Bilingualism and cultural diplomacy are two of my fundamental values. As a Mexican-American son, brother and member of my community, I've witnessed first-hand the importance of intercultural collaboration, acceptance and understanding. As a Political Science major, I understand the need for multilingual and multicultural knowledge, especially in today's rapidly globalizing world. While living in Chengdu, China, I learned that a language is much more than just grammar and syntax. It also shows a lot about culture and perspective. One cannot learn another person's language without learning about that individual's traditions, cultures, beliefs, and sometimes even one's religion. Growing up in a Hispanic household, I realized that Spanish is the true language of love and emotion, consisting of complex emotional adjectives and verbs that simply do not translate into English. While studying Mandarin Chinese in Chengdu, I learned about Chinese culture and the way that the Chinese view themselves and their country. From learning about belief in a centralized power (中国 zhong guo) to learning about ancient ways of life in the character for home (家 jia), I fell in love with the idea of languages by researching the true cultural meaning behind each word, character, and phrase that I encountered.
