Noah T
Major: Economics
Hometown: Hackensack, New Jersey
Age: 23
Parents' Home Country: Ethiopia
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"Being a second-generation American has always been meaningful to me because it helped me establish my identity early on in my life. I cherish it because it allows me to truly understand and be exposed to a completely different culture early on which always keeps me thinking about how much more there is to see and learn in this world rather than just having my vision of the world as the US or even specifically the Northeast.
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We celebrate Ethiopian culture in so many ways in my household, it’s all our family has ever known. We hold our culture so dear to us because Ethiopia is one in 5 countries in the entire world that has never been colonized so in some respects our lives are one in the same. Our in-house culture is very different than our out of house culture. We speak the main ethiopian language (Amharic) regularly, we eat ethiopian food regularly, we celebrate Ethiopian holidays and traditions (I don’t follow all the traditions cause a lot are very religious and it conflicts with my american culture). Our traditions we practice at home are very aligned with the traditions of any Ethiopian household back home. My mom has been living in America most of her life but she has never lost her culture and has done a great job of rooting it into the lives of my siblings and I.
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Fortunately overtime with the advances in technology and my interactions with Ethiopians my own age from Ethiopia. I have been able to access more information on the day to day living situations and national culture from the motherland. I would say that the similarities in the life of someone my own age there is to do whatever they can to provide for themselves as well as their families. I would also say the main difference between I and someone my own age there is that religion plays a stronger role in Ethiopia when it comes to structuring morality and culture. For them, it’s set as rules and family guidelines to follow. It becomes part of their identity while we in the states use it and learn it but because we are exposed to other cultures it becomes something that is cherished but not to the strength and value as it could be when it’s all you may know."
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