I must first note the size of my family. Both my mom and dad come from families with nine children, which means I have 16 immediate aunts and uncles. Additionally, most of these relatives have a spouse, bringing my total count to 30 aunts and uncles. Ultimately, this sizable number of aunts and uncles subsequently led to quite a few first cousins ​​– 54 to be exact. If I were to go a step further and include my second cousins, the number would quickly multiply into the hundreds, many of whom still reside in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In my adolescence, my parents often said, “Don't date west of 185th,” thus protecting me from the likelihood of dating my cousin. While this may seem funny, it also alludes to the vast size of my family. Thanks to this large family, I have had contact with many lifestyles and cultures. On my father's side of the family, I experienced a middle-class, professional-oriented family dynamic, while my mother's relatives primarily worked on their farms. This exposure to different cultures helped me gain knowledge of the world from a young age. I have traveled on both planes and combines, listened to both sides of political debates, visited offices in the city, and fed cows on a dairy farm. While experiences with my extended family have developed my broad knowledge of the world, daily life with my immediate family has influenced many aspects of my life