Michelle's Story

My passion is Cultural Anthropology.

I first discovered this passion when I was in 8th grade. I come from a Mexican culture and noticed only a few other students at my school celebrated Day of The Dead. I was so curious as to why other Latino countries don’t celebrate this event. I then became fascinated with the culture of France because I took French and the language is similar to Spanish, but the countries differ in culture. I found myself wanting to know more about their culture; I wanted to know how French culture was both similar to and different from my Mexican culture. I am currently taking AP Human Geography and I completed a project that involved learning about a different culture. I chose to study Dominican culture. I predicted that it was going to similar to other Latin cultures, but I was wrong. They have a completely different way of interacting with others, including their body gestures, facial expressions, and the way they talked to one another. I didn’t expect it to be that different from my culture. Then I wondered about countries in South America, and how their culture might also be different. I enjoy learning about cultures because despite their differences, they share strong connections with each other.

Attending Pre-Brown College will help me explore my passion because they offer a Cultural Anthropology course and I want to explore topics that are more in-depth. I want to have more knowledge and experience diverse personal interactions with people I might meet with different backgrounds. I know my curiosity about cultural anthropology will grow from this experience. Outside the course I expect to meet different people of different backgrounds. Making me even more excited about attending Brown Pre-College over the summer. Making new friends and connecting my culture to other different cultures that I will encounter.