I Wear Many Hats, Which Can Be Good And Bad | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

I Wear Many Hats, Which Can Be Good And Bad

My take on multiculturalism, and how it's affected me for better or for worse.

141
I Wear Many Hats, Which Can Be Good And Bad
Ken Lundberg

One of the most challenging things I come across in my day-to-day is the question "Where are you from?" Because the truth is, I don't really know.

If you're looking for where I was born, the answer would be Seattle. If you want to know where my family is now, that would be Dallas. If you mean where I was before here, it would be California.

That's only geographically. If we delve into the emotional side of the topic, it gets even more complicated.

As so many southern moms proudly display on a canvas bought at Hobby Lobby, home is indeed where the heart is. But then, do I choose between my constructed family in my college town, my biological family up in Dallas, or the city where I feel the most kinship with?

As more time goes on, I realize that there really will never be a concrete answer to that question. It also means that question will never get any easier to answer when asked.

Little did I know when I first moved to Texas that this big, identity-defining question would never be appeased.

When I first moved to Texas at the impressionable age of 14, I had just came from a place that valued diversity, allowed students to learn at their own pace and where students were allowed to wear shorts to school.

My very first day of school in Texas, I was sent to the principle's office and forced to change into big, baggy grey sweats with "OFFICE 400" written down the leg.

I also heard a white person use the N-word for the very first time.

Needless to say, I was shook. In fact, that very same week my older sister got into a fight with a girl for the very same reason.

It didn't end there, though. By the end of the first semester, I was shocked by how many racist conversations I was included in without their even questioning whether I related to the content.

Growing up in predominately liberal places, racism was a thing of the past, employed only by villains in "That's So Raven" episodes and we were taught not to see color in school.

Now that I'm older and wiser, it's obvious that the only reason I thought that was because I'm white.

Regardless of how wrong the concept of not seeing color is, I'm still incredibly thankful for growing up that way instead of with the inherent racism that so many here are taught from birth.

That was the biggest culture shock for me, and it ended up dictating a lot of my middle and high school experiences.

Worse than my willingness to date black people, which was hugely frowned upon by many in my high school, was the class difference between myself and my white peers.

My family and I grew up dirt broke. While we certainly were better off than some, having a roof over our heads most of the time, my childhood can be organized by the periods between my parents having lost one job or another. We moved to Dallas for the job prospects and schools, but it wasn't enough to break the streak my family had fallen into.

All throughout high school, I felt separated from my classmates who always had the newest styles and utter security in their home lives. On my end, I knew what it was like to be homeless, often wore the same outfit to school every day for a year and would eat only lunch that day more times than I'd like to think about.

Although I'm financially independent now and doing much better, growing up that way had an irreversible effect on the way my emotions and stress are tied to money. So, even now, I find myself outside of my peers whose parents are able to provide them with anything they could ever need to get through college.

I feel like my whole life is categorized by being an outsider; I have access to white privilege but am lower class, Mexican enough to be discriminated against, but not enough to be accepted by Spanish-speakers and queer but straight-passing.

Growing up in so many different places already makes my foundation difficult for anyone else to relate to. Even other kids who moved across the country didn't have my specific journey, so those relationships can only go so far.

This victim mentality annoys even me, and although it might not seem so on the surface, I have made great strides with counseling to stop defining my present by my past. I want to be stronger than the trivial juxtapositions I experienced in high school.

Unfortunately, these still make me sadder than I'd like to admit when they do pop up in the present.

Although it doesn't seem like it from the rest of this article, I've started to embrace my two-sidedness as a positive. I'm a hodgepodge of all of my favorite parts of the places I've lived, the struggles I've gone through and the people who inspired me.

In the end, you end up with something good, right?

Like Garnet from Steven Universe, I'm a personification of the different types of love I've encountered, and wouldn't want myself in any other way than in this form.

By embracing my many hats, I've also found myself in a unique position in my advocacy work to speak out for people who might not have that luxury.

I've started to find myself in bits of many others, making my support system strong and wide-spanning. However, I can't help but keep an eye out for the perfect amalgam of all of my favorite parts of myself, my past and where I'm from.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Lifestyle

Pros And Cons Of Having A Birthday Near The Holidays

The truth of what it is like having a birthday around the holiday season.

2224
Christmas decoration
Flickr

It's the most wonderful time of the year!! But for some people, including myself and my Dad, it can have its ups and downs when it comes to having a birthday near and around the holiday season. I personally share a birthday with my Dad two days before Christmas. Yes, Christmas Eve Eve is our birthday. Here are a few pros and cons for having a birthday near the holidays.

Keep Reading...Show less
Christmas Tree Lights
Pixabay

It is that time of year again. Christmastime. It is one of my favorite seasons for a myriad of reasons. Here are just a few reasons why I love Christmas. This list is in no order of importance.

1. The Christmas decorations

I am that person who will decorate directly after Thanksgiving is over. This year, my roommates and I put the tree up in our apartment before we even left for Thanksgiving break. It is a great stress reliever for me to just sit in my living room and work on the huge amount of work I have before the semester is over.

Keep Reading...Show less
girl with santa hat
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

'Tis the season to be jolly folks, and if you're anything like me, then at the stroke of midnight on Halloween your home went from wicked to winter

Keep Reading...Show less
mistake
Project Eve

Mistakes are something we all make, no matter how old we get. Most of the time, the mistakes we made are little and sometimes due to something out of our control. Yet, there are mistakes that are bigger than others. Personally, I have mistakes that I wish I could go back and undo. Here they are:

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

5 Things To Do That Are Better Than Writing A Paper

Don't waste your time trying to write that paper when there are so many more interesting things you could be doing.

13371
computer keyboard
Unsplash

Writing a paper is never fun and is rarely rewarding. The writer's block, the page requirement, be specific, but don’t summarize, make sure you fixed any grammatical errors, did you even use spellcheck? and analyze, analyze, analyze.

Papers can be a major pain. They take up so much time and effort that by the end of the process you hate yourself and you hate the professor for making life so difficult. Questions of your existence start roaming in your mind. Am I even cut out for college if I can’t write a single paper? Am I even capable of taking care of myself if I lack the energy to open my laptop and start typing?

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments