EDU 280-1001 Valuing Cultural

Diversity #1: Individual Cultural

Project
Cultural Belonging- Part 1: Ethnic and Cultural
Background of Family.
Photo of Statue of Liberty taken by myself on
10/04/2015.

My Nationality is made up by three

different cultures:
My great grandparents came to the
U.S. through Ellis Island and settled
in Brooklyn, New York.
My maternal grandmother is 50%
Irish and 50% Neapolitan-Italian. My
maternal grandfather is 100%
German. My paternal grandparents
are 100% Neapolitan-Italian.
Neapolitan-Italian is the dominate
nationality in me.
Photo of my paternal grandmother (age
14) eating Sunday dinner with her
siblings, niece and nephews, and her
parents (my great grandparents). Photo
taken in 1945.
While my grandparents,
my parents, and their
siblings were born in
Brooklyn, New York, I was
born in a different
borough. I was born and
raised in Bronx, New York,
along with my younger
brother. I moved to Las
Vegas at the age of eight. I
feel connected to both
cities.
My younger brother takes
after my mother’s side of the
family: tall and thin.
However, he has my father’s
side of the family’s Southern
Italian olive skin tone.
I take after my father’s side
of the family: short and
curvy. However, I have my
mother’s Irish and German
white skin tone.
Cultural Belonging- Part 2: Language (verbal & nonverbal)
Language does play a key role as part of my culture. For instance, the Italian language
in the U.S. is different than the many dialects of Italian in Italy. I call my Italian language
Americanized, since the history behind it is that children of Italian immigrants learned
English in school, and often had to switch over from English to Italian to communicate
with their parents. This is one of the reasons why my paternal grandparents did not
speak fluent Italian in front of my father and his siblings. They slowly lost their own
language and adapted to English as their primary language. An example of
Americanized Italian is calling a certain dried Ham, Gabagool. In English we call it
Capicola. In Italy it is called Capocollo. In my household, the only Italian language that
is heard is often the Americanized Italian names for food.
Another example of language comes from the east coast v. west coast
perspective. Coming from New York, we call deli meats “cold cuts” versus
“lunch meats” in Las Vegas. While some Americans argue the correct term
for an item, pronunciation also plays a key role in how I speak. I say “Ne-
vad-da” like most Vegas people, however my father says “Na-va-da”. Other
words like, “cough-fee” versus “cof-fee”, “taulk” versus “ta-lk”, etc, has
made my speaking very noticeable to other east coasters in Las Vegas.
Another type of language associated with my Italian heritage is talking with
my hands and using body language. In fact, that is how I communicated
Speaking of different words for food, we serve cold cuts
and gabagool every Christmas Eve. Photos taken by myself.
throughout my trip to Italy in 2012 to the native Italians.
Cultural Belonging- Part 3: Counties Where I Lived
When I lived in Bronx New York, I lived on the top floor of a two-family home. I
lived with my parents and shared a bedroom with my younger brother. We had
a washing machine in our kitchen, and If we needed to dry our clothes, we had
to use our landlord’s backyard to hang them on a clothing line. We moved to
Las Vegas after visiting the city twice on vacation. The first time was a trip to
celebrate my fifth birthday. The second time we were looking around Las
Vegas to see what Vegas had to offer our family. My father fell in love with
Vegas and pressured my mother to move here. Our first home in Las Vegas was
down the street from the Santa Fe Casino and it was less than $200,000.00 with
four bedrooms, 3 ½ bathrooms, and a pool and spa in the backyard. Most of all
we had appliances for the kitchen and laundry room. My parents became
homeowners for the first time, in which they could not have become in New
York. The reason behind this is that New York is expensive to live compared to
Las Vegas. The taxes are unbelievably high, including New York has city and
state taxes, while Nevada does not have those type of taxes. New York City has
five boroughs, not counties. Bronx is one of the boroughs. Clark County is the
county for Las Vegas.

