Here in the United States, we have many different ideas of what it means to be “American,” whether it be the good ole Stars and Stripes, red, white and blue, apple pie, Sweet Home Alabama, the Super Bowl, or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. There are so many perspectives and so many ideas.

However, there's an idea we don’t consider as much. America goes beyond just the United States. We tend to think we are America, but there are many countries in The Americas. Each of them just as much America as we are, and each of them beyond beautiful in her own way.

I received a glimpse of this while attending a Latin American conference in Costa Rica this past week. Each country represented a piece of America with her own heritage, accent, slang and culture. And guess what? Each nation was uniquely magical. Each country contains faces and anthems extending beyond “The Star Spangled Banner.” Though our nation's anthem has shaped much of who I am. Though I pledge to a flag with 50 stars and 13 stripes, I am discovering there are other flags and other anthems that matter just as much as my own.

I am thankful to be born in such a blessed nation. I hardly have want for anything. For that I am eternally grateful. Still, I encourage everyone to broaden their view of what it means to be “American.”

To be American goes beyond speaking English or the Fourth of July. America is maple leaves on a red and white flag preceding the melody, “Oh Canada.” It is calling futbol what we call soccer. It’s coffee beans and mangoes. It is rainforests and Patagonia. It is the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Equator. It’s so many things. It is rice and beans and maple syrup. It is things similar and things opposite.

Being American is many flags, many tribes, many tongues and many nations. It is a kaleidoscope of faces and a symphony of languages. It is millions of voices, and every last one of them matters. This is not a slight at our heritage, but rather an embrace of the beauty of heritage extending beyond what is at arm’s length. It extends miles north, south, east and west. It is mighty and glorious. It has many histories that flow together into one stream to create a story so diverse yet so incredibly unified.

This past week I was reminded, I am American, but so are many other people from numerous places. This doesn’t cause me to fade into the background but rather celebrate. This causes me to work at speaking languages that are unfamiliar to me and sing songs that seem so foreign. It presents a new picture in my mind I cannot help to embrace and weep at.

We are a broad spectrum of cultures and people. We are different. We are the same. We are America.