Studying different cultures can teach us many things, not only about the culture that we are studying, but about ourselves as well. It show us how much we have changed from where we started out in our journey in studying other peoples to where are at present. Last night I was talking about different cultures and languages with a friend of mine from high school. He said that he felt that the United States was right in spreading its culture, capitalism, and language around the world, and he didn’t see the need to study another culture or learn another people’s language. After our conversation was over, I was immediately incredulous – how could he really believe the things he communicated with me? But then I questioned myself – what would I have said if I had not had the experiences that Houghton has enabled me to have with classes, professors and intercultural experiences. How close would my beliefs be to his? And so now it is in light of that conversation and in retrospect that I will come to other cultures, languages, peoples, to discover with clearer eyes a small fraction of who these people are.
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