Whether you dance bachata to Romeo Santos in “Promise ft. Usher” or you hear an EDM song merging beats from around the world, you can agree that the U.S. is a fusion of different cultures.
NSU is a prime example of cultural diversity. The university educates students from over 114 different countries with various cultures, ethnicities and palates.
Students Leydi Arboleda, Brianna Bodden and Isabella Lanz each know what it means to be introduced to the American culture. Born and raised in different countries, they shared some of their experiences and views after their move. They brought in different perspectives on not only what it means to adapt to college life but to a new country.
Isabella Lanz
“When I grew up, I thought the United States was all hotdogs and football,” said Lanz, a freshman psychology major.
Like many in South Florida, Lanz and her family left their home country, Venezuela, in search of something better. She left at the age of 12 and has lived in the U.S. since.
Coming here at a young age, she said she was able to keep in touch with her roots while embracing something new. After years of living here, she said that there is no defined American culture.
“It’s all a melting pot,” she explained. “How you view things and see the world is based on your culture.”
She said living in South Florida and being around such a diverse group of people has helped her not only embrace her own Venezuelan culture, but aspects of all cultures.
“I celebrated El Grito de Mexico with all my friends from Mexico. It was great to eat, share and learn about their history and enjoy their typical palate,” Lanz said.
Leydi Arboleda
“We are all international. It’s not the fact that the U.S. doesn’t have a culture, but it’s that it’s portrayed through different lenses,” said Arboleda, a sophomore political science major from Peru and president of the National International Students Association.
She said that as the president of the National International Students Association she feels a strong desire to integrate people from around the world to establish a sense of unity and cultural involvement.
She said that, the unique political system of the U.S. has “the amazing ability to maintain constitutional values through time, but at the same time integrate all the other ones that continue to come in.”
She said that coming to the U.S. and having the established rights that we do allows for acceptance and tolerance between different beliefs and customs. This in turn allows for new cultural customs to emerge without fear of persecution.
Briana Bodden
Bodden, a junior accounting major from the Cayman Islands, said that the biggest change for her was having to adapt.
“Everyone back home is white and black; there’s no real racism. Here you have to pick. You’re either white or black, and I’m both so it’s different. That may be the biggest change. America is diverse and doesn’t one have specific culture or identity. I think America is just as diverse as back home.”
Bodden entered the U.S. two months ago as a junior international student. She said she really enjoys the fact that, although it’s different, it’s been a wonderful time to learn and embrace the diversity.
Whether you’re an international student or not, being American means so many different things to different people. There is no predominant culture. It’s a blend of palates, languages, tastes, races and ethnicities. Diversity really is meshing in the melting pot.
