Merve

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage
My immigration to Canada changed my personality and perspective in life drastically
The issues I face in life, my expectations and my self-image all are influenced by both my culture and my family’s experience with living in both cultures
This all has affected the way I view grades and my academic performance
Segregation
Got separated geographically and physically from Turkey, the society in that I initially grew up and encompassed the values and lifestyle of
Transition
Moved to Canada with the help of family and friends
The people that helped me throughout the transition were the children of the family friends we had
My first day of school was a large step towards getting used to society as I felt the differences between both cultures at most
Had to get used to the education system and curriculum while learning English
Had attempts at making friends
The transition stage took around a year
Incorporation and reintegration
Reintegrated into society as a better version of myself after my summer trip to turkey
Entered middle school where everyone usually did not know each other
This removed the bias that I was a newer student who struggled with fitting in and adapting
Had more confidence in my language skills and did not need an ESL mentor
Was easier to make friends
Became friends with people who helped me enjoy my time in Canada and not miss Turkey
Also understood the responsibility of sustaining good grades as I grew up as my reintegrated form
Had knowledge of the structure of our family (my father staying in Turkey to continue working) and this gave me the motivation to be successful in school and also as a way to connect with my parents

Cultural Relativism

-The idea that you cannot compare two cultures because each culture has its own internal rules that must be accepted - you shouldn't but you still do
-My family and I compared the Turkish and the European culture with Canadian or North American culture
-My parents most significantly made comparisons between both countries’ foods, history, way of living, rules, social life, school systems etc.
-For example, many restaurants and cafes close at 9 and 10 in Ontario in Istanbul the city is always awake and services do not close until and\or past midnight - this causes my family to be more bored in Canada than in Turkey
-Although my family (aunts, father, mother etc.) moved to Canada because my parents refused my sister and me to take high school and university entry exams which are very stressful for students, they sometimes compare both of the education systems
-They do mention how the Turkish school system is more difficult with more content to get through while the Canadian education system is lighter especially when it comes to mathematical courses
-This causes me to feel like I need to get better grades and work harder since students in Turkey have a more difficult system and to make my parents who still have not to full adapted to the Canadian system and culture proud by showing I am very good and would also be successful as a Turkish students

Motivations

My motivation to get a good grade
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are combined in my life
I have the desire to learn about the topics I am interested in
I gain motivation from the personally visioned dreams and goals I have but these goals have been influenced by the way that I was raised and what I have gone through - this is why my motivations are intertwined
Dream 1 (intrinsic) - To go to a country in Europe to study
My family has more interest in travelling to a European country than a Middle Eastern or the US - this has also changed the way I see countries
Dream 2 (Intrinsic and extrinsic) Achieving a meaningful accomplishment (possibly in a field where I helped others) that will prove my skill and hard work in a such topic
(intrinsic) I personally value helping others and believe that it also improves my life and self
(but also extrinsic)- the desire to show my parents that the education I received in Canada and the effort put in to move was worth it and were better than the education I could have received in Turkey
It is to also prove to my family that I am skillful and work hard

Operant Conditioning

Had to adapt to a new lifestyle, different cultural norms, and different values among friends,
There were a lot of differences between both countries.
In Turkey, there are visible economic classes whereas in Canada especially due to the diversity of the country, citizens are more interconnected
The Canadian school system is not based on exams and tests like the Turkish school system where students are regularly tested.
Tests and homework in Turkey are all multiple choice questions since this is the format of all exams while in Canada there are written questions as well as assignments even in math and science courses.
In Canada, the language skills of students are more valued and subjective assignments are given out for students to build their own way of thinking and writing
My sister and I needed to adapt to this system especially when English was not a language we were comfortable speaking

Primary Socialization

The reason why I value grades and is a major part of my life is because of the way that I was raised
Parents are an individual’s primary socialization and they are the people who caused academic success to be very important for my sister and I
Being very close and trusting towards your parents causes one to believe their ideas and thoughts to be true and embody them as those values are also theirs
My father always valued getting good grades
As a child, I saw this through how his and my sister’s relationship was when the topic was about school. He would be strict and expected homework to be done and test results to be high
The action of moving continents because of school also allowed me to understand how heavily my family takes education and that it should be a big part of my life, especially when I am a teenager

Anticipatory Socialization

Had to adapt to a new lifestyle, different cultural norms, and different values among friends,
There were a lot of differences between both countries.
In Turkey, there are visible economic classes whereas in Canada especially due to the diversity of the country, citizens are more interconnected
The Canadian school system is not based on exams and tests like the Turkish school system where students are regularly tested.
Tests and homework in Turkey are all multiple choice questions since this is the format of all exams while in Canada there are written questions as well as assignments even in math and science courses.
In Canada, the language skills of students are more valued and subjective assignments are given out for students to build their own way of thinking and writing
My sister and I needed to adapt to this system especially when English was not a language we were comfortable speaking