In a society in which peoples’ lives are strongly influenced by their ethnicity and religion, people of mixed backgrounds face a modern issue. How do you blend more than one religious or cultural influence into your life and incorporate the different parts that you identify with? For sophomore Celeste Chauhan, this has become a personal challenge.
“Nobody has ever guessed my ethnicity correctly,” Chauhan said. “Most people think I’m Latino or completely white.”
Chauhan’s mother is an American with a European background. Her father was born and raised in India, and moved to America as a young man. The two met at a nightclub in Washington, D.C.
“[My mother] was with some Indian coworkers and my dad approached them,” Chauhan said. “He always tries to talk to other Indians. Then they started dating.”
When Chauhan enters her house, she sees two different heritages and cultures. Both cultures have many differences like the way in dressing, food and language, but Chauhan’s mother and father have made it work.
With these two cultures blending, one might wonder how hard it is to adapt to making both cultures work. For Chauhan, conflicts sometimes do rise.
“My dad doesn’t approve of a lot of things most Americans would approve of,” Chauhan said. “He’s very conservative. My mom and I hate Indian food, which is all my dad eats. I have to hide a lot of my life from my dad because he would not allow most things I do.”
Even with the different cultures, Celeste has different views on how she sees the cultures.
“I feel like if I was just American I would have more of a free lifestyle, but if I was completely Indian I would have a very restricted lifestyle,” Chauhan said.
AHS is known for its diversity and mix of all the different cultures. Many of the cultures have also been mixed within the families of student here in AHS.
“I think, basically, everyone fits in at AHS because we are so diverse,” Chauhan said. “There are so many people from so many different backgrounds at our school. AHS is very inclusive and I haven’t seen anyone be excluded from anything because of ethnicity.”
With all the new culture and heritages coming into play in Chauhan’s life, there will always be ups and downs in these situations. “The benefits of being mixed are that I get to be exposed to two different cultures. It’s like the best of both worlds. The drawback is that my parents disagree on a lot of things,” Chauhan said.
Along with the mix of culture at home, the various and mix customs and backgrounds at AHS makes adapting much easier to Celeste Chauhan.
