“Who am I?” and “How do I define myself?” are both questions that students strive to answer. When it comes to students who often walk the line between two different cultures, these questions can be even more difficult to define. In a time period in both Pepperdine and American history that has put religious and racial crises and scandals front and center, these students often find themselves questioning what it is about them that is certain — what makes them, them?
The racial landscape of America is quickly shifting. By 2065, White people in America are projected to make up less than 50 percent of the population, while nearly every other racial minority group is expected to grow according to a Feb. 2 Pew Research Center chart, “The Changing Face of America, 1965-2065“.
As the Pepperdine population continues to diversify — with Pepperdine being ranked No. 11 in most diverse universities according to a Priceconomics study by Priceconomics — as well as Pepperdine itself launching initiatives to be more inclusive, the question of identity will only continue to be a part of the discussion.
To better understand the questions many students face when it comes to identity, we sat down with three Pepperdine students with diverse backgrounds to learn how they define and understand themselves.
Peace Ikediuba — Freshman, Theatre major with an Acting emphasis, Nigerian
Q: Can you tell me a bit about how you define yourself and what you see as your own personal identity?
A: Nigerian. Definitely Black. Definitely woman, phenomenal woman. Christian, a lover of people, and I think my hair. Right now it’s in braids, but when I have it out, I think that’s the best representation of me because it’s when I’m fully Peace.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about if it has happened to you here, how your perception of yourself where you are has changed through different people you’ve surrounded yourself with or the different interactions you’ve had or even things you’ve seen in the media?
A: So when I was younger, I didn’t really accept my image or how I looked or how society saw me because of how I was portrayed through the media or how other races or other groups of people saw me, and I guess the more I surrounded myself with people that were like me and that accepted their own image, the more I accepted my own, and the more I came to the conclusion that I was beautiful or that I was a queen that I was made in God’s image … So I guess I am the way I am because of who I surround myself with now.
Q: Everyone knows that in today’s political climate, race relations especially have been a hot topic. Have you seen your race affect you differently here? Or perceptions of your race?
A: Like they’ll say little things that they probably don’t mean in certain ways, but to me it definitely means different things because I’m always hearing, “oh you’re pretty for a black girl” or “oh you’re smart for a black girl” or stuff like that so I guess it didn’t affect me before, but I can see it now a lot more clearly because I’m in an area where it’s not predominantly minorities.
Araceli Crescencio — Sophomore, NewsWaves team member, Journalism and Economics double major, Mexican-American
Q: Can you tell me a bit about how you define yourself and what you see as your own personal identity?
A: So I define myself as Mexican-American. I am very passionate about immigration rights I think because my parents are immigrants … I am passionate about social action, so I think that that’s how I identify myself maybe as an advocate. But then also I know I’m in a privileged situation where I can’t relate to those students who aren’t able to receive an education, so I also think of myself as privileged for being able to receive an education. So sometimes that hinders me in understanding the full concept of what it means to really not have options.
Q: As you’ve grown up, or even now, have you ever had any part of your identity or how you view yourself affected by the way Hispanics are portrayed in the media or the news or by politicians? Or do you think you’ve been able to avoid that all?
A: I think that growing up, I was very nurtured so my parents always inculcated education to us. And then while growing up, seeing things that I knew were different like my parents didn’t speak English or when we went to restaurants, I had to translate for them or things like that I understood, but I don’t think I ever came to see it as a negative thing … But then experiencing situations of racism, where I got targeted, or where I felt more vulnerable. But I don’t think it’s ever made me feel bad about who I am, it’s just made me disheartened about humanity in itself. But yeah I think I’ve always been pretty confident in my identity of being Mexican-American and knowing that it’s definitely valid.
Q: Everyone knows that in today’s political climate, race relations especially have been a hot topic. Have you seen your race affect you differently here? Or perceptions of your race?
A: I did [a project] on DACA which is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals because that’s something near and dear to my heart … I had to have people help me throughout the film so I asked suitemates if they could help me film the story, and I created a script and I said ‘Oh I’m undocumented in this script,’ and before they had agreed to do that, they asked me if I was undocumented, and I had told them no, but they sort of made it seem like it was awful to be undocumented, and I think that was something that really hurt my feelings.
Michael Gong — Senior, Philosophy and Sociology double major, Chinese
Q: Can you tell me a bit about how you define yourself and what you see as your own personal identity?
A: I’m pretty different from most Chinese students I meet. Studying Sociology changed my points of view about many issues. So, I might be too liberal for [people in China] and they seem to be too conservative for me. I’m one of those people who does not have a strong sense of belonging to [the] country where I came from. I’m pretty comfortable with my identity as a global citizen.
Q: You touched on this a little bit in your explanation, but did your identity change from before you came to Pepperdine? How do you see how you view your identity when you’re home as opposed to when you’re here?
A: Before I came here, I viewed myself as Chinese, and I was pretty nationalist… [but] after study[ing] different sociology and philosophy classes, you tend to change your way of thinking. So maybe you try to relate your own experience to several sensitive topics and you start to challenge yourself, and you know that’s how I think I started to view things differently. My personal identity has been modified by various ideologies, and I’m pretty sure it will keep evolving and changing.
Q: In today’s political climate, race relations especially have been a hot topic. Have you seen your race or perceptions of your race affect you differently here?
A: We take statistics in first year — one stereotype is Asians are good at math, [but] I’m not good at math at all. So I always remember those times people would feel surprised that an Asian is not that good at math, but that didn’t change who I am or how I view myself.
The question of identity is one that every individual must grapple with, and the three interviewees are emblematic of that. Michael now sees himself as a global citizen with no real ties to any home, Araceli views herself as a Mexican American activist and Peace sees herself as a phenomenal Nigerian woman. In forming and holding onto these identities, these individuals present how students walk that line between their home culture and America. Some hold tightly to their home cultures, others choose to walk the line between the two while others choose to have no ties at all.
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