that I was hooked, I read everything I could about fantasy and magic and fairy

tales and myths. Books were the siblings I always wanted but couldnt have. I loved fiction so
much that I started writing on my own. Diaries I never finished, journals of half finished plots
that go nowhere. But then again, not everyone can be a Rowling or a Tolkein. Reading has
always been a big part of my life and probably always will and maybe someday I can create a
wonderful world of magic and adventure that can allure a young girl into reading the same way
Harry Potter did for me.
Another big part of my life is music. Like I said in the beginning, songs and music
always had a big affect on me, almost as if it was a part of my own soul. I like to think of myself
as a bit of a singer (either that or my family has been lying to me all these years) and though I
dont really like to sing in public, I can rock out in an empty kitchen just as hard as KISS could
at a sold out stadium. I used to play the piano but now I focus more on the ukulele. I hope to
incorporate that into my lesson plans as a teacher and teach my kids through music and dance.
My grandmother, whom Im incredibly close to, was a dancer when she was in her twenties. She
got me into the older kind of music. Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack. My
taste in music is a bit eclectic, but if I can dance to it, I usually love it.
As I said before, Im the first person in my family to be born and raised here in America.
My family is originally from a town called Cuernavaca in Morales, Mexico. We speak both
English and Spanish. Although I was raised mostly by my Spanish grandmother, I did not learn
how to speak to her in her language until I was five when she took me to Mexico for a month and
I, fortunately, assimilated. My family used to be devout Catholics, however after my mother
moved here when she was 18, she changed her faith to Baptist Christian and one by one, my
whole family on my grandmother side became Baptist. I consider myself a Christian also, though
Im not nearly as devoted as the rest of my family. It creates tension at times and can be
frustrating (these are the times I wished I had a sibling to take the heat off of me).
I like to base my judgments after talking to people and observing how they treat others.

My personal belief is if a person is not hurting themselves or anyone around them, then just let
them be. I am also in the extreme belief that religion and politics should be absolutely separate
from each other. Our country was founded by immigrants, battled by immigrants and built on
immigrants. To say that our country should be of one God or that our country has an official
religion or language is ludicrous because not every person in this country believes in the same
God or in the same way and that should be just fine. My family doesnt really share that belief,
unfortunately. They believe that everybody needs Jesus in their lives in order to be saved.
Especially anyone who isnt heterosexual or cis, for instance. This is where a sibling would be a
good idea to have, so at least we would have a fighting chance in arguing. At this point, I try not
to bring it up but if they push me, Im not afraid to tell them how I feel on matters they dont
agree with me on.
I like to consider myself as sort of an activist, at least online. I like to learn more about
institutionalized oppression, educate myself on the struggles many people go through in this very
country and hopefully pass on that knowledge to a more understanding generation of students.
Theres this poem by Mother Teresa called Anyway and Id like to think that I can live by it. A
quote that sticks to me from this poem says, If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish,
ulterior motives; Be kind anyway, and that is definitely a philosophy I want my students to
learn from me.
I am a complete animal lover, so much so that when I was younger, I wanted to be a vet.
Thats changed, of course, but I still love animals. Ive had three pets in my life. Two dogs and a
cat. My dogs have long since been passed off to another owner because of financial reasons but I
still loved them very much. Today, I have a cat named Tobi. Hes not really my cat so to speak as
much as hes the neighborhood cat. But he likes to spend most of his time at our house. Most
likely because we always have food, a warm place for cat naps and we dont charge rent. My
family have fallen in love with him and Im pretty sure that if we moved, he would be the first

one to be packed and moved with us. I used to do volunteer work at an animal shelter called Lied
where all I did was walk dogs around the shelter. It made my heart sad to see so many unwanted
dogs, I just wanted to take all of them home with me. Hopefully someday when I have my own
place, I can take one of those puppies home with me.
Now, as for my hobbies, I already said a few before in my essay. I love to read, I love to
write when I can and tuning my talents on my ukulele. I would also like to add that I am a geek.
At least when it comes to television and movies. My favorite shows at the moment are Teen
Wolf and Glee. I like others but those are the shows you will see me go crazy over. I love their
stories and the actors are a big inspirations for me. I am a kid at heart and I dont think that will
ever stop. I love cartoons such as Stevens Universe and Adventure Time. I love comic book
movies, anything and everything from Marvel and some of the DC shows. My favorite hero is a
tie between Deadpool and Hawkeye. Some people might think its childish of me to still love the
Harry Potter books/movies or have posters of the Avengers on my wall but I dont see it that
way. I recently got a job, my first job ever, and Im hoping that in a couple more years, Ill be
able to leave my moms house and get a place of my own. Responsibilities, taxes, bills, work,
these things are described as grown up things and lets be honest, theyre not exactly
enjoyable. But to sit back and watch the Lord of the Rings movies or Justice League is a way for
me to escape and let myself believe in magic and heroes.
Being a fan of something, is enjoyable to me, especially when I can find someone who
likes the same things as I do and we can just talk for hours about it or watch it together with the
same level of enthusiasm as each other is an amazing feeling. Ive met great people and become
even closer friends to people Ive known for a long time but never actually had the chance to talk
to until one day we find out we both love the same show or book. It makes the world feel a little
less lonely. As John Green, writer of best selling novel and upcoming movie, The Fault in Our
Stars said, because nerds are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuffNerds are

allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-cant-control-yourself love itwhen

people call people nerds, most likely what theyre saying is you like stuff. Which is just not a
good insult at all. Like, you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.
Cooking is a huge part of my life. We have a matriarch family, the woman are the leaders
as well as the feeders. They make the food for every large event, celebration, dinner party, or just
for the fun of it. My mother is a cook at Bellagio and loves making new recipes. Im not much of
a cook, I can get buy cooking for myself but I do love to bake. The most recent thing I baked
were apple pies for Thanksgiving that were a huge hit with my relatives, who are hard to impress
so I take that as a good sign that my pies were edible. Along with baking, when I have the time, I
like creating things. Sewing ripped clothes or making bowties, learning how to knit from my
aunts. Im a huge fan of arts and crafts. If I can use glitter, Ill be happy.
When I was younger, being a teacher was the last career choice on my mind. I wanted to
be a veterinarian, then I wanted to be a police woman. After that I wanted to join the circus.
Luckily, I decided in high school I did want to go into medicine but I wasnt sure in what yet, so
I decided to try and become a nurse. It wasnt until I was older and in college that I realized that
nursing wasnt something I wanted to do. I didnt like to see people hurt, especially children, I
wasnt sure I could be strong enough to keep a cool head during an emergency if a child was
involved. I wanted to make kids smile and see their eyes glow when they learn about oceans or
when reading a great book for the first time. I feel like I can be good with children, not just
because I like cartoons or superheroes but because we both share a love for learning and magic
that you dont really see much in adults or teenagers. If we as grownups can still find that love
and magic, then Im sure we can pass it on the next generation of students.