Assignment 3- Brennan Cegelka

 Culture Shock.
 This is quite an experience. Culture shock to me is when you enter a new place, new people, and you feel like an Alien who just arrived in another world. That is how I felt when I moved from San Diego California to Lexington Kentucky. “Kentucky?” Where is Kentucky? That was my 1st question to my parents. As a kid in California, (the center of the universe to many) where the only season is Sunny, and the idea of a cold day is 65 degrees, I was filled with wonder when I 1st saw snow. I was no longer in the metropolitan of a 2 million plus city on the border of Mexico. I was in a quaint town that valued horses, Bourbon, and basketball. These strange people said “Y’all” and “Ain’t” in almost every sentence. I felt uncomfortable at times, but thats life: Uncomfortable. Fast forward to being a Junior. I’ve come to love the University of Kentucky and Big Blue Nation. And, I now proudly consider myself a Kentuckian, with John Calipari as our president and Bourbon as our currency.

I learned to be more open to people with different backgrounds and how said backgrounds shape them. I came from what is at times considered the liberal capital of America, to a place where Mich McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader, hails from our great State. I’ve had the pleasure to meet conservatives whose opinions I would’ve never been exposed to or understood in California. One of the strengths of living in California and Kentucky is my ability to see 1st hand, the reasoning behind people’s point of view and how they came to their conclusion based on their upbringing. There is a fair deal of ignorance on both sides of the political spectrum. But my ability to understand each side has enriched my educational environment for the better.