Cultural Mind map

Language

Heritage

In my early childhood I was exposed to two languages in my household. I learnt English and Cantonese concurrently, but I only formally studied English. All of my Cantonese has been learnt through my parents and family and I have become very competent conversationally. I have also covered some German and French during high school.

Parental Influence

From what I observe, my parents are hard working and incredibly devoted individuals who have a strong family oriented mindset

Being a Chinese Australian, a lot of my values I try to uphold come from the chinese culture.

Some of these values include respect for elders, upholding the respect of family and living a balanced life.

One of my early memories involved a trip to China where extended family lived at a time when I was 7 years old. I sat on my grandfathers lap and heard stories about his life and he talked about how important the chinese culture was to him.

These experiences has definitely helped respect and understanding of what it means to be chinese. I embrace this into my Australian attitude through celebration of major chinese calendar events.

The major influence my parents have on me, and my sister, are their values.

My fathers' focus on education excellence has rubbed off on me over the years. One of the reasons why I enjoy and do well in topics such as maths is why I have chosen to pursue a career in Engineering.

Thank you

Working life

Family

I first entered the work force in hospitality and customer service at a local cafe. This occurred at the beginning of studies at UNSW.

Over time I have moved job location within the customer service area in search for positions requiring more responsibility. My highest role has been assistant store manager at a cafe.

What has driven me to pursue this is my passion for good coffee and my curiosity in how far I can push myself.

My heritage is chinese, I was born and raised in Sydney and I have one other sibling - a smaller sister.

Engineering experience

My parents migrated from South-eastern China about 24 years ago. My extended family is quite large with both parents having 6 siblings each.

Most of my family reside in China but I have a aunt and two cousins living in Sydney.

Early 2013 I found an opportunity to work with John Holland Group within the field of construction management.

This opportunity allowed me to expand my experiences into the corporate world and I have benefited from the skills and network it has developed.

University

My culture?

My life is currently revolving around my studies at UNSW.I currently study for a Bachelor in Engineering award.

One of the most amazing things about UNSW is the diversity of cultures and people. There are few opportunities to make friends who originate from the opposite end of the world, and also few opportunities to be involved in societies filled with individuals with the same views.

Volunteering at UNSW

The main societies I have been involved with are Aspire UNSW and Save the Children UNSW. Both these groups tackle social awareness and education on issues such as benefits of tertiary education and the dangers posed to children from social unrest and poverty around the world, respectively.

From my active roles within these organizations, I have become more interested on the issue of human rights and equality that are evolving around the world.

I have been lucky enough to experience many different forms of culture. This is the case because of the people I have met, the places I've traveled and the learning opportunities I have faces.

To me, my culture is defined by the my family, friends and life choices I have made and will make. I believe one's culture is never the same throughout their lives - it is through experience and learning do we ever develop a culture.

High School

Social Organisations

My time in High School was the place where I forged my most important friendships.

During this time I had been involved in all sorts of extra curricular activities such as sport and social justice.

I can attribute these experiences with my love of sport and competitive character.

Child Sponsor

Education

I have been a World Vision child sponsor for more than 3 years. I engaged in this because I believe that my opportunity and fortune can help those who are in need. I chose World vision because I wanted to assist not only a child but also their community.

I am a little proud to say, I have always attended school in all stages of my life in my local area, Randwick.

My parents enforced the idea of good grades as being the goal to education. During early years of high school, I realized the opportunities that education offered, other than my parents' mentality.

Primary School

I attended Our lady of the Sacred Heart Primary school in Randwick for years K - 6.

During my time here, I had encountered many different cultures and people.

I valued the time I spent here because OLSH gave me an understanding of the values strength and kindness - this is the school's motto.

I truly believe that going to this school has provided the foundations to be a open minded individual.

My Cultural Mind map