How My Culture Influenced My Development

How My Culture Influenced My DevelopmentThe 'How My Culture Influenced My Development' essay is an intriguing and entertaining essay question. The essay is written by Mary Ann Bracchus, a Ph.D. candidate in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.In her essay, Mary Ann Bracchus asks the reader to consider a variety of critical topics related to her culture. She poses the following question: 'What is it about American culture that can teach me about myself?' She then describes her quest to understand the importance of personal development in the context of American culture.She discusses three issues: education, work life, and self-actualization. Specifically, she discusses the American value system of individualism, the ability to choose one's own path, and the value of 'self-expression'self-fulfillment.' She describes the differences between culture and individual behaviors as 'identity' and states, 'American culture values the ability to explore, define, and mak e new and unique self-images, to be creative in our behavior and expression.' She explains that the U.S. has a 'culture of truth' which is a 'theory of meaning' and an 'ethical system of judgment.'Mary Ann Bracchus also discusses the 'conceptualization' of leadership, which she defines as the process of formulating a 'perceived reality.' She describes the formation of the self through this process as 'inner perception,' and illustrates this by describing her experience of her adoption of the Asian style of speaking. In that adoption, she is able to speak in a way that seems natural to her, a process that she describes as 'a conceptualization.'In addition to these three themes, Mary Ann Bracchus describes her own experience with the values of self-expression and self-actualization. She defines the self as a 'perceived reality' and demonstrates this through her experience as a self-proclaimed life coach.Based on her experience as a life coach, Mary Ann Bracchus explains that there are four self-actualization perspectives: the Fermi-fish-egg theory, the Megalithic-anthropic perspective, the Phenomenal-spiritual approach, and the Onkwehón-weiki-psiyi perspective. In her essay, she describes her own concept of self-actualization as a practice of healing one's spirit.In order to develop self-actualization, Mary Ann Bracchus notes that there are two ways to do this: to accept yourself as you are or to accept yourself as you could be. To accept yourself as you are, would require that we accept that there is no higher truth than our own self-interpretation, that we cannot have greater meaning or purpose than what we define as 'me,' and that our humanity cannot outweigh our moral accountability to society. But to accept yourself as you could be would require that we acknowledge that what I believe about myself will not affect the way I interact with others, that I am only one human being with unique feelings, intentions, and beliefs.The 'How My Culture Influenced My De velopment' essay sample presented here offers an interesting and engaging look at the many different facets of American culture. It also provides a venue for students to evaluate their cultural identity and explain how they interpret their personal and cultural values. The focus of the essay is to encourage students to consider and identify their cultural influences while helping them recognize that there is no right or wrong answer to the question of how my culture influenced my development.