The Cultural Self Portrait assignment marked a turning point in how I understand intercultural engagement as a practice rooted in self-awareness, positionality, and community. Through my cultural autoethnography and creative poem, I explored how class, language, geography, gender, and ethnicity shape both my opportunities and responsibilities in global spaces Cultural Self Portrait
Writing about my experience mad me confront the invisible ways privilege and marginalization coexist in my life. I benefit from access to elite education and global mobility, yet I also navigate academic and social spaces that were not designed with working-class immigrant families in mind. This reflection connects directly to the themes of cultural humility and ethical engagement by recognizing that identity and power shape how we show up long before any global work begins.
What made this assignment especially meaningful was the collective environment in which it took place. CGST 205 is unlike most classes I’ve taken at Wesleyan. Rather than remaining anonymous or surface-level, this course cultivated deep trust, vulnerability, and care among classmates. Through the Cultural Self Portraits, we were invited not only to reflect inward, but to witness one another with intention and respect. Sharing pieces of our identities some joyful and some painful but it created a rare and intimate learning space where listening became an act of solidarity. That sense of safety transformed reflection from an individual exercise into a shared intercultural practice.
The creative component was my poem Daughter of Soil and Sunrise which allowed me to process identity beyond academic language. Art became an intercultural tool, capturing the emotional reality of growing up between languages and worlds. It reminded me that intercultural communication is not only analytical, but embodied, relational, and deeply human. Here’s the link to my poem: Cultural Self “Portrait”
