My name is John Hoin. I am currently a Senior at Siena College and once I am done with this Summer Session, this will be the end of my journey here at Siena. My major is Business Management and after I graduate, I plan on working for New York State in the Budgeting Department.

Growing up, I played basketball my whole life. Here at Siena College, basketball was a way for me to connect with the other students here. I wasn’t on the team but between intramural basketball and just pick up games, it has brought me closer together with other students then I could have ever imagined.

In the Simplest definition, families are groups of related people, bound by connections that are biological, legal, or emotional (Cohen, 4). Everyone’s family is unique and special. They can be really big or really small. I do agree with Philip Cohen’s statement to an extent. I look at by best friend as a brother even though he isn’t actually my brother. My family is also unique that my mom and dad got a divorce when I was little and they got re-married. With this happening, I picked up more step brothers and sisters and expanded my family.

So growing up, I knew that my mom was 25 % French, English 25%, and the rest is Czechoslovakian. However, my Dad he was 75% Greek, and the rest he wasn’t sure about. Two years ago however he went on Ancestry.com and found out that both of his great grandparents were both from Syria!! Genetics and DNA is crazy, especially when you think your one thing your whole life and then you get the actual numbers. Mind boggling stuff without a question. As a result, my sister and I have a crazy ethnicity background.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture with my Mom, Dad, and sister but this is fun one from Disney of my Dad and I. My parents met while they were in the army in 1980s in Germany. My Dad is from Troy while my Mom is from Chicago. They both grew up in big families that were in the lower class. The Army was a way out for the both of them. Eventually, after they met, they decided to move to Stillwater, NY where they wanted to raise me and my sister Alex. My went to Pharmacy School after her time in Germany and eventually became a pharmacist. The definition of family wage on page 55 is the amount necessary for a male earner to provide subsistence for his wife and children without their having to work for pay. My mom took the role as the male earner because of the amount of money she made or still makes being a pharmacist. My dad still worked public safety here at Siena College, but she had the role pulling in money for our family. I would say that my family was in the upper-middle class when it comes to the social class structure. After the divorce, my mother had the power within the family because she had taken on multiple roles within the family, which can be identified in the symbolic interaction theory ( Cohen,21).  

My sister didn’t attend a University, however, she went to Hudson Valley and completed a two year program to become Dental hygienist. Other than my mom going to school and my two uncles, I can’t think of anyone else down the family line that has graduated from College. Even with my cousins and that. So with that information, I am proud that I am graduating from this prestigious University of Siena College. This picture also means a lot to me because the person to the left is basically my brother. The woman to his left is my grandmother basically and she took me in as her own grandson.