Rough Identity Paper

In my reading of, "How To Tame A Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua, she touch so many of the buttons which resonate in to how I define identity. Simply, identity is how someone portrayed or sees him answering the basic purpose of existence. In her short story, Gloria   showed how language, family, community, religion, and environment had shaped her identity.   I like the emphasis and the power of language in Anzaldua writing, “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language."  

Gebremedhin Teshale

I am no different than most of the people in my class. But the influence and shaping power my dad had on me was so immense. My dad, Gebremedhin Teshale, was very honest, impartial, courageous, bright minded, faithful and religious man. He was born and rise in a family of 13 children with a very strict father in a very remote village where there is no school, health clinic----nothing was there. Sincerely looking for education, he moved in to a provincial town called Dessie, where his uncle, a priest resided. Finally he found and joined elementary school where any level of education considered to a man being, "Civilized". After this, he got married, bare children, hired and worked as an accountant for 36 years in Boru Meda Hospital located in Ethiopia.  During his time of service, he made the Hospital profitable by working hard and being honest towards his assignment on the stewardship of money. The Hospital he worked for stood most of the time first and other times second among other Hospitals in our Province. Besides, he was a man of God. He had faith that made him stood by on what he believed. He stood for justice and equal rights. He fought for many victims who were betrayed by the higher management and continued to be an advocate to the poor. In response he got pushed out of his position and even transferred to another location. He never quit there. He took the injustice done to him to the regional Supreme Court and at last found justice. Nonetheless, the provincial government ignored the decision of the higher court and went on doing business as usual. In all these, I saw a man of honor integrity, persistence, perseverance and never say no to thing. He shaped me to be honest, respectful, and faithful above all to have a faith in God and his son Jesus Christ. Till the time I moved in to California, I lived and worked with so many people and all over the country that have different language, culture and personality than me. And I managed to live with them in harmony, peace, personal integrity and with a sense of purpose.