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Cultural Issues / Cuture Shock
Experiencing our own culture
As part of being at university, we are brought together with people who have had different upbringings, from different parts of the country and the world, and on our courses we are also faced with many new ideas and beliefs, which may challenge us. This can make us aware for the first time of our personal culture, which we all carry, from peripheral interests and tastes, to core values and identity issues; family, religion, language, class, gender, sexuality, politics, artistic tastes, values, fashion etc. As individuals we grew up in families and groups within a cultural framework. It may be that as we explore our own culture we find bits that we want to hold dear, and also bits which we are embarrassed about or disagree with and want to move away from.
Culture can be described as the invisible language, and no other theme in our lives is so central, has such an influence and yet is left largely unexplored, whether in our living environment or on your course. The benefit of exploring cultural aspects to ourselves is that it makes us more self-aware, and reveals deeper layers of meaning in what we do.
By coming to university you are partly living in a different culture, even if you have only moved from the south of England to the north, or are living with people who aren't your family for the first time, it can make you more aware of your ways of being, your preferences and ways of doing things. It can throw you off balance for a while. However, it can also be exciting and good for our development to try out new things. See if you can keep enough of your old ways of doing things to remain feeling secure and yet try enough new things to stretch yourself.
Peer Support for Friends
