Mampouya Balende 1

Muriel Mampouya
Professor Boyd
English 101-008T
9/26/16
Grit and Culture
Growing up I didnt have a lot of independence. Coming from Congo, the middle
class people tend to hire a maid to help out around the house. The dishes, food, laundry
and many other house chores are done by the maid (s). All kids usually do in the daily
basis is wake up, eat, go to school and do their homework. In certain occasions, doing
dishes is something you do, but that task vary in different household. Of course free
time is allowed but having your school work done comes before that. Doing your school
work and getting good grades is a major deal in the Congolese culture. Education is
more important than getting a job when youre underage. The higher your education is,
the more respect you get and the more value you have. When comparing the
Congolese culture to the US, theres a difference in the way that people raise their kids.
Kids dont usually care about their education as much as Congolese do. They take it for
granted. People tend to care more about getting a job or having their independence and
dont see education as a one of their main priority in life. Theres not much difference
between the generations, its more about the cultures. When taking about the
differences between the generations, culture can play a big role. People are raised
differently throughout the globe; norms influence the way that people are raised.
While the stereotypes of generations may fit for the middle class Americans, they
dont hold up across stable cultures in context. Coming from a family of Congolese

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immigrants, the way people raised their kids there is quite different from the way other
certain Americans raise their kids. The value of knowledge is higher for Congolese than
it is for Americans. Unlike Congo, school is free here from K-12. Students have more
opportunity to get education but they take it for granted. They think that theyre entitled
to a grade just because they exist. The millennials here believe that they should earn
good grades because they passed a class. They put less effort into their school work
but still except to earn a decent grade and they mad when their grade is not what they
want. Faculty also noted an increased tendency for students to blame them (the
faculty) for low gradesthey werent explicit enough in telling the students just what the
test would cover or just what would distinguish a good paper from a bad one. They
described an increased tendency to see a poor grade as reason to complain rather than
as reason to study more, or more effectively (Gray). This quote shows how middle
class American kids dont prioritize education. Instead of seeking for more knowledge in
order to do better later on, they blame other people for their failure. They dont take
responsibility for their failure They dont see a bad grade as a way to study more and
work harder in class. They view it as if the instructor failed or teach them the lesson.
Instructors dont always give students the exact details on an exam or quiz so students
can study more and learn the material better. Certain students here dont see it that
way, they usually want the easy way when it comes to education. Theyll rather blame
the instructor instead of being responsible for their failure. Unlike in Congo, having
homework from school doesnt stop your parents from giving your more work at home.
Generally I didnt have that much homework while growing up. My dad used to give me
some problems to solve at home. The only thing I usually had to do is study at home. I

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used to finish all my homework in class before I went home, (Opelo). In my mothers
case she did her work at school. Even though she had work to do at school, her dad still
gave her extra work to do at home. The quote shows how knowledge is influenced in
Congolese houses. Education is influenced in the household and the kids make sure to
learn a lot about the material in order to succeed in class. They dont rely on the
teachers to tell them about details on tests/exams. They take responsibility of the
outcome of their work. Grades need to be earned; she was taught that good grades
come with hard work. The difference comes more with different cultures and their
values. Theres not that much difference when comparing the generation X and the
millennials. Certain parents usually raised their kids the same way. When both the
millennials (Longueli and Curry) and the generation X (Opelo) were asked the following
question how much freedom and responsibility were you given or required to take prior
age ten, they all gave similar answers. Not much. I could go play outside but I couldnt
go around the block. I was doing my own chores like fixing my room. I was learning how
to make breakfast. I had to like you know separate my dirty clothes and my clean
clothes, fold my own laundry, (Longueli). we didnt have a lot of responsibility or
freedom at age ten. My friends had to come to my house, my mom didnt play that. So
we did have freedom for probably an hour that was it. I washed dishes, I had to clean
my room, but for like dinner and lunch my mom did that, (Curry). I didnt have any
responsibility. I never made my breakfast because we had maids who did breakfast and
everything else for us. So all I was doing was staying in my room, watch television and
read books, (Opelo). Theres a big similarity in the responses. Both generation didnt
have a lot of responsibility. The parents allowed them to do certain things but it was to

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an extent. They could do minor tasks around the house and they were helped with most
of the rest. A difference came when asked the question have you ever had a job as a
kid, the answers were similar for people who had a Congolese background compared
to the middle class American woman. I had a job at 16, (Curry). Nope I did not, my
parents didnt let me work, (Longueli). No I didnt have a job because in my fathers
house we didnt work. Even when you ate you left your plate on the table because we
had maids that did everything for us and generally in Africa we dont work kids dont
work theres not jobs for kids. The parents do everything for their kids. I didnt get to
work during my youth, I went to school, (Opelo). Even though the way they were raised
is very similar, it changes when it comes to jobs. American culture allows kids to work
when theyre 16 and sometimes younger when they have a work permit. In the
Congolese culture, certain parents dont allow their kids to get a jo at a young age. Most
of the time theres no jobs for teenagers, they tend to rely on their parents. They let their
kids take care of their education while they take care of their kids. This shows how
Congolese value knowledge. They teach their kids that school comes first and work
comes later. Knowledge is far more Important than working somewhere when youre
underage, the higher education you have the better job you get.
When trying to discuss the topic about different generations and seeing which
one has more grit, culture plays a big part in it. Theres not as much change between
both generations. The way both generations were raised is very similar. The values that
different cultures have tend to give certain parents an idea in how to raise their kids.
Some people dont let their kids do anything jobwise until they get older. They put
education first when their kids are younger. Others find it okay to let children work when

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theyre younger. Its usually the cultures where education isnt provided for everyone
that value education the most. In cultures where education is accessible to most people
its not valued as much. The harder it is for people to get something, the more work
theyll put into getting it. In this case since education is not given to every Congolese
child, theyll work hard to get good grades and put failure as a way to work harder to
succeed.

I honor Parklands core values by affirming that I have followed all academic integrity
guidelines for this work.
(check the essay checklist in cobra and do the MLA citation for extract credit
because Attach the pics and audio of the interviews when submitting the document)

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Work cited
Curry, Tiffany. Interview questions. 2016. Print.
Gray, Peter. Causes of students emotional fragility: five perspectives. 2015.Print.
Longueli, Elie. Interview questions. 2016. Print.
Opelo, Marie Georgine. Interview questions. 2016. Print.