My personal terministic screen has been shaped by a multitude of factors. I am white, female, have a close relationship with my family and truly have never faced adversity. My parents have financially been able to provide me everything I could ever need or want, and I have the opportunity to get a private education. I am very conscious that I have it pretty easy, and this privilege has allowed me to see the world in an exciting and secure way. My culture and demographics have been two primary influencers on my perspective of the world; Though many other facets of my life have been critical as well.
Culture
No two people will ever have the same experience or perspective on culture. My terministic screen on culture primarily stems from my dads side of the family. My grandfather came to America from India and nearly lost everything after the partition. My family deeply values our Indian culture and it has been a big part of my life. My mom’s family, on the other hand, is very traditional Irish Catholic. Having this substantial contrast growing up really influenced my terministic screen by allowing me to experience two very different cultures. I’m fortunate enough to be very close with both sides of my family, and it’s special that I got to see how they celebrated the exact same holidays in very different ways. Holidays with my dad’s family were filled with the best Indian food and captivating stories of our family’s past. At the beginning of meals we always said what were grateful for but never a formal grace or prayer. My dads side also did not celebrate Easter together. The holidays with my mom’s side were very traditional and exactly what you expect of holidays for a white American family (traditional food, saying grace, massive Easter celebration etc). I feel very fortunate to have had both traditional and nontraditional experiences as a child; I think it has made me have a very accepting and open perspective on cultures and family traditions.
Demographic/ Segregation
I find that for many, the place they call home drastically influences their perspective on the world. Everyone also has an individual view of their hometown. I am from Milwaukee, a beautiful city and one I am proud to call home. My experiences in Milwaukee have created my terministic screen of home. Unfortunately, Milwaukee is the most racially segregated city in America and this has greatly affected the way I perceive my home and the world. It’s not only the city that is so segregated; it’s the schools, classrooms, malls and restaurants. My school district was primarily white and nearly everyone else was from outside the village I lived in. Those from outside the village were able to attend my school because of a government-funded program. Even then, there was a clear disparity between the academic abilities of white and non-white kids in the district. The higher-level math and sciences classes were almost always 100% white, while the ‘easier’ classes were filled with all of non-white students. The village of Shorewood specifically was my home, Shorewoods zip code is 53211. Sitting on Lake Michigan, it bestows a median household income of 69,000$ and the community is 85% white. Three miles directly west of Shorewood is the zip code 53206. 53206 incarcerates more black men than any other zip code in America. The median family income is 22,000$ and it is 95% African American. These numbers just speak volume to the huge, tangible disparities. Having my home be such a segregated city has deeply shaped my perspective on the world. I credit growing up in such a segregated place as one of the biggest reasons I love to travel and learn about diverse cultures and places; I was never able to get that at home and that has clearly influenced my terministic screen.
Mayo Clinic
Culture and demographics are two fairly obvious determinants of how one’s terministic screen will be; significant events also have the ability to alter one’s perspective. For me, going to Mayo Clinic formed by terministic screen on health and influenced my perspective on life. From age twelve I suffered from chronic pain, forcing me to spend nearly six years going from doctor to doctor, all while missing out on so much due to the pain. The pain gave me exhaustion, anxiety and made it difficult to focus in class. During the spring of my senior year of high school, I was given the chance to be evaluated at the Mayo Clinic. I missed a week of school and met with some of the world’s best doctors and it changed my life in the best way. Besides improving my health more than I ever thought was possible, I finally learned to accept the issues with my body and finally find a sense of closure by having answers. It was the most difficult week of my life but substantially improved my quality of life. This changed my terministic screen on health as I learned from a young age how precious it is and the importance of being grateful for it when it’s there. My perspective completely flipped, my body is now capable of so much and I am able to deeply this. I never take the ability to walk to class for granted, and every workout I do now I do in honor of myself on the days the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t leave my bed. Even though this was such a difficult part of my life, I feel very lucky to have this terministic screen of health that allows me to see my functioning body as such a blessing.
My culture, home and experiences such as going Mayo Clinic have given me an individualistic terministic screen of the world. Terministic screens are like snowflakes, no two are ever the same, which I think is really what makes our world a special place.
Greta Ghei 