America is one of those countries that no matter where you are in the world, you have heard of it. You have heard of its 4th of July fireworks, its McDonald’s food which seems to be always in a five-mile radius, and its raging political divides; you know America. You dream of walking the streets of New York smelling the smell of sewer and street vendor hot dogs, as the yellow taxis drive by Times Square. You dream of going to California, seeing the Hollywood sign, and maybe seeing the Kardashians living their lives as the sun sets, and you drive through the palm tree lined Boulevards that are taller than all your dreams. You dream of taking a road trip across its vast states. Everywhere you walk you seem to find an American flag, as though the white stars and red stripes are trailing you, like a wolf stalks its prey, constantly reminding you, you are in America, you are American. But what does it truly mean to be American, beyond the burgers and the American dreams?

This is a question I, and many other multi-cultural American citizens, contemplate. As a French American citizen, I’ve always found it hard to fall into a specific ethnic identity. My father is from France and all my family on his side lives in France; but I was born and raised  here. Though I speak a fair amount of French, going to France I feel like I am a tourist, but in America I never feel fully American as well. It has always felt like being in between two very different cultures, two different worlds. It’s like being on an equator neither winter nor summer. On the cusp of two worlds that are only an eight-hour flight away but could not be more different. Neither that truly understand each other. In America you are taught about France, but really just Paris; you picture riding a bike past the La Tour Effiel with a croissant, your mouth salivates at the thought of this, this daydream, realistic? Not so much, very Hallmark. You are constantly overwhelmed with the reoccurring mispronunciation of the word crêpe (it’s pronounced correctly like crehp). Understandable, as in America the only vision of other countries we have are romanticized and made to seem exotic. We have shows like Emily in Paris which are infused and made into the perfect concoction of various stereotypes and Americanized ideas of countries. However, this can make it hard to forge an identity for yourself, growing up in America coming from an immigrant parent or immigrant parents. Ultimately, forcing the in-between feeling — fortunately in our school we have a very diverse community of people from all backgrounds. I was able to interview some students on their multicultural identities growing up in America but having parents from other countries, here is what I found.

Jocelyn Lopez

Jocelyn Lopez is a Mexican American student who is a junior at White Plains High School.

She speaks both English and Spanish fluently, but Spanish was her first language. She speaks Spanish to her family and English to her friends and at school.

She states her culture is well represented in White Plains, “There’s a lot of things, like Mexican Restaurants, activities and in school there’s the Mariachi Band,” she elaborates.

She feels as though its hard to fall under a specific identity, “Here, I don’t feel very American, and then when I go to Mexico, I don’t feel very Mexican either,” she explains.

Majority of her family lives in Mexico.

When she turned fifteen, she had a traditional Mexican event, “My quinceañera, I had a big party and celebrated my fifteenth birthday. It’s a party to celebrate when a girl turns fifteen. Though a quinceañera is an event originated in Mexico, it’s celebrated by many Hispanics.” she says.

For her quinceañera she had four of her friends, be her damas, who had to learn four dances to perform for the event. She had a lot of family, family friends and friends at the venue and it went till late, to honor her venturing into womanhood.

Every week she eats traditionally Mexican foods at least once, such as pozole and sopes.

To feel closer to her culture she takes part in various forms of entertainment, “I listen to Spanish music a lot, and I watch the shows too, Mexican shows, telenovelas. I also dance Baile folklórico; I danced in the Mexican parade in New York City. We spent one hour dancing. [We spent] Probably like two months before [preparing],” she says.

She shares how she has appreciation for growing up in America, “There’s some things that you can’t have over there that you can have here. Education, I value a lot. The education in Mexico is very different. Many can’t continue their education for economic reasons,” she says.

Saumya Sawant

Saumya Sawant is an Indian American student who is a senior at White Plains High School.

She speaks a few languages other than English, “I speak Marathi… I also understand Hindi, but I don’t actively speak it…Marathi is definitely [my] more dominant language…I talk to my family in Marathi mainly, so I use English mostly at school,” she elaborates.

Her first language she identifies as Marathi, as she speaks that with her family at home and explains how she didn’t fully become fluent in English until she was thirteen.

She immigrated here when she was one and a half and her brother was born in the United States. She visits around once every summer.