A picture of myself revisiting my old home in the Bronx in 2015. While my original landlord moved out, the family that moved in after us still lives in our
apartment on the top floor. I am sitting on my old porch. The family that use to live next door had already moved to another home.
Cultural Belonging- Part 4: Family Organizations
In my family, family businesses is a big part of our culture. My paternal grandparents entered the catering
business twice. The first family business was a luncheonette that my grandparents were partnered with my
grandmother’s sister and her husband in. Due to family differences, the “D & F Heros Luncheonette Pizzeria”
closed. “F” stood for my paternal grandmother, Filomena, while “D” stood for her sister, Delia. The second
Luncheonette “Viola’s Restaurant” was forced to close because Brooklyn had an infestation of mobsters and
mob activity. The neighborhood mobster threatened my grandfather to close the restaurant, and without
any hesitation my grandfather did as he was told. My paternal cousin owns his own coin shop along with his
father. The shop also has an EBay store account. My father started many different businesses: he sold
hotdogs at a hotdog stand in New York for five years, his business LV processed and distributed fliers for
other businesses, and his current business is a sports picks handicap business named “Las Vegas Winning
Sports Picks”. My brother also started his own business as a record label producer with his own record label
named “Dead Sea Scrolls Records LLP”. My brother created his record label business in 2014 at the age of
18. He sadly passed away from a car accident on April 13, 2016, a month before his 20th birthday. My
brother’s dream was to produce and release the CD he was making for his friend who wanted to become a
rapper. My family and I finished my brother’s CD and released it on Itunes and in Zia Records, a Las Vegas
and Phoenix record store franchise. A track that was added to the CD was a tribute song dedicated to my
brother from another friend of my brother’s that also wanted to be a rapper. That song is listed on Itunes as,
“Anthony Viola Tribute” by Kidd Jokaa and Hypknosis. Unfortunately, Hypknosis who became a good friend
to me after my brother’s passing, passed away a year later on Mother’s Day. This song means the world to
me because it is dedicated to my brother by a good friend of ours, that demonstrates how much my brother
meant to him and others. Lastly, I plan to have my own business someday after achieving my teaching
degree and license to help tutor students.
Cultural Belonging- Part 5: Celebrations and Events.
I celebrate Christmas, Lent, Easter, Birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other special
religious and non-religious ceremonies in life. Below are listed events in my life.

October 1, 1993- my first

September 2008- My mother, my
birthday. My godmother I graduated from Odyssey January 2019- King Tut’s traveling exhibit brother and I outside the White House
(left), my mother (center), Charter High School in 2010. at the California Science Center Museum in in Washington D.C.
and my godmother’s sister Los Angeles, California. I have never
(right). missed a King Tut exhibit in my life! My
mother always travels with me!
February 2020- College
of Southern Nevada has
a chapel for the
June 2012- My brother National Society of
and I in Rome, Italy. The Leadership and Success
statue in the background At my NSLS induction I dedicated my program. I was selected
is famously known as future success to my ambitious, to become a member
Michelangelo’s Pieta. business oriented, late younger because of my GPA.
brother.
Cultural Belonging- Part 6: Food & Holidays
Food is a BIG part of my heritage. Sunday Dinners is special to my family. I cannot imagine not eating pasta with a meat
topped with gravy (tomato sauce with a hint of meat cooked in it) every Sunday. I am not a sausage eater but eating
braciola is my favorite meat on Sundays.
For Holidays, as previously stated, I celebrate Lent, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. In the
Catholic religion, during Lent we cannot eat any meat on Fridays and must give up one desire for 40 days. I usually fail
at that part of Lent.
For Thanksgiving, the only thing we serve different than other cultures are my mom’s stuffed mushrooms.
In Italian-American families the Christmas traditions are celebrated on Christmas Eve, which includes our 7 fish dinner
and gift exchange. The 7 fish dinner is the hardest dish to shop for, because we need 7 different fishes to cook in our
tomato sauce, and that can be very expensive or hard to find.
Photos (left to right): 7 fish dinner: lobster tails, mussels, clams, shrimp, scungilli, calamari rings (Galamad), and scallops. My brother sitting at the table to eat
Antipasto and shrimp cocktails on Christmas Eve in 2014. Thanksgiving stuffed mushrooms. Traditional Italian desserts for Holidays: Tiramisu and Italian
cookies. All photos were taken by myself.
Life Experiences- Part 1: Challenges & Crises
Where were you on 9/11? I was already living in Las Vegas when the
news broke out. I stood home from school that day after my mother
turned on the news, like she does every morning. My mother flew to
New York a month after the attacks to check up on family and
friends. My parents and my relatives knew some of the victims. I
also knew I could have lost my mother too, especially since she had
a job interview at the twin towers a year before we moved to Las
Vegas. My family and I are glad she didn’t get the job.

Another challenge in my life was my diagnosis of Asperger’s

Syndrome at age 11. I was diagnosed late because Las Vegas was
just starting to understand Autism.
Photo (left to right)- My parents’ wedding photo was taken on a
yacht riding around the Hudson River in 1990. The Twin Towers
are in the background on a cloudy day. My mother was in a tragic car accident in 2014 which caused her to
This is a picture of the courtyard where the Twin Towers stood, have a traumatic brain injury.
and I visited as a child.

In April 2016, my brother was killed in a tragic car accident.

