Meet Jaime
Meet Jaime. You’re going to get to know Jaime fairly well over the course of these articles. Now, you must understand that Jaime is an interesting individual. From time to time Jaime will be male. At other times, Jaime will be female. Jaime’s gender isn’t going to be the only thing that will change from article to article, story to story. Everything about Jaime will change.  This is because Jaime is the name I’ll be using for my main protagonist. But, in each story, the things that happen to Jaime are very real. These events happened to real people and continue to happen to people all over the world. Some of the information may have been shuffled around to protect the identity of the storytellers or certain aspects emphasized and exaggerated to drive home a point, but they’re still great. The stories of Jaime are told for many purposes, but the primary reason is to educate.
One thing about Jaime won’t change, other than Jaime’s name. This one constant is the fact that Jaime will always be bicultural. Cultural, bicultural, and multicultural issues have always been a fascination of mine, ever since I began the path to be a counselor. Bicultural individuals face unique challenges every day of their lives. From simple decision making, to fitting in, to understanding who they truly are; nothing is as simple as it seems. This is because everything we do as individuals is affected by our culture. What is culture? Well that’s a complicated question in of itself. Academia would suggest as many different meanings for as many cultures there are in the world. For the purposes of this series of articles however, culture will be defined by the world around us. The beliefs, values, laws, customs, traditions, norms, and prejudices that are always present in the way we go about our lives.
Culture is important. It shapes who we are. It supports us, it nurtures us. It defines who we are as a group and aids us in our development as individuals. Even as we celebrate it by espousing such terms as “Multicultural competency” and “Cultural sensitivity,” culture is difficult to understand. It can just as easily negatively impact our lives. It can oppress us and punish us for going against “the norm.”  Culture can confine us to certain rule sets and mindsets but, it doesn’t have to. And thus I write these articles; these stories of everyday individuals who struggle through the challenge that comes from those who are navigating the foggy maze that is biculturalism. So, ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to Meet Jaime.
(On a side note, some of you may think Jaime’s existence is quite familiar. I recall from my youth a regular Saturday Night Live sketch and eventual movie titled, “It’s Pat!” My way of giving homage to a classic comedy sketch that brought me many smiles.)