INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL COLLAGE

Sydne Faith Yanez

EDU/280

INTRODUCTION
My name is Sydne Faith
Yanez and I am 18 years
old. My boyfriend and I
have been together for
a year. He is currently
at MCRD San Diego
scheduled to graduate
on October 9th. I am an
only child. I have faced
many challenged
throughout my life but
they have made me
who I am today.

Culture Belonging

CULTURE BELONGING

I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada for

most for my life. However when my grandparents
needed my moms help due to my grandmother
needing hip surgery and my grandfather having
stage four Alzheimer's, we packed up our life here
in Vegas and moved to Berkeley Springs, West
Virginia for two and a half years in 2011.

CULTURE BELONGING
My ethnic background consists of
Polish, Dutch, Hungarian, and Irish
from my mothers side. While my
ethnic background on my fathers
side is Hispanic and Native
American. Due to living so far
away from my mom side of the
family and my dad passing way
when I was ten, I am culturally
disconnected from my home roots.

CULTURE BELONGING
One custom I have picked up
over the last few years is how
to make Pierogis. Pierogis
are boiled dumplings stuffed
with various ingredients. After
they are boiled, they are fried
with butter and finely
chopped onions. They can be
filled with potato, cheese,
mushrooms, and even fruit.
My favorite is cheese, if you
havent tried one before you
definitely should!

TRADITIONS

My family and I celebrate most if not all major

holidays. However my favorite holiday to
celebrate is Dia de los Muertos also know as
day of the dead. Dia de los Muertos is a
holiday for remembering and honoring those
who have passed.
Dia de los Muertos falls on November 1 and 2
of each year but is celebrated between
October 31st and November 2nd. Traditionally,
November 1 is the day for honoring dead
children and infants, and November 2 is the
day for honoring deceased adults.
Dia de los Muertos is usually celebrated by
setting up an alter with offerings, cleaning and
decorating graves, holding all-night gravesite
vigils, telling stories about the loved one who
has passed, and making or purchasing and
exchanging sugar skulls and other sweets.

Life Experiences

LIFE EXPERIENCES
At the very young age of 10 my life was turned
upside down. I lost my best friend, my first
love, my father. My father struggled with
alcohol addiction since he was twelve years
old. After receiving a phone call that my father
was having seizers, his liver and kidneys were
failing and that he had no signs of life we made
a trip to California to say our goodbyes.
I believe it was god who gave my father the
strength to live the extra week, when I visited
him in the hospital and the strength to talk and
show signs of life again. He had improved so
much the nurses were discussing his discharge
arrangements into my mothers care. We would
have never imagined this would have been the
last kiss my father would ever give me. Two
days after we returned home my father passed
away on October 21, 2010 followed by a very
unexpected death of his mother, my
grandmother the next day October 22, 2010.

LIFE EXPERIENCES
When looking at my picture most people would assume I am an ordinary
eighteen year old. Wrong, you should never judge a book by its cover. The
only thing that motivated me in high school was basketball. I was new to
Berkeley Springs my freshman year and stuck out like a sore thumb due to
my basketball skills. For the two years that I lived there I was a varsity
starter. My coach had told me, he had never met someone who had such a
passion for the game, and who was talented at it as well. He told me by my
senior year he would make sure I had a college offer and help me be the
best player I possibly could be.
However, by my sophomore year I had reached my fifth concussion. At that
time I knew something wasnt right. I never gave myself the proper amount
of time to heal. I began to pass out, have seizers, excruciating headaches,
sensitivity to light, problems focusing, short term and long term memory
problems that began to affect my everyday life. I was diagnosed with Post
Traumatic Brain Injury. I wanted to keep playing basketball, I had made it my
life. Until the doctor made a comment that opened up my eyes, he told me
due to the fact that I never gave myself the proper time to heal before and
that I already had my fifth concussion, the next one my mom could be
whipping my, well you know, for the rest of my life.
To this day I still have those symptoms, however medicine controls them. I
have received many college offers from many large universities, an offer
from the junior Olympics team, an offer to play in Australia, and an offer to
play on the 2016 USA vs. Europe at the United States World Games in
Klagenfurt, Austria. But like my father I believe I was given a second change
in hopes of choosing the correct path. I respectful declined all offers.

LIFE EXPERIENCES
Although I had to give up my
dream of playing at the next
level, I never let it effect me
academically. Instead it
motivated me. I struggled
immensely due to my long
term effects of TBI. Most of
my teachers no longer helped
me due to the fact I was not
an athlete anymore. Due to
my long nights, and weekends
at home I graduated a year
earlier than my class of 2015.

LIFE EXPERIENCES
One of the reasons I am who I am today is
because of this young man. Aaron and I
became friends when he was 2 and I was 4.
He was born with webbed hands and was
diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3.
Aaron amazes everyone with his
knowledge. Aaron taught himself fluent
Spanish at the age of 6(no one in the house
and no one around him speaks Spanish), he
know everything and anything about the
Full House Episodes, and he is gets great
grades in every subject!
Aaron is one of the reason I have chosen
Special Education as my career. He has
inspired me to help other like him. He has
faced many challenges in life and many
more to come, but has come out on top.

Worldview

WORLDVIEW

My grandma (my moms side) is very religious.

I was baptized and had my first holy
communion. I gave up on God when my
father passed away. I believe it was due to
my age. I hope to one day have him back in
my life, as I know I will need his strength
with my boyfriend being in the military.

LIFE GOALS

My main goal right now is to finish my

Associates degree at CSN.
Followed by getting my Masters Degree.
Two long-term goals are being financially
stable and marrying the love of my life.