PERSONAL CULTURAL TIMELINE

Sometimes the way one views current events or interactions is based on previous experiences. You are now going to do an activity that will help you better understand how personal history can impact our feelings about others, but also help you to understand how you got where you are today regarding cultural competence.

Take a few minutes to think about memorable historical events or turning points in your life.

Jot down these events in these 3 categories:

What are the important national or global events that you lived through (for
example, the attacks on September 11th, or date on which your family immigrated to the US)? Why were they important?
1980- My dad (age 32 at the time) migrated from Mariel, Cuba to Key West, Florida on the Mariel boatlift as a refugee.
Due to my father’s upbringing in a conservative country and strict household/Hispanic culture, he was impacted. He experienced trauma and was scared to ever go back to Cuba. He is closed minded, doesn’t show his emotions/feelings/affection much which has impacted me as well to not show my emotions because that was what I was accustomed to.
In March 2016, President Obama loosened travel restrictions in Cuba; after 36 yrs my dad went back to Santiago de Cuba to visit his brother and mom; due to the past restriction to visit Cuba I never met my family in Cuba; never got to experience the culture in Cuba.

What are the important personal events (for example, parents getting
divorced, getting married, or moving to a new place) that impacted you? Why were they important?
2003- I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 16. My daughter gave me perspective in life; resiliency; perseverance.
2017-had a kidney transplant after being on peritoneal dialysis for 5 yrs due to Lupus SLE. (Thinking I was going to die, I realized I am stronger than I thought; my dad actually showed me his soft side and provided me with a lot of emotional and mental support)
2019-graduated from LaGuardia Community College (NY) with an Associates of Science majoring in Human Services. (it was a huge accomplishment for my family and I because I am the first in my family to graduate from college regardless of the challenges along the way)

What events or experiences impacted the way you think about racial/ethnic
differences and relations?

-Choose the specific events you want to write on the above timeline.
-Write no more than 3 events for each category on the timeline.
Questions:
-Why did you pick these events?
-How did these events shape who you have become?

-How did these events impact your cultural competence?

-For the rest of the journal, tell the story of how these events shaped the person you have become.

-All journals are confidential and will be graded according to the level of engagement and depth of answers. There are no right or wrong answers here. Honesty and transparency is the goal.
Be sure to include the above timeline with your answer.