Fall, 2001

My agent

I was most affected by the family agent of socialization. My family played a very important role in my life. They provided me with a lot of things that I needed in my future. They taught me the way to behave in public and also gave me my religion and culture.

My family means a lot to me they made me become the lady that I am today . When I was little, they taught me all of the manners that I need now. The most important is the way to behave in society. For example, if I go to a restaurant, I am not supposed to lie on the table .I need to sit comfortable like every one else .I am not supposed to put my hands behind the other chair or shake my legs under the table. If I am eating something, I am supposed to use the correct hand .I have to used my knife and fork properly. Also, in public I need to dress properly .If I dress with a short skirt, my parents will tell me to take it off, that it is too short to go outside. I agree because now there are many people wearing indecent clothes. They don’t cover themselves, and you can see almost their whole body. Some of them may wear a short t-shirt and skirt. You can see their breasts and legs. I think human beings are not supposed to walk and dress that way.

My religion is very important to my family and me. Every Sunday I have to go to church even if I am sick because God is the only one who can protect me. This task is still part of my attitude. I have to go to church to pray to the Lord. I think it is very good to for everybody to teach their child to go to church. The child needs to know that there is some one who protect him/her everywhere he /she goes.

Culture is important for my family and me. I learn the value of my culture and our food from my family. I like the way my mother cooks rice; it taste very good .I like vegetables, fish corn with beans; they very good and they are important for me because I have to know all kinds of things in my culture. And I think every body should all kinds of things from their culture .MY mother cooks in a special way which reflects Haitian culture, the culture of my country for example, when my mother cooked rice with beans, she first cooked the beans. Then she mixed the spices, garlic black pepper and salt .She pit all spices in the oil until they were cooked. She put the beans, for a few minutes and put the water left from the beans. She added some butter, green pepper, olives and boiled the water .She added the rice and left it until it cooked. This is one of our national recipes, and it shows how unique our culture is. I am grateful to my family that I was able to learn it. However, we also like other food that is not part of our culture. Music is also a part of culture that I started enjoying with the help of my family. Kompak is the name off a type of Haitian music that uses the guitar and piano etc. It’s often played or sung as a story . The singers send some message to every body to make them feel good and enjoy it. My culture is the best one for me and I am proud of my culture.

My family was an agent that made a great impact on me. They taught me the good manners I need in the society. They taught me my religion and made me believe in good, and taught me how to pray. They made me enjoy and understand the importance of appreciating other cultures as well as my own.