MY CULTURES & MICROCULTURES PROJECT

EDU 280
Rebecca Joyce Taney
My Motto
My Door Is
Always Open
 Ethnic Ancestry
European-American

Both sides of my family tree originated from English-

Scandinavian ethnicities.
Part of my bloodlines trace back to early Britannia (we can
almost trace are roots on my mother’s side to before the first
Roman invasion and its rumored that we had prominent
Celtic Druids in the family.)
Furthermore, much of both my parents’ ancestry comes
from early Viking heritages (so far back that some of them
were ‘royalty’ and thought they were directly related to
Odin.)
On my father’s side, my early American ancestors were
predominately trappers from Switzerland. Interestingly, the
branch that stayed behind started the Toblerone
confectionary chocolate bar.
Both sides immigrated to America during the late 19 th and
early 20th centuries where they were one of the first families
to pave the pioneer trails West. Most followed Brigham
Young and settled in Utah, outside of Salt Lake (in a town
called Toole), while the rest were sent down to the Las Vegas
Meadows to help establish the Mormon Church there as well.
 In the past, both sides of my
family have held Christian beliefs;
however, recently much of my
father’s branch (which I’m most
familiar with) has displayed little
to no affiliation to any belief
system.
Faith -
My mother’s side of the family
Religion - have been members of the
philosophy Mormon religion since the first
pioneer crossings. Most of her
family lives in Utah, which is why
I’ve had very little exposure to
them and are very devote believers
in the church.
Officially, my branch of the
family belongs to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
(LDS or Mormons.) In reality, only
my mother has faith in the religion
while my father is a proud Atheist.
While I was raised in the
church until I was 10, when
my grandmother (my
mother’s mom) died;
personally, I believe that
while science holds the key to
unlocking the secrets to THIS
universe (and maybe
glimpsing parts of others.)
What lies beyond that,
uncountable mysterious
possibilities and anomalies,
has yet to be discovered.
So, who knows what is
possible?
 Socioeconomic
Status

Growing up, my household has always been part

of the working middle class. When I was little, we
lived in a trailer home my parents rented until I was
8-9 years old.
Then we stayed with my mom’s parents for about a
year, before we moved in with my great-uncle for
almost two years while my father’s parents
renovated my uncle’s house (that they were
preparing to move into.)
For the last decade or so, we’ve lived in our one-
story, three-bedroom, rented house.

Up until recently, my father was an IBEW Union

electrician for the last 40 years. Then he went
through a series of operations – a full knee
replacement, a surgery to put stints in his heart, and
one to fix a blot clot in the artery in the back of his
calf. Due to this, he is now in the process of trying
to get disability so that he can officially retire.
This has caused our family to drop into a lower
socioeconomic level than ever before.
Consequently, my mother has now been forced to
go back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for
the last 25 years. She works 80+ hours (per week)
during the tax season.
Geographic Region & Education

I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. I

attended two different elementary schools, K-3rd at
one and 4-5th at the other.

When I transferred to middle school, I noticed for

the first time that I was no longer part of the ethnic
majority at my new school. I also realized for the
first time that my family was somewhat lower on the
poverty scale due to my need for subsidized lunches.
This new socioeconomic reality helped me see that
everyone around me faced individual challenges to
their family’s welfare.

I also developed a more introverted personality

the further time passed through middle school. By
time I reached high school, I felt that I was being
forced into a prison with people that didn’t value the
learning process. I started to believe that it would be
better to be free from such an environment then
suffer through a couple more years of stagnation.
These feelings continued to coalesce until I dropped
out of high school around 10th grade.

Soon after, I started working for the same

company as my mom as a sign waiver (one of the
Liberty Tax Service ‘Statues of Liberty’.) I believe
that my experience working an entry level job
imparted me with further insight into the lengths an
individual will strive to help provide for their
family. Eventually, I went to the Nevada State Adult
Education Program to gain my GED (which I did in
2013.)

Currently, my mother, sister, and I, have been

ardently working towards Associate’s Degrees’ at
CSN for the last few years. Upon completion, I plan
to start substitute teaching while attending Nevada
State University.
M&M Project End