By neerjapatel
Indian. Asian. Brown. American. All words that can describe me because of my origins, appearance, or citizenship. But this is not my identity. My identity comes from a combination of these terms and more, in what I would call multi-cultural.
My name is Neerja. I was born and raised in Vermont but my family originated from Gujarat, India. Growing up as a minority in Vermont, a 97% Caucasian population, I had to learn how to immerse myself in my own culture while in a very homogenous society. During my childhood, I was faced with a single perspective on my culture. My grandmother had lived with my family since birth, teaching me the ideals, lifestyle, and religion from my homeland. I grew up celebrating Indian holidays, speaking my native language of Gujarati, as well as practicing ethnic dances. This environment allowed for my passion and love for my culture to flourish. However, there was a lack of diversity in the community, making it more difficult to express my culture. But as I grew older and entered high school, I found ways to overcome the lack of diversity in my community, one of which included creating a Bollywood Dance Club to empower all different kinds of students to showcase talent and culture, resulting in only a source of pride for my background.
As I entered GW, I wanted to continue to express my culture in a different setting. I joined the GW Raas team, a competitive Indian dance team based on a type of traditional dance from Gujarat. Through this activity, I was not only able to gain a group of friends but a family with similar backgrounds and the same source of passion to dance as I did. Being part of this team was something I was always proud of and still am. Students from various backgrounds at GW came to support our dance team when we performed on and off campus for competitions. The growing support for the team and our culture is something that is allowing me to thrive at GW with the identity that I have.
Now, I’m in Barcelona; a city filled with excitement, culture, and adventure. However, it’s very different than DC and Vermont. As I walk around the streets every day to school, there is much less diversity than I expected but at the same time I feel welcomed by the Spanish people and their warm culture.
I’ve found many aspects of social identity to be different here than in the United States. I live in a homestay where my host mom only speaks Spanish. Despite the language barrier, I am quickly learning more about this impact of first language through my experience in Spain. I have also found religious affiliation to be more prominent in Spain, something I am intrigued to learn more about within the Catholic and Catalonian culture.
Almost four weeks in, I’m starting to understand more about my presence in Spain specifically in Barcelona. I have found myself to identify as multi-cultural because of my ability to bring the American and Indian cultures together and now, I am determined to further bring the Spanish culture together as I live here. There’s a lot I have yet to experience and learn about myself but the journey has only just begun!