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Arielle Franks
Professor Beadle
English 113B
February 15, 2016
True Identity
The way society is portrayed in the year 2016, cultures rule the
world. There are multiple cultures that are encountered every day that
reunite as one big group. Society plays a huge role in cultural space as
well as finding ones true identity. Cultural space can be changed based
on what kind of atmosphere you are brought upon. We use different parts
of our brain for numerous things. Our right side of the brain we use for
calculations and logical abilities. Along with the left side of our brain,
we use to express our knowledge on English. This is what makes the
world we live in such so beautiful because it makes you want to explore
more in life and experience all different kinds of cultures that are not
brought up on a daily basis. Cultures are what make people so unique
and special in their own way, as to how one can express their own ways
through a culture and not be categorized by a stereotype. Despite the

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challenge of finding ones true identity, over coming your fears and
breaking out of that shell could really help with inner confidence and
help bring self strength.
With an experience that I had, it was brought to my attention from
different cultural spaces and identity changes, transitioning from my
Math 93 class to my English 113B had a magnificent change with the
way I act, as well as my persona. My math 93 class is very quiet, right as
you walk through the door it is as if the atmosphere is very closed in.
Nobody knows each other in that class compared to my English 113B
where everybody knows is familiar with one another. In Math 93, unless
you have a peer from a pervious class or had introduce yourself to one
another, this makes me and I am sure with others feel socially awkward.
With this atmosphere, it tends to make things undersized because the
energy that are given off of the room make you feel uncomfortable.
Because math is such a common unlikeable topic, people usually attend
class just to get it over with and not fully enjoy and take in the material
that is being taught to them. It is such a straight forward topic with
usually multiple ways to find one specific answer, compared to English

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where there is never a wrong answer and various ways to express the
way you feel. Which could be a reason why English is more of a
relatable subject because of the way you can express your knowledge
and not feel under pressure to being wrong; with English there is never a
wrong answer. The cultural space in Math 93, puts myself into a distant
space as to being very standoffish which I usually am not. The change is
so drastic that I had not been in a leeway so closed in before. Quoted by
Ronald Jackson in his article Self Identity and Culture he states,
Understanding self identity is important to inter/cultural
communication because as you learn who are you, you learn how to
communicate effectively with others. With that being said, as well
being put into other words, my perception of the quote is once you really
find who you are and what you like or dislike, it becomes much easier to
face different spaces. Each space has its own difference being associated
within my culture, it is because within my identity I am very social and
able to speak to anybody and hold a conversation without hesitation.
With my Math 93 class, it seems to stop me from being social and make
me feel very closed in as if I can not say anything except pay attention.

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After being in math 93 I noticed that my English 113B shared a

different atmosphere. English has a cultural and self identification that
changes drastically by emotion and communication skills. Those skills
allow me to be more talkative and joyful which helps me feel more
comfortable and have more personality; as for math I am more closed off
as others are too. Being closed off in my math class puts me into a
position of being antisocial and makes me feel doubtful if I do not get
the answers right. Feeling more intellectual and confident about yourself
helps with work ethics. Having someone around who I am close to helps
me stay focus. An enjoyable environment that keeps the energy high
keeps me interested as well. Ronald Jackson states As you learn more
about cultural identities; you learn that some aspects of who you are
remain more salient then others, some seem more universal seem
strange. (Jackson 118) Being into relations with my own personal
identity, the class as well as my peers had helped me realize more about
my Hispanic side that I was not aware of. Not only did it help me gain
confidence within myself but also broke me out of my shell and
encouraged me to learn more about my heritage. Compared to my math,

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my English peers I share more similar thoughts with them. Hispanic

culture was a popular topic talked about with them which brought us
more together as one. We discussed differences and similarities that we
do as in our Hispanic culture compared to what others do in theirs. These
thoughts and ideas lead to an interesting discussion. Having cultural
things in common with others brings people together and leads on to
other topics. Cultural space and self identity are two main groups that
bring people together.
In math there are numerous ways of solving problems that create
confusion. Students are taught based on what the professor knows but
more then half the class may not understand; and hesitate to ask
questions. Some students come into the class room with no self
confidence and tend to lack of seeking that feeling when it comes to
math. The classroom atmosphere has a lot to do with it. If one feels as if,
it is safe zone where he or she will not be judged, more than most will
succeed and would have that self confidence. Students are afraid of
being wrong and not having the right answer and most just do not
understand the given steps. Students then ask for a second example so

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that they grasp what the problem is asking for, specifically. The second
example may not be on a higher level of understanding but broken down
step by step into simplest form. Once the problem is broken down
students then find understanding in the new example although it is the
same thing just presented differently. People understand math as to only
having one specific way to finding what equals to x which could be a
reason why this topic is unlikeable to some. Math is a very frustrating
topic, to where people feel the need to push themselves over the limit
just to prove to themselves or others that they are smart. Nobody
should be judged or deprived over a simple topic that we are taught in
school. Some people are naturally born with the knowledge of math and
others need practice but it does not give the right to judge one another
based off of it. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesss but should
not feel to compete with one another.
Having diversity around, influences new ideas shared from
different perspectives. Cited by an article of What is Cultural Space?
written by Brianna Schmall, she stated Every living thing has a visible
physical boundaryits skinseparating it from its external

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environment. This visible boundary is surrounded by a series of invisible

boundaries that are more difficult to define but are just as real. These
other boundaries begin with the individuals personal space and
terminate with her or his territory. These ideas allow groups to form
new ideas and problem solving. If there was no diversity everyone
would view everything the same. This helps deliver new ideas and
conversation between groups; allowing new topics to come about. With
that being said, connecting with my topic, the two classes may have
been completely different but the two have helped me in multiple ways.
Bring my confidence up to another level, being able to talk to people
without being hesitant but also understanding the concept that it is okay
not to understand things and that nine out of ten, you are not the only
one dealing with the same issue. Putting people into groups or in pairs, is
a great way of forming friendships. People come into contact with others
that they have never known before. All groups share a variety of skills
each person adds something different. Each person in these groups take
on different rolls; and then you have the leader of the group. The leader
of the group is someone who keeps everything in order and makes sure

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the group is functioning right. All groups should be able to get along and
perform well with each other; but because there is so much variety the
group has different opinions on things. These different opinions can lead
to arguments and debates on what is right and what is wrong. In the end
the group is able to come together and put their ideas together and be as
one.
To come to a conclusion, cultural space ties in with self identity.
Comparing my Math 93 to my English 133B both classes have different
cultural space. The two both helped me come to a conclusion of how
culture plays a huge roll on self identity. As we get older, we realize
more and more who we are and understand the roots of where we come
from. Math and English are two completely different concepts and can
be deprived by the cultural space. The two help make this world mix and
helps people get along better with what we all have in common, culture.