A Cultural View of my Life

By: Davin L. Bach

 I am an adventurous American ginger male born in Abilene, Texas that has traveled and

lived in seven different countries. In addition, I consider myself to be humble, modest, creative,

and possess a die-hard athletic desire to better myself physically and share with others what I

have learned along the way in my experiences. My moms side of the family is Dutch and my

dads side of the family is German. Currently, I do not have or know any family living in either

the Netherlands or Germany, I just know that is my ethnicity.

Personally, I do not speak fluently in any foreign languages, but I have taken Spanish

classes from middle school through college and there was a time where I was around a Russian

family for a few years and spoke a little Russian during that time. On the other hand, my dad

was military, and so was I. I have been able to travel to parts of the globe that most people want
to travel to and some of the worlds worst places that people never wish that they have to go.

My travels have taken me to England, Holland, Germany, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and

few special operations into Pakistan. I was born on November 7, 1977; two days after Guy

Fawkes Day in England. It is sometimes known as Bonfire Night and marks the anniversary of

the discovery of a plot organized by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament

in London in 1605. Many people light bonfires and set off fireworks. It was good time around

my birthday in England because there were always festivals and fireworks in Aldeburg, England

where we lived. If you ever get the chance to watch the 60 Minutes special they did on Ed

Sheren, he is from Aldeburg, England. I actually would go play at the castle near my house

where Ed hung out with his friends and wrote some of his songs in Aldeburg, England. Growing

up, my family attended a Methodist Church in Sumter, South Carolina. We were the typically

American family that celebrated New Years, Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter, 4th of

July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birthdays. My mother was an outstanding cook

to say the least! She made sure that we had well-cooked home meals seven days of the week.

She could cook anything and everything under the sun! The types of food we ate were anything

from Hispanic, Asian, European, American and dad was the master at barbequing any type of

meat. Needless to say, food was an everyday culinary experience at my house growing up.
 I would have to say that I have lived a fruitful and adventurous life, filled with many life

changing experiences during my thirty-nine-year existence on this earth. Even though my family

and I have lived abroad and in different regions here in the United States. I was primarily raised

in South Carolina during the years of 1985-1996. My dads last and final duty station was Shaw

Air Force Base Sumter, SC. For those of you that dont know where that is, it is just two hours

west of Myrtle Beach, SC and two hours south of Charlotte, NC. My family and I spent

weekends in the summer in our 21 ft. Sunbird ski boat on Lake Water-ree in Camden, SC,

traveling to Myrtle Beach, SC, and Charleston, SC. Furthermore, the majority of my immediate

and extended family members live in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, and Illinois. The school

system in Sumter, SC that I grew up in was predominately African American, I was known as

one of the minorities. Growing up around a military installation there was a good mix of multi-

cultured students including Hispanic, Filipino, Asian-American, interracial/mixed, black, and

white. In addition, my school system was very active in sports, music, and clubs. For sports we

had football, basketball, baseball, soccer, track and field, weight lifting, and golf. The music

program had chorus and band; I also was in chorus from elementary school through high school.

There was an Air Force JROTC program that I attended all three years of high school. In
addition, a legendary NBA player named Ray Allen played basketball at my high school and I

graduated with one of his sisters in 1996.

Growing up I had a lot of friends and played on teams that involved soccer, golf,

baseball, and basketball. The one sport I really enjoyed and had a passion for was soccer. I

coached my first traveling soccer team at the age of nine-teen and my first varsity boys and girl

teams at twenty. Needless to say, I had really good soccer coaches growing up on the teams that

I played on.

These days for fun I enjoy spending time with my wife and three boys here in Las Vegas,

NV. I go to the gym four to five days a week and get out and explore areas like Mount
Charleston and the Las Vegas Strip whenever I can. Also, I enjoy watching professional

sporting events on TV or in person whenever I get the chance. I am a die-hard Cubs fan!

Personally, I value my Lord Jesus Christ, my family, my fallen and fellow veterans in

arms, peace on earth, and a clean planet. First, my faith in God, even though it may have been

wearying at times in my life he has always got me through the storm and to where I am today.

Secondly, my family has always been the heart-beat in my life and keeps me motivated to do

right by them. Thirdly, my fallen and fellow veterans in arms have given me another sweet day

to live my life to the fullest. Honor, duty, respect, intestinal fortitude, and desire to be all that I

can be is how I live my respect for each and every veteran. Fourth, peace on earth and good will

to men is an achievable goal when you put all your faith in God. I hate the fact that American

Soldiers have to fight wars to spread peace and prosperity to people that live in countries filled

with fear every day of whether they or going to live or die. Lastly, every human being on Earth

needs to recycle and do his or her part and keep our planet from dying. I believe that global

warming is real and it can be changed if all people on Earth fight for new laws that prevent the
pollution of our Earth. In conclusion, all men are created equal and all blood has the same color.

People may come from different multi-cultural backgrounds, have different color skin tone,

believe in a different God, or unfortunately been raised in a bad household. Ultimately, what

decides the type of person that you will be in life are the choices and decisions that you make.

You can be the reason to your success or your own worst enemy.