Throughout my time at MNSU, Mankato, I engaged with people from different cultures which is something I hadn’t done much of in high school. Because I grew up in a mostly white, middle-income community, I didn’t have much opportunity to learn from people from different cultures. My experiences in college made me realize that to become an empathetic member of society, one must do their part in listening to other people’s stories and understanding that everyone comes from different backgrounds.
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My first exposure to cultural differences occurred in my Spanish 102 and 201 courses, where we learned about Spanish culture through reading and practiced the language in a familiar setting. In my HONR 201 Reflection on Spanish 102 and 201, I was able to connect a TED Talk titled “The Danger of a Single Story” with my lack of diversity growing up and my first exposure to a culture other than my own in my Spanish courses. Furthermore, I found that the truth everyone believes is based on their own experience and exposure. While I gained some experience speaking Spanish in my Spanish courses and at The Festival of Nations, I had the opportunity to speak Spanish on my trip to Spain, Italy, and Greece over winter break of 2022.
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Unlike my Spanish courses, speaking in Spanish in Spain was tough because it was an unfamiliar setting for me. I sometimes felt self-conscious about my Spanish when speaking to native speakers. Overall, I found that the people in Spain appreciated me trying to speak in their language and attempting to adapt to their culture. I am now able to understand why my professor and classmate colleagues, whose first language is not English, express concern that they are misspeaking or misspelling words. In addition to learning about Spanish culture, I also learned about Nepali culture from my Nepali Research Partner. He shared many unique Nepali practices with me which reinforced the notion that one’s culture is largely based on their experiences. While my research partner taught me a lot about Nepal, he also taught me rules that I hadn’t known about my own country as he described his experience as a senior international student.
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In addition to learning new things about my own culture from my research partner, I learned even more at the Pan-African Conference. The conference explored equity in education and again, I found myself learning through listening to other people’s stories. What was not at all my reality in school, was sadly the reality for many black Americans. I was easily able to empathize with the speakers’ stories and realized that there is still a large gap between black and white student experiences in America. Through my college experiences with diverse groups of people, I have become much more culturally aware as an individual.
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In my future career as an engineer, I hope to help countless communities and people regardless of race, class, or gender orientation. As I continue to interact with individuals from different cultures, I will be cognizant that I do not know their background or the challenges they face compared to my own. Lastly, I will be compassionate toward people who are unfamiliar with my common cultural practices and be understanding of cultural practices different than my own.