These challenges have made me want to become responsible for

myself because I may end up alone someday. It is better for me to
start taking better care of myself.
Life Experiences- Part 2: The Era I was born in and raised in.
1992- I was born on October 9, 1992, in Bronx, New York. I lived on the top floor of a two-family house.
1993- 2000’s- My parents were big Pearl Jam fans, and they always had it blasting inside my home. This was the start of my music taste in grudge, punk, and metal bands.
2000- I moved to Las Vegas from New York. I became interested in Ancient Egypt and mummies from a CCSD library book named, “Into the Mummy’s Tomb” by Nicolas
Reeves.
2001- MGA toys came out with a new line of dolls called “Bratz.” I collected Bratz dolls throughout my life and have a collection of over 200 dolls.
2003- 2006- I watched Adult Swim and Comedy Central every day and night. Aqua Teen Hunger Force was the first show I recorded onto a VHS tape before I purchased the
DVD collection when I was 12 years old. Due to my tastes in television shows and music, my friends in school were always guys.
2004- After four years of going through counseling, therapy and psychiatry appointments, I was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (it was considered a form of
Autism back then).
2007- My first Marilyn Manson concert. This is still my number one favorite band.
2008- My first anime I watched was called “Fruits Basket”. This anime sparked my interest in other Japanese animations, such as Black Butler, Tokyo Ghoul, Full Metal
Alchemist, and several Chinese animations.
2009- 2010- In 2004, President George W. Bush signed into a federal act which brought strict testing requirements for schools to have federal funding. This act is called
the “No Child Left Behind Act”, and If I failed the required exams I would have not graduated with my peers. Luckily, I did pass but it was on the last tries on each exam. This
act had a big affect on students trying to graduate. I started high school at Sierra Vista, but I was transferred to Odyssey Charter High School. Odyssey had helped me
overcome some major parts of my disability such as socializing and making eye contact. I graduated High school in June of 2010 at the age of seventeen.
2010- 2011- I started college at age seventeen as an Anthropology major and I dropped out because it wasn’t nearly as close to the Egyptology interest that I wanted.
2014- My mother was in a car accident and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This made me want to get my life together and start working. I worked as a file clerk at
two different companies until I was hired as an Autism Support Staff Aide at the CCSD in March of 2017.
2016- My ambitious and business-oriented younger brother passed away from a tragic car accident. Any success that comes my way is dedicated to him.
2018- I went back to college with two new majors: Elementary Education and Secondary Education. Graduation Dates: Spring & Fall 2023
Life Experiences- Part 3: Education & Skills

Public School (P.S. 14)- My Ernest J. May Elementary Ernest J. May Lied Middle School- Odyssey Charter High School- My
2nd grade class . School- My 3rd grade class. Elementary My 8th grade senior graduation photo
Me. School- My 5th yearbook photo
Me. grade yearbook
photo
I attended grades K- 2nd grade in New York. I started 3rd grade at Ernest J. May Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. I stayed at that
elementary school and then went to Lied Middle School. I moved to Summerlin Las Vegas over the summer, and I started high school at
Sierra Vista High School. I transferred to Odyssey Charter school and attended Odyssey from 10th grade up to graduation in 2010. Thanks to
Odyssey, I graduated on time, and I developed basic office and resume skills from their courses.
Life Experiences- Part 4: Skills and Talents

I started to draw only on class work and homework. My artwork has changed over the years. The art-style is anime mixed with a gothic-horror. The image with
the date of Wednesday 4/27/11 was drawn in my SOC 101 class. It is special to me because my great-uncle passed away that day. I love making comic strips
and photos of what I play. Below are snap shots of games I play: The Office in Garry’s Mod, IMVU character of myself in a comic I made using IMVU characters,
and screenshot of Bonnie from the first Five Nights At Freddy’s game.
Life Experiences- Part 5: Interests & Hobbies
I am obsessed with Egyptology, to the point that I made wallpapers on Deviant Art
(before memes were created) sharing random facts. In fact, I have been to a
bunch of museums in the United States and Italy that have a tremendous
Egyptology collection. I have thousands of photos that I have taken during my
visits.

I am a professional Bratz doll collector. I collect and sell Bratz dolls. I make wallpapers
online to help other collectors to identify the thousands of Bratz dolls that exist. I have
documented over 1,016 dolls that I am aware of.

I am very familiar with

Windows Paint, and I use
this program to make
wallpapers and comics.
My World View- Part 1: Values & Standards
My values are:
Family & God First - After my brother passed away, I became more superstitious, more dedicated to my
religion, and my beliefs of an afterlife have become more evident to me and my family. I believe there
is goodness and evil in this world. I can only look out for myself and my family. I was always taught to
stand up for myself and never let anyone disrespect me or my family.

My standards are:
No Drama! - I don’t involve myself with people who have drama in their lives. I want to live a stress-free
life. Especially because stress causes so many illnesses, and in my family history cancer is the biggest
killer!

