Like many universities, Penn State is a magical place where people worldwide come together. While predominantly white, we can consider State College is considered a cultural hub for students from different cultures and religions who chose to move to a valley in the middle of Pennsylvania, not thinking they would find such a diverse and tolerant school.
Penn State offers a plethora of clubs and organizations designated to specific groups, which is great, but what happens when students are living with people from different backgrounds for the first time?
Eek! That’s Different!
When encountering something foreign to us, many people shy away from it. It’s hard to be different from the lot, so we may choose to culminate with those with similar cultural backgrounds. Those who understand us better.
Walking through campus you see groups of not only like-minded people, but also people who fundamentally look very similar. In a simple psychological meaning, we tend to gravitate towards people who are like us because we want to belong to a group. We want to be a part of the “in” group rather than the “out” group.
A school as big as Penn State is great because you will find people who are like you, and it is easy to find a group where you feel like you belong.
Uh, We Don’t Do That Where I’m From
Sometimes, people decide to venture out and let cultures blend. People experience differences they may never have before, we call these culture shocks. Cultural shocks come in all shapes and sizes. They can range from differences in greeting gestures, differences in food and music taste and even the types of places they choose to go to in their free time. They can even be as simple as a difference in languages. Language barriers are big reasons why many cultures don’t mix. Once we overcome our barriers, magic happens.
A Hug Is A Simple Hello
Many Hispanics and Europeans hug and kiss people when they greet them, strangers like friends. It is even considered rude if you do not. For Americans, this is not a natural phenomenon. This calls for a strange interaction between an American and a Hispanic/European. It would be a culture shock for both parties involved. The American is not normally exposed to someone coming up to them randomly to hug and greet them, and the Hispanic/Europan is not used to someone not welcoming their hug with open arms.
Those who come from a culture where hugging is a normal greeting come off as overly friendly or flirtatious in an American university. Even when you are simply being polite, you may encounter someone uncomfortable by the hug. And that’s okay, it takes time to get used to.
Food And Music Are Cultural Love Languages
One thing almost everyone can agree on is that they love trying foods from different cultures. Just downtown we’ve got American, Arabic, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Mediterranean, Mexican, Venezuela and so much more. There is a restaurant for almost every culture, and sitting in that restaurant you will find people from all over. However, some traditional dishes from each of these cultures will figuratively put foreigners into a coma.
Music is another one of those universal cultural understandings. A genre is not restricted to one specific culture, anyone can listen to and enjoy it. We have seen this with American artists going across seas to different cultures and being great hits like Reggeaton, a Spanish music genre becoming more popular worldwide and KPop, a Korean genre listened to worldwide. Listening to country music or rap music at parties can hit people from a non-American background into a culture shock.
We Learn And We Grow
While culture shocks may have their uncomfortable moments, they can also be so special. Once you get passed the awkward and the uncomfortable, you learn. We learn from others and having the opportunity to be in such a remote town where you would think everyone is the same, you may just find the one who surprises you.
While it is important to adjust to the environment you are in, that does not necessarily mean you have to change your ways. You can adapt by learning from the cultures around you and teaching them about your own. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, stick with your roots and the world will become a little more colorful because of it.
At the end of the day, being different is what makes us who we are. Sharing a simple hello hug with someone gives you a personal connection with someone new. Sharing food and musical tastes will also allow you to find similarities in cultures and people you once thought were nothing like you. Appreciating another culture will teach you a lot about tolerance in life. It shows you to be compassionate and to be kind to those who are part of your “out” group.
Let us know what your biggest culture shock was coming to Penn State on X @VALLEYMag!
