Individual Developmental Plan Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Developmental Plan - Article Example While considering my future plans related to improving my education and professional level, I established that UNB best suites my inclinations and requirements. I intended to pursue my further studies for the Masters Degree in Business Administration at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. This was an opportunity for me to travel and reside in Canada where the culture was quite different from what I had been used to back in Saudi Arabia. Studying for my MBA at University of New Brunswick was a cultural experience in which I developed in the process of learning the new culture and adjusting to it. In essence, the Arabian and Canadian perceived me in different ways, and they brought out the dissimilar part of me through the social exemplification of culture and personality. Owing to the fact that the two cultures are quite dissimilar from each other, they exemplify different characters in me. For instance, the culture in Saudi Arabia portrayed me as a conservative, cultured and tra ditional man since the cultural inclination of Saudi Arabia rewards and appreciates such characters. So while in Saudi Arabia I epitomize the Arabian culture of being religious and cultured but in Canada, the culture perceived me as a liberal, talkative and funny individual due to the cultural background that appreciates such characters. Therefore, the cultural experience in Canada had a lot of impact on my personal character because it exposed certain areas in my personality that was perhaps hidden by the Arabian culture back in my native country. This was symbolized by the constant need for me to adjust to the new culture, which was quite dissimilar to my home culture that I was familiar with. Comparatively, the cultures of Saudi Arabia and Canada have a lot of features in common that I witnessed in my experience in both places. Basically, culture espouses similar values that bond the society together. For instance, the social values of Saudi Arabia and Canada are the same in the sense that they are governed by religious activities. Though the two cultures profess different religions, Islam for Saudi Arabia and Christianity for Canada, the religions play a defining role in social life and influence the social norms. Similarly, both cultures are based on strong family values which govern the society and the family values are founded on the principles of love, unity, and godliness. In my experience, I witnessed several points of divergence in the cultures, which stemmed from the fundamental principles governing the respective cultures. First and foremost is the aspect of religion, which is the basis of culture. In Saudi Arabia, the culture is purely based on the Islamic culture whereby worship is an integral aspect of the culture. The Arabian culture is inherently conservative, and social relations are restricted with boys and girls separated from each other. Canada, on the other hand, is a liberal society that is based on Christian ideals; the culture emphasi zes strong family values and contemporary social behaviors. My personal style had a lot of influence on the process of cultural development while studying in the University of New Brunswick. The similarities with the cultures lay in my