UW-Madison senior Erin Ellison and her friends Katie Dionne and Jeff Olson were all Irish dancers together at the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance before they formed the band Rising Gael. Four years ago, the three dancers teamed up with fourth member, Peter Tissot, to start the Celtic band.
Since we're all Irish dancers, we really became interested in the music through the dance,"" Ellison said.
Ellison considers playing in the band her favorite activity outside of academics.
""All of my fellow band members are my best friends,"" Ellison said. ""It's such a fun thing to do on the side, and share Irish music with other people who enjoy it.""
Irish music has always been a bigger part of her life than American pop culture, and, by playing in the band, Ellison connects with her Irish ethnicity.
Most UW-Madison students create a balance between their different cultural identities in order to retain family ties while at the same time forming a connection with peers.
However, some students drop their cultural identities completely or isolate themselves from the typical ""American"" identity to avoid judgment from other students or connect more easily with their peers.
For UW-Madison freshman and Brazilian native Pati Mo, conflicting American and Brazilian cultures are kept completely separate. At home, she is Brazilian. On campus, she is American.
Unlike the split identity Mo creates, fifth-year UW senior Tope Awe identifies more with her Nigerian heritage, both on and off campus. She was born in Nigeria but grew up in America.
Flory Olson, UW-Madison sophomore, identifies more with the American culture than her Irish ethnicity. However, she does Irish dancing to maintain a connection with her Irish heritage.
According to Aparna Dharwadker, associate professor of theatre and drama and English, students who blend their individual cultures with American culture will ultimately feel more comfortable on campus.
""Part of the process of emigrating to another country is that you 'fit in' with the host culture,"" Dharwadker said. ""I don't think that it is advisable for students to isolate themselves culturally.""
Even so, Mo practices Brazilian customs on campus in a private, individual manner.
""My Brazilian practices on campus don't affect how I deal with people or anything,"" Mo said. ""I do things and it's mostly individual.""
Students may also ""Americanize"" themselves in order to feel welcome on campus.
""The news I read from Brazil or the Brazilian music I listen to, I just keep to myself because I know if I share it with people they are going to feel uninterested,"" Mo said. ""When I meet new people on campus, I'm as American as I can be, so people feel less different from me.""
According to Dharwadker, it is not unusual for students to have difficulty assimilating two cultural backgrounds.
""It is difficult to retain one's native culture in a foreign country unless there is a larger community that supports the effort,"" Dharwadker said.
Through her participation in Irish dancing, Olson keeps in touch with traditional Irish music.
""You hear lots of different Irish music, which isn't so readily available in mainstream America,"" she said.
A balance is simpler for Olson than Mo; Olson easily blends her Irish culture with American culture because both her Irish and American friends appreciate her cultural practices.
""Everybody in America that I know is accepting of Irish dance,"" Olson said. ""They just want to know what it is.""
According to Awe, students share their culture with peers out of pride and to set an example.
Awe shares her African culture with her friends because it makes them more willing to share their
own cultures.
""I always put [my culture] out there because it is such a big part of myself,"" Awe said. ""The people that end up being friends would be the ones that accept it, whether or not they identified that way.""
Although most of Awe's friends do not identify with her culturally, they are open about discussing cultural topics like tradition.
""I become friends with those people that embrace their own identities as well,"" Awe said. ""The group of friends I have in pharmacy school will always talk about their own culture.""
For Mo, however, students with fewer people in their ethnic group may inevitably feel isolated.
""Some students keep their nationality because they have their own social network [and] construct a little country in their community,"" Mo said. ""My problem is that there is no Brazil on campus. I don't see another Brazilian so I have to be Americanized.""
According to Awe, students find a balance between their cultures by finding clubs and organizations that connect with their cultural identities.
""Whether or not you actively participate in the club or give your all to the club, just finding other people that have that same upbringing and same belief system ... is a way of retaining it or balancing it,"" Awe said.
Awe's African culture has allowed her to find a smaller community at UW-Madison.
""The size of the campus never seemed daunting to me or overwhelming because I didn't associate with the campus at large,"" Awe said. ""I definitely appreciated that there was an intercommunity on campus.""
According to Dharwadker, students maintain their cultural identity to different degrees based on the kind of family a student grows up in and where they
were born.
He uses Indian students on campus as an example.
""Some Indian immigrants to the U.S. put in a great deal of effort into keeping up their language, rituals, traditions and customs, while others choose to assimilate more fully into the dominant culture,"" Dharwadker said.
Awe said Nigerian students who do not continue practicing the customs of their Nigerian ethnicity are not necessarily abandoning their identities, since some, for instance, have parents who raised
them with American traditions.
""I don't think it's fair to say they 'abandoned' it if they legitimately were not raised that way,"" Awe said.
Mo connects more to her Brazilian cultural background because she was born in Brazil.
However, to avoid discrimination from people on campus, she suppresses her Brazilian customs to connect more with her peers.
""I identify more with the Brazilian culture, but I do not share that with my American friends,"" Mo said. ""I don't feel racism against me, but I think that is because I'm completely Americanized now.""
According to Ruth Turley, assistant professor of sociology, Mo has experienced ""ethnic switching.""
This occurs when people who previously identified with one ethnicity now identify with another.
Although some students ""switch"" cultures, others may resist assimilating into the American culture because they feel a culture clash.
Mo sometimes faces a conflict in social issues between American and Brazilian culture.
""Teenagers in Brazil have more of a connection with their families than we do here,"" Mo said. ""They are more likely than Americans to be friends with their relatives.""
Another social issue Mo struggles with is Americans' lack of perseverance.
""Knowing that I'm from a third-world country where most people don't have the opportunity to finish high school, I'm aware of how I need to work to get what I want,"" Mo said. ""That gives me motivation that some students lack.""
According to Mo, she has felt pressure to conform to American culture.
""In Brazil, we're never categorized by color and race,"" Mo said. ""In college, since I'm now Americanized, I've learned the language, I act like an American and I feel like I blend more with the American culture. Language is a huge barrier to me still.""
However, others, like Olson, find UW to be very accommodating to students balancing two distinct cultures.
""On this campus, it's possible to find people of similar backgrounds to be able to communicate with and share thoughts and memories of childhoods and cultural traditions,"" Olson said. ""I find it's nice to be able to step into an Irish dancing world and have fun listening to the music and enjoying the fellow Irish company.""
