J. Meeson
Professor McGinnis
English Composition
August 27th, 2020
Examining my Rhetorical Lense: Personal Affects
My name is Joshua and I am an 18-year-old religious boy living in Japan. I am very proud to say that I am religious because it affects the way that I live my life and I am extremely grateful to be living in Japan. The following is just a small list of why I am proud of these attributes in my life.
I am a “Nondenominational Christian” which means that although I am Christian I do not associate with one certain branch of the religion such as Protestant, Lutheran, or Catholic. I am able to see past certain items other branches may not be able to look past, I still do believe in all the core values but I am able to wholeheartedly go to any branch of Christian churches if I wanted to. I think that being religious allows me to look at life in a much different sense compared to somebody who is not religious. I do not think less of anybody who isn’t religious or does not believe in my religion, however, in my core values I am supposed to value all life. Valuing all life is a very good attribute because I believe with so much death, hate, and destruction in the world it’s not such a bad thing to want to put a little good back in. I value all humans from any religion or ethnicity and I value all animal’s lives as well and I often donate to world conservation and humanitarian organizations; I’ve most recently donated money to help aid those affected by the explosion in Beirut.
I think that my age also gives me an interesting view of the world and definitely gives me a different view of what a typical American teen may have over the world. Living in Asia I am able to see happenings in America from a different view because it’s not occurring right in front of me, I also don’t need to deal with any issues in America. I still love America and I love being American but living the most transformative younger years of my life in a foreign country has allowed me to see past simply being American. Americans don’t usually invest time into foreign problems throughout the world, however, living here I feel like I am more in touch with current world events compared to other Americans my age who aren’t living abroad. Expanding my global view allows me to see people as just people and not just what country is listed on their passport. As a whole Americans generalize people based on where they are from but the opposite has happened to me since I am a foreigner over here. Obtaining this mindset at a young age will help when I am older because I can relate to more people and I have also learned a lot about different cultures and religions. I may not agree with the other religions however I can respect their beliefs and when you understand a person’s belief system you are able to understand them much better. In my time abroad I have flown, driven, walked, and taken the train to amazing spots with a vast array of different people and cultures. This has definitely inspired me to keep traveling whenever I am able to and appreciate people for who they are and not where they are from or what they look like.
Living abroad has definitely altered the way I communicate and this alteration in my lifestyle mixed in with my social groups I am a part of has made me carry myself in a more humble way. I believe that immersing myself in a different culture while maintaining my core values has made me become an overall more understanding human. While living in Japan I visiting Hiroshima allowing me to see the shadows stuck on walls and the destroyed building from one of the atomic bombs from WW2 near the memorial museum however when I was there I didn’t get one mean stare from any Japanese person even though Americans carried out the bombing. This experience along with many others has allowed me to realize that if other people can accept and move forward with adversities in life I should be able to as well, and this realization makes me more sympathetic and willing to help anybody I meet.