Informant: My informant, L.K., is 19 and was born in New York but raised in Dubrovnik, Croatia from age 5 to 18. L.K. father is working for a tourist agency and part time water polo referee and his mom is a financial manager for a restaurant in Croatia. He has a younger brother and sister with his family being fully Croatian, but has integrated small values from his time in the United States.

Folklore: “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours!” L.K. heard this phrase every day from his principal in high school back in Croatia. The principal would finish the announcements over the school speakers every time with this phrase. L.K. came to hate the phrase after hearing it repeatedly every day, but does look back and understands the meaning behind the phrase.

Analysis: My mom would often find similar phrases like this and hand them up in our rooms. The message to be taken from the phrase is that people have a choice as to how they live every day. You can either choose to look at the negatives and consider that today is a bad day, or you can choose to look past the negatives and decide to make it a great day every day. Looking this phrase up online tells that its original origin is said to be linked to Buddha, but has apparently spread across the world. The phrase is being used worldwide for the exact purpose of a positive reminder in morning announcements in schools.

Informant: My informant, L.K., is 19 and was born in New York but raised in Dubrovnik, Croatia from age 5 to 18. L.K. father is working for a tourist agency and part time water polo referee and his mom is a financial manager for a restaurant in Croatia. He has a younger brother and sister with his family being fully Croatian, but has integrated small values from his time in the United States.

Folklore: “Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. Beer before liquor, never been sicker.” L.K. heard this rule for drinking when he came to the United States his senior year in high school from one of his friends. He told me that everyone from his high school lives by this rule in order to avoid a rough night of blacking out or throwing up. L.K. claims that this rule isn’t actually true and has never affected him anytime he has drunk, but has seemed to work for the people he went to high school with.

Analysis: I have heard this rule when I started drinking in high school from a friend, but I have to agree with L.K. in saying that I don’t actually believe it’s true. Unfortunately, I have had a fair share of nights where I have blacked out, but I have tried to use the rule and have never really worked for me. For me, I believe that the only reason you black out is due to how much alcohol you drink as whole rather in what order you drink it in.

Informant: My informant, G.L., is 19 and was born and raised in West Lake Village. G.L. parents both run their own company together. She has one older brother and her family is mainly Italian but is completely Americanized.

Folklore: “One day you may lose your friends, you may lose your money, you may lose your home… but the one thing no one can take away from you is your education.” G.L. was told this saying from her mom multiple times when growing up. Whenever G.L. was having trouble in school or her parents felt that she wasn’t giving it her full effort, they would tell her this to try and push her back on the right track. Her parents are firm believers in the importance of education, and have always made sure to emphasize how important this was to G.L. and her brother when they were growing up. G.L. says that at times she felt way too overwhelmed to focus on school, but she knew that her parents were right to keep pushing her.

Analysis: My parents are also strong advocates in education and my mom told me that her dad would say this phrase to her when she was growing up. Her dad was a grocery store owner in Vermont and struggled to get by, but he did everything he could to get all of his kids through college so they could go on to have a more prosperous life than he gave them. Sometimes I might take my education for granted but in the long run I do value the importance education can have on your life