Alycia Holwerda

            Minnesota State University, Mankato is a very diverse college. Coming from the school system of little Willmar, MN to the University’s was a 180-degree flip. At least fifty different cultures are represented at the University. In my opinion, the STEM program has one of the most culturally diverse student populations on campus. As a statistic major, many of classes were filled with students with very different backgrounds than my own. Through various class projects, living quarters, and student organizations; I got the opportunity to not only work with these students but learn more about their customs, cultures, and backgrounds.

 

            Beginning my sophomore year, I had roommates from various backgrounds. I had roommates from Mexico, Columbia, China, Germany and India. I had an emerging realization of myself as a member of a culture by living with others who are different from me (Global Citizenship Self-Awareness: Level 1). I soon realized that the cultures from the United States and other cultures from around the world have different perspectives, customs, and cultures. For example, I tend to have dinner around 6:00pm while my roommates would eat dinner after 9:00pm.

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            As I continued my education at MNSU, I became more involved in various organizations, activities, and classes. I started to have an emerging awareness of the varied contexts and boundaries of my culture and its cultural rules and biases (Global Citizenship Self-Awareness: Level 2). I am a part of many different communities. Being a student-athlete is a different community. Also, being raised in a small town in the Midwest of the United States is very different from that of someone raised on the East coast in New Jersey or from someone raised in South Korea. For example, the East coast is like the Minneapolis area over multiple states. My roommate from New Jersey was confused when she had to travel over 20 minutes to a Walmart, but on the East coast she could find eight within a  40 mile radius. Before living with my roommate from Germany, I had a false bias that Germans had a very strict outlook on activities and did not believe in the arts, but soon realized that this was false after hanging out with my roommate who loves to have fun and be creative.

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            As I continued interacting with members from other cultures I began to realize more about my culture. I could recognize new perspectives about cultural rules and biases and compare and contrasts my culture with other individuals and their cultures (Global Citizenship Self-Awareness: Level 3). For example, in Minnesota we have  different variations of vocabulary than other parts of the country such as what we call “pop” people in the south refer to as “coke Pepsi”. Supper is my dinner. My yes is an “oh for sure” or an “you betchya”. Beyond vocabulary though, the Midwest has a broader awareness for others. When visiting different parts of the country, I realized difference between the areas in awareness for others. Where in the Midwest we yield more caution in traffic, that in Florida or Alabama is more courageous. I have noticed various rules and boundaries to my culture as well. Such as when a class or appointment is to begin at 9:00am, being there 10 minutes early is on time, but for other cultures 9:00am is just a reference point. When living with different people from different cultures, I gained various viewpoints. For example, my roommate from China would eat later at the coffee table because that is what she was accustomed to. She would spend more time with beauty products such as nails and facials because that is what her culture is more accustomed to. My roommate from Mexico would always have Music on because that was part of her culture.

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            When living with different roommates and sharing classes with students of backgrounds different than my own, I gained basic knowledge by asking simple questions about related cultures and their practices, products and perspectives (Global Citizenship Knowledge: Level 1). I would ask about where they were from, where that is on the map, what traditional dishes they enjoyed, different activities they enjoyed, etc.

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            By continuing to live with students from different backgrounds and participating in D.R.E.AM., I developed and sustained interactions with people from different cultures and demonstrated how these experiences related to my worldview (Global Citizenship Knowledge: Level 3). In group projects I worked with students from various backgrounds. We would get sidetracked by conversations exploring differences in culture. These different interactions allowed me to appreciate my culture more. For example, in other cultures students had rigorous exams that determined if they would pass the “grade” or if they could go to college. Students in other countries seem to have stricter evaluations to education than the I did. These countries place more importance on learning and thus have stricter evaluation methods. They believe that education has a direct correlation to solving worldly problems such as cancer and world hunger. By having stricter evaluations, this limits the number of students at each level so teachers can focus on students that have proven they have reached that level of education. I can continue to seek to better understand who other people are as unique individuals through conversations, participating in various cultural events, and experiencing new customs and practices.

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            I now demonstrate an awareness of differences in cultural practices and adjust my behavior accordingly in familiar and unfamiliar situations in an attempt to bridge cultures (Global Citizenship Knowledge: Level 4). My personal philosophy of what it means to be a global citizen has immensely evolved. Before I thought being a global citizen meant, traveling the world, but I now realize it is about acknowledging, understanding, and respecting cultures including others as well as your own. Throughout my collegiate experience, I have been able to ask and answer questions about other cultures by being analytical and asking why. I have tried to continue to learn about others through daily interactions and conversations to learn not just about the person but their culture as well. As being the minority group, the statistic department has given me a wonderful opportunity to interact with a wide range of students from various backgrounds spanning the globe.

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            After completing four and a half years at MNSU, I can perceive my personal styles, prejudices, projections, and habits of mind that both shape and impede my own understanding while showing awareness of what one does not understand and why understanding is so difficult (Global Citizenship Self-Awareness: Level 4). Through my college experience, I continued to shape my knowledge of my personal culture through various daily encounters from statistics classes, swimming competitions, and roommates. My own beliefs, values, and prejudices have impeded my cultural understanding. These prejudices hindered my ability to understand why different cultural communities did things differently rather than doing things the way my culture does. For example, I do not understand why punctuality  is not as prominent in other cultures but is very important in mine. I do not understand why different cultures eat dinners late at night or why they partake in different beauty routines. However, by discovering these differences in various cultures, I was able to further understand my own cultural community and the contexts behind them. As I continue my journey, I hope to also to continue to answer these why questions about other cultures. As I travel the world, I will see various other cultures customs and continue to raise more why questions.

 

            I hope to continue to attempt to become a global citizen by continuing conversations with students from different backgrounds. The STEM field typically has a wide range of backgrounds comprising it. At IBM, I will continue to learn more about different cultures through my coworkers. As I move to a different town, their will be different activities, cultures, and events to learn more about by attending events, conversing with others, and learning more of what the world has to offer. As I continue to gain new personal experiences, I will continue to gain more awareness of my culture as well as more knowledge for others.