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Every now and again in everyone’s life, an opportunity to remove yourself from the comforts of your culture and home comes along that cannot be neglected. Such an opportunity was seized by a small group of Resident Assistants here on campus. We call ourselves the RA Multicultural Ambassadors.
The group, started in January by Barbara Smith and Associate Dean of Students and Community Life Angel Loredo, initially provided a way for interested RAs to receive extra training in multicultural issues. After the first training session, several of the RAs solidified the group and continued the training.
In April, Loredo presented the RAs of the group with the opportunity to travel to a convention at Monterrey Tech. in Monterrey, Mexico. The group accepted the invitation and made plans to attend the convention. Last Wednesday, Sept. 18, we landed in Monterrey and began the cultural experience of a lifetime.
Our group, including myself, six RAs, Dean Loredo and Barbara Smith, were greeted at the Monterrey airport by another group of RAs from Knox College in Illinois and a few members of the Monterrey Tech. Residence Life staff.
We were then driven to the school where we met a few of MT’s RAs that we would be staying with. We shook hands and kissed cheeks – as is the wonderful custom – and were rushed off to our rooms.
The first night ended up being quite stressful – trying to become comfortable with other college students from other parts of the nation, let alone in a foreign country where few of us spoke the language.
On top of that, most of our group went to the opening night of “Expotec,” an annual event at MT where students from each of the 33 Mexican states present aspects of their culture in various forms. The opening night of a huge event at a university in Mexico meant chaos for our weary group of unknowing RAs.
The following days were filled with little sleep. We took a tour of the school, did general sightseeing and watched presentations by most of the five participating schools.
The most rewarding experience for most people was the interpersonal contact between the RAs. We discussed differences in our styles, our reasons for performing the job and our general thoughts on cultural differences. Interestingly enough, during our presentation, an RA from Knox College, considering her own white, middle-class background, asked what her culture was. This sparked a long discussion that centered around sectionalism in the United States, juxtaposed with our new experiences as minorities.
Looking back, the trip was a wonderful way to experience other cultures and learn about one’s own culture by removing oneself from it.