No Debt! - I pay out of pocket for my college education. I pay for two courses each semester because
that is what I can afford. I don’t need the stress of financial debt, so I take my time and plan for a better
life. Like my mother before me, she plan for a better life because nothing in this life is free.

No Marriage or Kids Before my Career! - I already made the decision of adoption before I graduated
high school. Children need independent adults to care for them. Children need parents that can afford
to raise them. There will be no plans for marriage until I am already done with college, and I have
already worked full time in a teaching career for over five years.
My World View- Part 2: Religious Views

My paternal My parents My godmother My family and I at my first penance (first My first holy communion in 2001. My confirmation in 2008. I confirmed
grandparents Wedding in holding me at my holy confession) in 1999. my religion as a Catholic and chose to
wedding 1950. 1990. baptism in 1993. keep my godmother as my
Most Italians are Roman-Catholics. I was baptized as a Roman-Catholic like my parents and grandparents before me. godmother for life.
Traditionally, the maid of honor and the best man become the godparents of the married couples’ first-born child. My
godparents were the maid of honor and the best man at my parents’ wedding. I have completed four out of seven sacraments of
my religion.
There are 7 sacraments in a Catholic person’s life:
First Sacrament: Baptism- Parents choose the godparents (second parents) to help guide the child through life.
Second Sacrament: Penance- This is the first holy confession to a priest inside a confessional inside the church.
Third Sacrament: Communion- This is the first-time accepting God’s forgiveness of all prior sins by eating the eucharist (salty
bread blessed by the priest) and drinking non-alcoholic wine (blessed by the priest).
Fourth Sacrament: Confirmation- As many religions believe age 14 is adulthood. This allows me to have a choice to continue my
religion or convert to a different one. This also allows individuals to change the godparents assigned at baptism. I chose to
remain Catholic, and I chose to keep the same godparents.
Fifth Sacrament: Marriage or Priesthood. As a female, instead of priesthood, it would be a nun for me.
Sixth Sacrament: Last Rights- If an individual is dying on their death bed, a priest will bless them for one last time before they
pass away.
Seventh Sacrament: Funeral.
My World View- Part 3: Military Conduct
Both of my grandfathers served in two wars. My maternal
grandfather (left) was a son of German immigrants, and
he served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He was originally
stationed in Pearl Harbor, and he saved a man’s life from
drowning when their ship was torpedoed by an enemy
vessel. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.

My paternal grandfather (right) was a grandson of Italian

immigrants, and he served in the U.S. Army during the
Korean War. He was stationed in a fort in Alaska. He had
brought back a missile bullet, which is a dud. We have
always polished it and so far, our house has not exploded
yet (a joke).

My maternal cousin is currently in the Marines.

My code of conduct is to always show respect towards

our veterans, including the deceased veterans.
My World View- Part 4: Goals
My first goal is to achieve my Associates degree in
teaching elementary education at College of
Southern Nevada. My second goal is to achieve my
Bachelor’s degree in teaching elementary
education at University of Las Vegas. I am also
thinking about getting an additional degree in
teaching secondary education in the humanities
field.

My third goal is to achieve my Bachelor’s degree in Egyptology at the

University of Memphis, Tennessee.
My second to last goal is to achieve my Master’s degree in Egyptology at
the same university mentioned above, so I can teach Egyptology.
Lastly, my goal is to receive my Doctorate in Egyptology.
After achieving these four major goals, I wish to buy my first home
and adopt my first child, so I can carry on the family name. I am
the last Viola in my family. It is important to carry on my paternal
grandfather’s last name.
 In Spring 2020- I
Cultural Artifacts was nominated
to join the
National Society
of Leadership
and Success. I
was inducted in
May of 2020.

I took a professional art class a few times. My parents

love this drawing of mine. It is hung up in their kitchen.

I volunteered at the Las Vegas Natural

History Museum from 2010- 2012; and then Family Trips are very important to me. In 2012, we
again in 2015. I loved this job, but went to Italy.
unfortunately it was not a paying job. I
answered visitors’ questions about Ancient There’s not a lot of
Egypt & King Tut. family heirlooms
besides the
furniture passed
down to me. My
In 1997 & 1998, I was dancing In June 2010- I graduated high school. paternal
youth ballet in New York. grandmother’s
sister gave her
wedding furniture
to my parents
when they got
married. I still
have the dresser
from the
collection.
10 Words That Exemplify Who I Am:
#1: Daughter
#2: Sister
#3: Friend
#4: Artist
#5: Collector
#6: Passionate
#7: Intelligent
#8: Loyal
#9: Honest
#10: Teacher- Not licensed, yet. However, I have helped teachers teach students for years!