She details her experiences being in India, “I would say, I feel like a tourist not for the reason that people typically think, I speak the language, but I don’t look Indian…when I speak my Native language, I have an accent now. I speak very fast, and I don’t pronounce some of the words correctly, so people can tell I’m not a native speaker,” she says.

She describes some of the contrasting values of both cultures, “Different cultures have different priorities. I think American culture emphasizes more independence, and Indian culture its more just staying close to home with your family,” she says.

She stays connected to her community by talking to friends who are also Indian, and she is a part of an Indian Organization which have gatherings that she stays involved with — she also does things like go to the temple with her family and finding Indian restaurants.

She addresses stereotypes about Indians, stating that not all Indians enjoy math, she herself is not interested as much in math.

She explains how her background influences her views on education, “It’s definitely emphasized to me the importance of hard work, education and how important family is…everyone else would say to you have to be the best, but [my parents] they would say you have to be perfect. I’m a perfectionist for that reason. I’d also say family is very important to me so even when I go off to college, I want to stay close to home, so I can come home every weekend if I wanted to,” she explains.

Olivia Tuzel

Olivia Tuzel is a sophomore at White Plains High School. She identifies herself as American, but her parents immigrated to the states from Poland. She speaks both English and Polish and talks to her family in Polish.

She associates speaking Polish with family, she speaks to her parents in a mixture of English and Polish, but to her grandparents in solely Polish. Polish was the first language she spoke, but she defines English as her first language because she became more fluent in English first before Polish.

She went to Polish school on the weekends in her childhood, “I went to Polish Saturday School for 8 years, but the only reason I stopped going was because of COVID… It was like a regular school day and everyone their spoke Polish…it felt like I belonged when I went. They teach you more about the grammar and the culture…its more of the cultural aspect,” she explains.

She feels that there is not a lot of Polish people in White Plains, “I feel like I don’t know anyone that’s Polish…I wish I had a Polish friend,” she elaborates.

She describes the merging of her Polish and American identities, growing up in the U.S., “It’s one thing that you live in the U.S., but like so much of your life has revolved around like the culture that your parents brought in…it’s hard to feel the difference between the two sometimes,” she says.

She explains how most of her family lives in Poland, except for her grandparents, and how she feels like a tourist when visiting Poland. She visits once a year and on occasion twice, for a prolonged period, being there around a month over the summer.

She then talks about different traditions on holidays, such as Christmas her family takes part in, “For Christmas, it’s a Polish thing to have twelve meals for Christmas Eve, and also open presents that day instead of Christmas Day,” she explains.

In her household she eats Polish foods such as pierogies. She says typically she eats not necessarily Polish foods everyday, but foods like what would typically be eaten in Poland.

She explains how spending time with her grandparents makes her feel closer to her culture.

She emphasizes how education is important to her because her parents immigrated to America.

“I feel like because my parents immigrated here, I have a desire to fulfill the fact that they did this for me, so I want to do the same for them,” she says.

She then elaborates, “I think in school… when I was younger it could feel hard being a child of immigrant parents, because you feel like you can’t do all the things other people do that don’t have immigrant parents… your parents have their own values. Once, you get to high school and meet other people with the same backgrounds it feels like home.”

Elika Trueblood

Elika Trueblood is a Japanese American junior at White Plains High School. She is bilingual and speaks in both English and Japanese.

“[I speak Japanese to] My dad, my mom and my sister and my dog…whenever I speak in Japanese it felts very informal, when I’m speaking informally with my mom, I’m usually speaking in Japanese,” she elaborates.

She explains how she doesn’t know any other Japanese students in White Plains High School, and how the students she did know who were Japanese graduated.

“All my Japanese brethren graduated. I have Japanese friends, but they all go to surrounding districts like Eastchester, Harrison, Rye,” she says.

She discusses how she went to Japanese School growing up, “I went there for twelve years…on the weekends, every Saturday. It’s like a normal school day, seven to eight hours long, with events and everything learning classes, learning math, history.”

She says math in Japanese School is taught differently, so she learned math two different ways.

“In Japanese School we weren’t allowed to use calculators, the calculators were banned…In America especially early on we learn the formulas, with Japan they just start explaining the concept of it, and the history behind it,” she says.

