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One of the best things about going to college does not have to do only with the academic strides you’ll get to take during your time there, it also exposes you to a lot of different people, cultures, and traditions that you’ve been sheltered from all your life. You get to meet people from different backgrounds and you’ll get to see just how upbringings can make or break an individual.

And then, if we’re as open-minded as we’re supposed to be, we realize that the bubble that we’ve had around us all our lives is not all there is to this world. We think within that bubble and believe that the way things are in our bubble is the same way things are outside it. College is one of the places where that bubble bursts pretty quickly once it comes into contact with the pointy tip called reality.

Thankfully, I had my first exposure way back during my secondary school days. I went to a public school, and as such it was really populated. And in a place like Lagos, it’s a hot spot for a majority of the ethnicities in Nigeria. These are different cultures and languages. From Yoruba to Igbo and Hausa, and then Efik, Urhobo and so many more.

This was my first foray into just how diverse the world is. And it was all good. We were all students, we were all young, so making friends with each other was not that hard. The only downside to all this is that the majority of us grew up in Lagos, and the rest had also spent a considerable amount of time in Lagos as well. So, we had something connecting us all, something we could bond over. Although, on second thought, it’s not a downside, it’s actually a major advantage.

But then, moving on to college, it was a different ball game entirely. Because the majority of those in colleges come from places far away. So, people come with their ideals, cultures, and lifestyles, and living together, it’ll become quite easy to spot the differences in the cultures. From the food to the dressing, even the way some people speak (I don’t mean language) will tell you a whole lot about where they come from.

You see, we all are representatives. Not just of our tribes, cultures, and heritage, but also of our background. Each individual represents so many institutions, that one cannot really count it. But when it matters, you’ll always know for sure.

Take me for instance, I’m Igbo, but grew up in Lagos. I’m a representative of Igbo just as I’m a representative of Lagos. I also represent all the schools I’ve ever gone to in my life. I represent the churches I’ve ever attended. I represent my family and the upbringing they gave me. And I represent the friends that I’ve had over the years. Now that I’m a blogger on Hive, I can also say that I represent the blockchain.

These are subtle and minute things that we might not really notice. But then, it kind of forms a classification. This is why when a celebrity comes from your hometown or the town you grew up in as a child, you feel a sort of kinship with them even though you never met them. You see them as “one of us”. In the same way, if someone did something bad, and they were also from your alma mater, you could feel the need to clear the air if people begin to insinuate that everyone who went to your school is the same.

Now, as representatives of so many institutions, those we know and those we don’t know, imagine all of us meeting in college. It’ll be a clash of cultures, beliefs, and upbringing. People will learn new things about other cultures, make friends, and try to tailor their lives based on the new things they’ve learned. And in the end, no one is the same. Because by the time we’re done with college, we already know how to coexist with others. You’ve learned that just because some people don’t do certain things like you, doesn’t mean they’re wrong and you are right. It could very well mean that you are both right.

If we refuse to learn this simple truth, we’ll never grow. Not just individually, but as a generation. And as a people. It saddens my heart today that we still have tribal differences, in the 21st century! We still have people thinking that one religion is superior to the other, or one race is inferior to the other. It’s sad. All that this does is cast a dark shadow on everything and everyone we represent. And things like this don’t aid in our growth.

Peace, love, and happiness shouldn’t be so hard to come by. We’re just the ones making it tough on ourselves. We need to understand that while every culture and belief is unique, we still have one thing in common; life. We all have a beating heart, we all have red blood and if we hold our breath for too long, we could lose our lives. When it comes to the core, we’re all the same.

We are one!

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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_{N.B: All images used above are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.}

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