More Than One Culture

Photo Credit: Kaylynn Arnold

Caption: Students from all different backgrounds working hard at SCTA to accomplish work in class.

LAS VEGAS — Students at SCTA come from many different backgrounds, cultures and families. For some students, being connected to more than one culture is an important part of their everyday identity.

One student who experiences this is 10th grader Isabella Heacock, who is biracial and has connections to Guam and Polynesian culture. Isabella said being biracial has helped her become more open to different cultures and understand that everyone has their own background.

“I think being biracial has made me more tough,” Heacock said. “It has taught me to embrace different cultures and learn about other people's backgrounds.”

Isabella said she first started thinking about her identity when she was younger and noticed that she did not look like one specific race. As she got older, she began to understand more about her different backgrounds and how they were connected to who she is.

Her Guam background is also a part of her everyday life. Heacock enjoys listening to island reggae, trying different foods and spending time with family while learning about their culture.

However,  Heacock said being biracial can sometimes lead to people making assumptions about her based on her appearance. She said people may assume she is only Asian or white without taking the time to learn about her background.

“I think people should get to know someone before judging them,” Heacock said.

Other students at SCTA also have different experiences with culture and identity. A student poll of 82 students showed that 50 students identified as biracial, while 32 did not. The poll also showed that SCTA students represent 40 different languages.

Of the students surveyed, 23 said they did not speak multiple languages, while 40 said they did.

These numbers show the variety of backgrounds represented among SCTA students. While not every student has the same experience with culture, many are surrounded by people who have different languages, traditions and family backgrounds.

Heacock said having Polynesian friends at SCTA has helped because they can relate to parts of her experiences. She said finding people who understand where she comes from can make it easier to feel connected.

For Isabella, her identity is not about choosing one culture over another. She sees every part of her background as something that has helped shape who she is. Her experience also shows how students can have different stories that may not be obvious just by looking at them.

At a school where students represent many different cultures and languages, learning about each other’s backgrounds can help students better understand the community around them.

When you enter through the doors of South Career and Technical Academy (SCTA), you’ll hear a blend of conversation, laughter, and ideas being shared. But how well do you really know the people sitting next to you in class? From recipes passed through generations to native languages spoken at home, our school is shaped every day by the diverse backgrounds of the students who call it home.

As student enrollment grows each year, so does the cultural diversity at SCTA. These unique backgrounds make our school community stronger and more connected.

For many students at SCTA, identity isn’t tied to a single origin point, but is rather a blend of multiple cultures. Sophomore Jackie Diaz, who is both Mexican and Filipino, experiences this dual heritage every day, especially at home. “My dad would cook some Filipino food, and my mom would cook some Mexican food,” says Diaz. Because of the different backgrounds she comes from, moments like these taught her to embrace other cultures and people.

Yet, being multicultural often means living between two worlds without feeling fully accepted in either. Diaz says, “Whenever I'm visiting relatives who do speak it fluently, I feel like I'm just like a black sheep and I don't really belong in [a] traditional American setting or like a traditional Filipino or Mexican setting. I'm just my own person.”

Beyond family traditions, language also plays a role in Diaz’s daily life. While she understands Tagalog and Spanish (the languages of her cultures), speaking them fluently creates another challenge, an issue many children of immigrants face. Exposed to the language at home or in other settings, some students may be able to understand the language but lack the ability to speak it. Others may not be able to do both. Rather than language barriers or stereotypes we can all accept and be among one another while trying to learn about cultural differences and how not every one person has the same experience with this.