She describes how she never felt in between cultures for American culture but has for Japanese culture due to being of mixed race, “For Japanese culture I’ve felt that very strongly…mainly because Japanese people tend to, mainly very much, unintentionally discriminate between people who are like fully Japanese and people who are mixed race. They usually label you when you come to Japan, based off of what your other half is, or if you’re fully Japanese or look fully Japanese,” she explains.

She elaborates by describing her experiences in Japan, which she visits every summer, “I want to feel like a Native, but they treat me like a tourist…they always treat you like an outsider; they don’t like outsiders…There’s actually a lot of stereotypes about Americans, Japan loves America,” she adds.

Her family takes part in some Japanese traditions, “On New Years where have soba, we eat that and that means that its gonna be a good year…The official name for the soba that you eat on New Year’s is toshikoshi soba,” she details.

She eats Japanese food more than American food.

To feel closer to her culture she talks to her friends from Japanese school, “Even though I’ve graduated I like talking to my Japanese school friends a lot, especially for some of them who are half American or half Japanese, we relate a lot on how we come from Japan which is very different socially from coming to America. We really have to see both cultures and have mixed ideas…the best way to feel close to my culture is literally going to Japan or just speaking to Japanese people, about Japanese related things, Japanese holidays or Japanese clothing, stuff like that,” she says.

She also listens to Japanese music and performed three songs in Japanese for the Songwriter’s Showcases. Check it out on YouTube!

Lucas Rhode

Lucas Rhode is a senior at White Plains High School. He identifies himself as Wasian with his dad being German and his mom being Taiwanese. He speaks fluently in German in his household, and his mother speaks to him in Chinese.

He explains how there is not a large community of people with a similar background to him.

“As far as German people, I have not met another German person here and as far as Taiwanese people I only know one but she’s only half…It’s hard to devote yourself entirely to a culture when you are a part of two,” he explains.

He feels he aligns more with German culture as he speaks the language. He learned to speak both English and German at the same time.

Most of his family lives in Germany and Taiwan, but he hasn’t visited those countries since fourth grade. Though he has only been to those countries once, he feels like it is easier to talk to people in Germany and Taiwan.

His family celebrates a few cultural holidays, “Chinese New Year and on Christmas we celebrate a more German kind of Christmas, we go to like a German communion,” he says.

He elaborates on how it compares to American culture, “I align more with those cultures, as in American culture its all like Stanley cups, Taylor Swift, Superbowl.”

He describes how growing up with immigrant parents has influenced his connection to America, “It’s definitely made me more critical of America in a cultural sense…I would say it’s definitely made me fit in less…If you’re not connected to the community of people who are from where you’re from or your parents are from [you can feel disconnected], I’d say my parents also feel very disconnected they don’t have many friends who are German and Taiwanese,” he adds.

In order to feel closer to his culture he finds other people from similar backgrounds, “To feel closer to my German heritage, I talk more in German and connect to people in German like outside of school, at the German school. To feel closer to my Taiwanese heritage I would just talk to my grandma and cousins in Taiwan cause that’s like my only family outside of America,” he says.

He describes the differences between education in Europe and Taiwan, saying that in Europe education is stricter and more about learning, whereas in Taiwan its about getting the highest grades. Both contrasting to America which he describes as more things that need to be done.

Genesis Oquendo

Genesis Oquendo is a Peruvian and Puerto-Rican American student who is a junior at White Plains High School. Her mother is from Lima, Peru and her father is from Puerto Rico. She speaks to her family in Spanish and describes the language as feeling solely for family.

“My first language is Spanish, but I learned English early on in pre-K…I grew up speaking Spanish, but I mostly speak English in school, and I speak English to my sister,” she says.

She describes how there are many Peruvian culture shops and Restaurants outside of White Plains, that make her feel closer to her culture. She also explains how there are Puerto Rican festivals which her father attends.

She often goes to Peruvian shops to buy colorful Peruvian bags, “my mom has some, she collects them,” she elaborates.

She also mentions how her mother often makes cultural dishes such as lomo saltado.

A few years ago, she learned a Marinera dance, “I did some Peruvian dances with my friend… for an [international] parade,” she says.

She tells about her family’s tradition of eating grapes at New Years before it turns twelve, each grape being like a wish. She also eats panettone, which is a type of bread with fruits in it that is eaten during the holidays.

