Throughout this semester, I have immersed myself within the
Latin-American culture, specifically in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
community. The goal of my research was to develop a concrete outlook on how an
average Latin-American student at UNL sees themselves as belonging to the minority
ethnicity on campus, and at what levels they feel they connect to their own
culture. In order to find the information I needed, I enlisted the help of two
girls I consider close friends, who are UNL students of a Latin descent.
The
first girl is Ari Romero. Ari is a senior Business major and is a defender for
the Nebraska Women’s Soccer Team. Before she was born, Ari’s parents and
grandparents moved to Surprise, Arizona in order to gain more opportunities for
their professional careers as well as having a better education system for
their future children to grow up in. Ari made the move to Nebraska on a soccer
scholarship 4 years ago, but now splits her time between the United States and
Mexico, as she is now a member of the Women’s National Mexican Soccer Team.
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| Dylan Harlow (right) |
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| Ari Romero |
As
I interviewed both girls, I quickly noticed differences between how each girl
embraces their Latin-American culture on campus, and their culture when they
are home. Because Ari’s immediate family was born and raised in Mexico, they
all accept Spanish as the dominant language of use in their household and when
communicating with one another. In comparison, Dylan’s grandparents are the
only members of her family that know the language and therefore English is
spoken in her household. Ari and her mother are known for their authentic Latin
cuisine dishes that were passed down from generation to generation. Dylan
however is only in the presence of such dishes when she dines at Mexican
restaurants on campus, or if her grandmother cooks for her. Finally, in her
interview, Ari told me many tales of her visits to Mexico as a young child up
until her present trips that she takes as often as a monthly basis. In
contrast, Dylan has visited Mexico only a handful of times, and generally these
trips were for tourist or vacation purposes.
From
my research, I have established two tangible themes. The first would be the
importance of the cultural arena that
Latin-Americans have who wish to establish some sort of connection to their
Latin-American culture on campus at UNL. A cultural arena is place where
someone chooses to live, that also has an impact on the culture in which they
abide by (Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C., p. 33-47).
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| Ari Romero |
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| La Mexican Restaurant |
Ari’s
story is an excellent example of this. As well as creating authentic dishes of
her home country, she also belongs to the Mexican American Student Association
(MASA) on campus. Ari joined this group her sophomore year because she wanted
to find a way to connect with students at UNL that share the same culture as
herself. Upon joining MASA, Ari was able to establish a cultural arena for
herself in which she can connect with others who share the same values as her.
Ari stated that, “the environment on campus definitely plays a factor on how I
interact with other students in my class, or my teammates. I think that by
joining MASA, it helps me create a space where I can retain my Latin
upbringings. Everyone there thinks it is important to remember the importance
of how we were raised, whether is be by attending Seventh Day once a month, or
shopping together at Mexicana to make meals that were passed down from our
grandparents.” The ‘Seventh-Day’ reference Ari made is to the Lincoln Hispanic
Seventh-Day Adventist Church here in Lincoln, NE. I was told that this specific
church is open to any nationality and ethnicity in Lincoln, however the main
language spoken is in Spanish. I attended a ceremony with Ari on April 6, 2014,
to find out more about why she enjoys the Spanish speaking masses over English
ones. Although I personally could not follow the sermon, I observed that this
was another instance in which she was building a cultural arena for herself. By
interacting with various cultural on campus that are not her own, attending
Seventh Day is a way to socialize and interact with others that share a
Latin-American heritage. Secondly, when Ari stated that she shops at ‘Mexicana
‘ with other members of MASA, she is referencing to the Lincoln-based grocer,
La Mexicana. This store doubles as a restaurant and specializes in selling
authentic, Mexican cuisine. By purchasing food here, which was introduced to
her as a young child by her grandparents and mother, she was able to further
implement her cultural arena. “I always feel I am forced to choose foods that
my friends like to eat, but I do really enjoy Mexican food more. And not Taco
Bell either, I mean real authentic
food, like my grandmothers. My mother makes great food too. I think Mexicana; I
don’t just remind me of her and being back home. When I make meals, I feel like
it brings a little bit of Mexico to Lincoln.” From Ari’s experiences in MASA,
she felt grateful for finding other students that share the same aspect
cultural importance as her. “It helps when I get homesick, definitely. I think
surrounding myself around things that remind me of my family, it could be food,
church, or even a grocery store, is one of the reasons I am at UNL still
today.”
The
second theme I established from my findings was the process of cultural adaptation that can take place
if one lives within a culture that is different then their own (Cultural
Adaptation, (n.d.)).
The insights
and information I gained from Dylan’s interview backs this theme. Dylan, as
well as her siblings and parents, were all born in Nebraska. Her connection to
her Latin-American culture came directly from her Mexican-born grandparents on
her mother’s side. She states, “I don’t speak Spanish really, I wish I could
though. My parents were not forced to learn and I guess I really wasn’t either.
I don’t feel like I missed out not learning by any means, but I do sometimes
wish that I could speak with my grandparents the same language they have spoken
most of their lives.” The idea of Dylan and her parents accepting English as
their foremost language is an example of cultural adaptation to that of
American culture. Her Americanized upbringing further lead her to culturally
adapting in college as well by joining a sorority where she is one of the only
two girls of Latin-American descent. By adapting to this culture type, she is
further changing her way of life in small subtle ways that in return will
become a drastic change from her grandparents over time. “I think I’ve always embraced
‘white culture’ in America. I don’t really know a lot about the culture that my
grandparents group up in, so I guess I don’t really feel like I am missing out.”
From what I have gathered from my time I spent with Dylan, she has never felt
like a tourist within any given situation in America. Instead of observing
culture, she embraces it. Thus culturally adapting is something Dylan has unknowingly
down her entire life.
I
was able to take a few themes away form my observations, interviews, and
research done on students of Latin-American descent living in Lincoln,
Nebraska. From these themes, I can confidentially conclude that one’s culture
can be embraced or changed fully given how much effort an individual puts into
their culture. Whether it be Ari, who wants to connect with her Latin-American
upbringing, or Dylan, who sees an Americanized culture as her own rather than
her grandparents Mexican-culture, they are able to adapt into the cultures in which
they feel most comfortable by living within the language, food, and ways of
life in which people of their culture lives.
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural
communication in contexts (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The social psychology of intergroup relations?, 33, 47.
Cultural Adaptation. (n.d.). Cultural Adaptation. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from https://www.temple.edu/studyabroad/cultural_adaptation.html
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