My Childhood In Punjabi Culture

Every belief is a lens. These lenses determine the color, shape, and clarity of one’s world. As a child of multiple antithetic cultures, I have several lenses shaping my vision, effectively blurring the lines of my perception. Finding the balance between my parent’s Sikh culture,and my culture of the American youth presented the greatest challenge for me. Growing up in a divorced household, I learned to develop new perspectives on each of these cultures and my own beliefs, creating my own individual combination of lenses.

As a child, I learned English, Punjabi, and Bahasa Malay simultaneously in order to . By bridging the gap of language, I This experience fueled my desire to learn Spanish in junior high school in order to be able … Seeking a greater challenge in high school, I enrolled in the running start program to broaden my knowledge of careers and enrich my foundational skills. After graduating high school and simultaneously obtaining an Associate in Arts and Sciences, I transferred to Seattle University to pursue a BS in Mathematics. Unfortunately, during this new and challenging transition from high school to university, I lost my parents’ financial and emotional support. Finding the balance between my parent’s Sikh culture, and my culture of the American youth presented the greatest challenge for me. I had no choice but to withdraw from Seattle University and begin working to support myself financially.

Soon after, I continued my education at Bellevue College where I discovered my strong suit in healthcare technology. I began shadowing various professionals within the field and discovered my niche within healthcare informatics. Once I found my calling, I began taking additional courses in technology systems and health sciences to gain key skills for my career. I excelled in these courses simply because I had a vested interest in each topic and appreciated their applicability to my desired field of study; healthcare informatics and health information management(HIHIM).

After considerable reflection, I came to the conclusion that the HIHIM program at the University of Washington will best help me reach my career goals. The program at the UW provides a plethora of resources that will help me develop a strong theoretical foundation as well as the practical skills required for a Health Information Manager. The capstone projects will not only give me an opportunity to apply my skills to real-world challenges but also to help create a networking platform for building contacts with local HIHIM professionals.

Quality education is necessary to become successful and the depth and variety of the courses in the HIHIM program will make me a well-rounded candidate for my career path. The HIHIM program will pave a pathway for me to further pursue my Masters in Public Health at the University of Washington. As a Seattle native and active community member, it is imperative I pursue this program at the prestigious UW. By studying in my hometown, I’ll relay valuable knowledge regarding the concerns of our local communities into the classroom and ultimately into the work field. I hope to apply my knowledge in order to design and manage processes that facilitate flow and exchange of health information.

In order to support my educational endeavours, I began working full time which led to the development of my leadership qualities. I was able to advance into leadership positions in retail as well as the banking industry. With added responsibilities in these positions, I gained valuable critical thinking and analytical skills that will play a vital role in my career as a health information specialist. My most valuable skills were obtained while working within my community. My compassion for women and children led me to begin volunteering at Eastside Baby Corner where we worked to provide food, clothes, and necessities for low-income families and new mothers in need of assistance. I temporarily volunteered at the Seattle Humane Society where I was able to care for animals and aid with data entry in medical records. My most recent volunteer experience is with United Way of King County where we offer free tax help and benefits resources to those in our community. Being within my community and being able to help people and animals in different ways is a very humbling experience.

As a Sikh, religious belief and faith define my personal philosophy; however, as an American youth, I pride myself on my logic and practical reasoning above all else. From my involvement in my Sikh temple, I grew to value “seva” which translates to selfless service. In Sikhism, seva is performed for the betterment of the community. In the Punjabi culture, seva is said to promote humility and demote egoism. Liberal/Conservative ideals. Fusion of both. Seva something you learned from punjabi culture and volunteer work was addressed often in american culture. THese two are the same = fusion.

As a prospective UW student, I hope to share my culture with the UW community where UW students can come together and perform seva on and off campus through clubs, gatherings, and social media. Along with my educational experience, …..Character, humbling, growth,