We, as individuals, are born with differences. Whether that be in personalities, strength, weaknesses, and thoughts of if cereal is a soup. But nothing comes close to importance than that of culture. Culture is what makes us who we are, what kind of food we eat, what holidays we celebrate, and what religion and god we worship.

While the world hasn’t yet grasped the idea of being around other cultures, for me personally, I don’t see a problem with it. Being around other cultures made me more knowledgeable and interested in learning about not just their customs and traditions, but also their home countries. It’s not a surprise that Taft has a large diverse student body.

Taft ESL teacher Valerie Williams said in response to why being around other cultures is important, “Absolutely, because the more we know about other people and other cultures, the more interesting we are.” Williams elaborated on when she said, “It makes us better people, more creative.” I agree with Williams because it does make people express themselves more creatively.

Williams said her advice for students who are interested in other cultures is to join after-school clubs with different cultures that they don’t belong to but to meet new people and learn new things such as cultures. 

I do agree with her statement because Taft has diverse cultural clubs and coming to their meetings and events can help students meet new long-time friends, know their traditions, dishes and language. The best way someone can learn about other cultures is through in-person interactions with another culture.
“It’s very important to be around other cultures because they have a lot of interesting elements in it, and it’s also interesting to deepen the knowledge to compare some elements of my own culture to other cultures,” said Taft Social Studies teacher Stanislawa Stasica.

Stasica later said some people don’t consider being around other cultures a benefit because, “They can see culture from their own perspective only.” She later elaborated, “It’s difficult for them to accept and find benefits with other cultures, so being unicultural instead of multicultural.”

“They don’t understand that things can be done differently,” said Stasica.
According to the Bradenton Herald, being around other cultures builds up confidence, empathy, sense of oneself and feeling more connected to other people, especially that of cultures. 

Cultures are something we have heard, seen, talked and learned about over the course of one’s life. But my experience with being around cultures has been that of positive and outstanding moments, same for my friends.