I created this migration and culture profile for a class called Migration and culture. At first it was just another assignment but as I began to craft each essay and put together the website, it became something more. It became a way for me to explore the space around me and apply the information i had been taught. In classes it can easy to separate what you are learning from the world around you but this website has forced me to see the interconnections. It also has made me think of things and learn in ways I had never before. Throughout the semester, while taking this class, I have learned a lot of information and valuable lessons. I believe two lessons in particular will stick with me for the rest of my life.
The first of the lessons being that what people say isn’t always the truth, even if they believe it to be so. Many migrants say that they come to the United States for a better life. While that isn’t technically incorrect, it leads the interviewer or audience to not fully understand the historical context that made the migrant feel that the United States was a better country. It is important to interview migrants to understand them but it is just as important to do our own research.
The second lesson I discovered is that we are all migrants. At some point in time either us or our ancestors left their home land with the hope of something better. In result of this, we should treat others with the same respect we think we deserve. No matter what country we are from we are all just humans who just want to love and live our best life.
I have acquired these lessons through the countless articles I have read, projects I have done, and presentations I have watched and/or given.
My goal in creating this portfolio is that it’s readers will learn these things as well. To me, there is nothing better than to know you have taught someone something that will stick with them for the rest of their life and positively affect those around them.
By Gabriel Taylor