Ralph

1. Where will I be a year later?

2. What could I bring to the new school then?

3. How are the people I follow now at that time?

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Who am I? At some point I'd say I am a Chinese student at xx school class xx. But what does that mean?

Would that mean I am rich? Relatively yes since my parents can afford me to be there, but that's their money.

Would that mean I could bring Chinese part to the campus? Who knows? I am not going to be the only Chinese-background person there, and for sure my knowledge of Chinese culture isn't the same as the professors teaching Asian study. What will make me stand out from all Chinese students and all who knows Chinese culture?

Indeed, what makes a Chinese? The language? A foreigner could learn Chinese too. The literature we read? Well the same, they can study it too; and maybe they could do it better without the "teacher's instructions" and standard answers. The virtues we cherish such as integrity? We are all humans sharing (very) similar values--they value these too and maybe do better (Davidson's honor code for instance).

The only thing left is the attitude passed by generations and shaped by the eras, and this varies by families. After all, we are the reflection of the community and time we are in. Maybe someone rather cheat; but we'd think cheating is a sin, not just because the code says so but because there were people around us behave so--a belief shared.

So now I am leaving to bring my beliefs to another community. And hopefully, we'd debate to find a way for ourselves to deal with the world. And that's what I'd bring.

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An individual is influenced by the group--the behaviors of others in the group which forms sort of a peer pressure, maybe provoking thinking, the the stereotypes of the group based on some of its members' behaviors. That's to say, an individual represents a group, and vice versa.