She explains how her extended family all live in both Puerto Rico and Peru, both which she has been to a few times.

“I feel like a native [when visiting] as I speak the language, but I feel like I sound American,” she continues.

She feels as though knowing the language helps her connect with people.

She tells how her identity influences her views on education, “I value education more because my parents didn’t get the same opportunities, I receive at White Plains High School.”

She concludes by describing how she felt a negative shift in how she was viewed by others as she recently moved from a predominantly Hispanic area to a more white dominated area due to her identity.

Dana Condori

Dana Condori is a Peruvian American student who is a senior at White Plains High School. She speaks both English and Spanish but speaks English to her friends and Spanish only to her mother. She identifies Spanish as her first language as she only learned English in school.

She describes how she feels there is large representation of Peruvians as there is ethnic community, and that sometimes celebrate with parades, “Sometimes there are Peruvians that celebrate a Saint’s Birthday, and they dance around the streets with costumes,” she says.

She explains how her whole family lives in Peru except for her mom and one aunt, and how she actively visits, “I’ve been going every year for eight years,” she continues.

She elaborates how knowing Spanish allows her to feel like a native when visiting Peru.

She tells about an experience she had visiting Peru celebrating an Incan holiday, “I went to celebrate Inti Raymi, he’s the god of the sun, he’s the one where we found where Cusco is,” she explains.

She also discusses other traditions her family partakes in, “My whole family dances for la Virgen del Carmen it’s a Saint’s birthday on July 16th, the same day as mine, and I participated to dance in one of their groups. We danced for July 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. July 14th would be the entrance; July 15th would be like just walking around and July 16th would be her birthday. We would sing Happy Birthday at midnight. July 17th would be when we send her to another church and say our goodbyes. Every family member is part of the dance,” she says.

She continues to detail dances she partook in, “July 28th is Fiestas Patrias the independence of Peru and we also dance but with normal clothes.”

She concludes by saying she can feel closer to her culture as she likes to go to Peruvian restaurants & eats Peruvian food everyday and follow the traditions.

Aayan Karigar

Aayan Karigar is an Indian American student who is a junior at White Plains High School. His parents were originally from India but immigrated to America.

He speaks English as well as Urdu, “in my family we all understand and sometimes speak Urdu. Normally it’s a mix of English and Urdu since my parents were educated in English,” he says.

He describes speaking in Urdu as mostly for family but explains if he knew someone who speaks Urdu, he might communicate with them in Urdu.

He clarifies that his culture is not solely based on Indian identity but rather religious one,  “Within my own family our culture is a little bit void…most of the things that happen in our house are related to Islam rather than culture…I think my cultural upbringing doesn’t have as much to do as my religious upbringing which heavily influences my morals and how I see the world,” he explains.

Most of his family lives outside of the United States in India. He goes to India normally every summer.

“I feel like a Native when I’m with my family, but other than that a little bit of a tourist, but I don’t do normal tourist things,” he details.

He says his cultural identity is primarily rooted in the way he conducts certain tasks, “The way we practice regular everyday activities like when we eat dinner or the food that we eat is probably the most cultural thing about my Indian,” he says.

He further explains how he feels closer to his culture when talking to people who speak Urdu who he is not related.

He addresses his opinions on stereotypes about his culture, “There are many stereotypes towards being South Asian, more specifically Indian, I think they should be addressed pretty normally because they are very destructive to the South Asian community and even within the South Asian community people continue to make jokes about stereotypes which is damaging,” he says.

He goes on to telling how the way he views education is based on how his parents’ influence, “The way my parents were raised in India and how they view education has influenced how strict they are and what they think about education here. The way that they were educated in India was that they were to pursue whatever they would pursue, and normally they do that earlier on than we do,” he concludes.

Conclusion

While having families from all over the world, all students had an overarching feeling of being a person of multiple worlds – most feeling they belonged to neither and both. They grew up having to discover America for themselves, having a parent or parents who view America through the lens of a foreigner, with their own perceived notions of what to expect. Even those with families from the same countries had completely contrasting and unique experiences. Many felt as though they do not belong, hopefully reading these perspectives can help them realize that they are not alone – and even though not from the same exact background others can relate. The feeling is mutual.