Learning Journal #5

[Wyatt Jackson]

The Culture Shock video was interesting despite how slow it was at parts. It definitely illustrates the idea of culture shock and the adjustment that occurs afterwards. Culture shock is very apparent anytime you change settings. Even when you’re used to hanging out with one group of friends, and decide to hangout with a completely different group, there is an immediate culture shock. Yes, a microcosm of cross-country culture shock, but still the same idea. I have never experienced culture shock to a large extent, but can understand it due to small microcosms. My realest experience of culture shock was probably coming to Richmond since I’d never really lived anywhere besides Maine for my whole life. It wasn’t so much the culture of the state of Virginia, but the culture of the University of Richmond that shocked me the most. I didn’t have very many expectations because I just didn’t know what to expect, but I found the culture here to be quite different. My school in Maine was public, so I grew up with all of the kids in my school and had known the majority of them since kindergarten. Going to classes here is completely different, and so I act in a fully different manner. I actually found it empowering because I was free to be whoever I wanted to be. Since everyone at a public school knew exactly who each person was, there were expectations in place for how everybody was probably going to act. At Richmond there aren’t. The biggest adjustment that I had to make was to decide what expectations I wanted my peers to eventually have about my behavior. Once people know me, should they expect me to be a kind, well-spoken gentleman, or an obnoxious, haughty kid. The difference between those options is why understanding culture shock is so valuable.