Individual Cultural Collage

Marlene Macias

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 Cultural Belonging

I was born in Parma Ohio, and lived there until I graduated from high school.

When I was bout 19, my parents and I moved to Las Vegas, and have been here ever

since. My parents are both immigrants: my father is from Poland and my mother is from

the Ukraine. Both of my parents have very strong Eastern European values that they

imposed on my two older brothers, older sister, and me. Those values have a strong

catholic backbone, that they integrated with their strong Eastern European roots. Be-

cause of this, they did not always see eye-to-eye with several American values and

mores. For instance, growing up my siblings and I did not receive presents for Christ-

mas. My parents said it was Jesus’ birthday, and we celebrate his birth instead; as get-

ting presents would take away from the true meaning of Christmas.

For Easter we colored eggs and went to church, of course. We followed lent and

were not allowed to listen to secular music, and partake in self indulging activities dur-

ing lent. During Christmas and Easter we had to go to confession and participate in

communion. I am not currently a practicing Catholic, as I mainly attend church for spe-

cial events and holidays. I also do not follow lent like I did when I was growing up. I

celebrate Christmas just like the average person with gifts for friends and family. I am

following the American way.

Parma, Ohio was not a diverse city while I was growing up. There were only

about 5 minority students in my high school, and can’t recall any in my elementary and

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middle school. We would go grocery shopping mostly at the Polish deli, where we

would get most of our goods. There is actually a Polish deli very close to the CSN

Charleston campus in Las Vegas, however I stick to more conventional grocery stores

like, Smiths or Trader Joes.

Growing up we would celebrate the typical holidays such as Christmas, Easter,

Thanksgiving and Halloween. Now I celebrate all the holidays. My husband, who is

Mexican-American, likes to point out some of the racial inequalities and “other side of

the coin” scenarios in our current culture, especially when it comes to Hallmark holi-

days. For instance, during Thanksgiving, he is frequently reminded of his Native Ameri-

can friends from his home town of Riverside, CA, and what they might think about this

holiday. Same thing with Columbus day. I know that there is a mostly cynicism when he

says these things, as he tends to have a sense of humor when it comes to political and

current events, however he is trying to promote thought in doing so. I thought about

what was taught in school growing up, and the interpretations of American history in

our text books, and realized that what is being taught and reality are two separate

things.

Since I have met and fallen in love with my husband, I can see that our values

are similar yet different. Our similarities out weigh our differences, but it took me some

time to see how my husband’s experience in this country differs from mine. Despite my

parents being from Eastern Europe, I only speak English; while my husband speaks

English and Spanish. I understand some Polish but I am not able to hold my own in a

conversation.

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 Some events that I participate in are baptisms, weddings, funerals, baby show-

ers, bbq’s, wedding showers, anniversaries, and eventually a quinceanera, for my baby

girl when she is older. Politically I identify as a liberal. I Strong believe in equal rights,

as I feel like everyone should have a choice in their lives and should not have have any

beliefs pushed on them. I believe the government should protect individuals from being

harmed but I also realize government can pose a threat to liberty. Just like we are see-

ing today.

I enjoy doing volunteer work for the DSOSN (Down Syndrome Organization of

Southern Nevada), and the Ronald McDonald House in Las Vegas. I also enjoy going

on walks with my family and dogs. I like to karaoke and dance around the house with

my four month old baby, Mila, as well as hosting parties where I make my own decora-

tions for the events that I am hosting. I like to travel but haven’t done much of that ever

since motherhood. The places I have traveled to include Canada, Florida, New York,

Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Ensenada and my favorite, Disneyland.

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 Life Experiences

A critical life experience I have endured was the loss of my first born child, Gra-

cie. She was born with Down syndrome and HLHS (Hypo-plastic Left Heart Syndrome).

With the religious beliefs I grew up with as well as the values my parents instilled in me,

I felt I had to have this child and give her a chance at life. I knew before she was born

that she had down syndrome and HLHS. My little Gracie Olivia only lived to be 6 1/2

months old. She fought with all she had but her second heart surgery was unsuccess-

ful. She passed away in my arms on March 23rd 2016. After that traumatic life event, I

thought long and hard about religion, abortions and people being free and having

choices. Two years later I got pregnant again. This time around I told my husband I

would terminated the pregnancy if there were any complications. After going through

that traumatic and difficult time in my life, I refused to relive having to watch my child

suffer. It got me to thinking, how so many people would be against me terminating the

pregnancy. Religious or personal opinions of my choices was of no ones concern but

my own. What I wanted was what was important to me and my life. Some, if not most

people have never experienced having a sick child, let alone one that was terminally ill.

They have healthy children and are quick to judge and point fingers at others. It is a

woman choice and I will always support that.

Growing up, my school was not a “Salad Bowl.” For the most part, we were very

similar, and had the same ideas, and basically the same cultures. We didn’t really know

kids that were of any other races or cultures. The few diverse kids that went to my

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school lost a little bit of their own cultural identities because, they were such minorities,

that all they wanted to do was fit in. They simply wanted to belong.

My Worldview

The standards and values that I live by is that there is only one race - the human

race. We all bleed the same red blood, and all strife to achieve the same things. We are

all to be respected and loved. The principles I live by are to respect everyone and to be

respected in return; the golden rule. Human kindness is what matters most. Rich or

poor, show that you care, and take care of our elderly and children. I plan on creating

and teaching curriculum focused on providing examples of cultural models. Creating

activities and experiences both cognitive and affective. As far as religion goes for me, I

may not be the most model catholic, but I am very spiritual. My spirituality is what I

consider to be my religion. I do pray at night with my baby so she can learn prayer.

I am biased in terms of only really supporting liberal and democrat candidates. I

refuse to stoop to the modern day republican beliefs. My goal is to combat racism,

sexism, and bullying. As a teacher, I hope that I can accomplish this goal and raise the

future children to create a world that is peaceful and strong for generations to come. I

value peoples beliefs, and respect their religion. As long as no one is being hurt or

harmed in any way I am accepting of anyone’s cultural beliefs. I really hope our future

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 generations get it right one day because I feel that we have gone backwards in our way

of thinking as a human race.

Cultural Artifacts



My parents, siblings, & I

The house I grew up in

First kid on the left, first row, is me

in my “melting pot” class

My 1st Communion
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My first communion
class in the Ukrainian
church

Denver, CO Disney with hubby and bro & sis In-law

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Don’t blame me I voted for

Hillary!
New Years at the casino with my
hubby

Christmas photo with my hubby

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Baby Gracie Baby Gracie Olivia born 9-8-15

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 Lucy Ricky

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 Mila Faith born 2-24-18

Mila today!

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