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From YouTube: TEDxYouth@TorreAve: Neha Washikar (2020)
Description
The Importance of Biculturalism by Neha Washikar
Neha has been practicing Indian classical dance for the past 12 years and can speak six languages. In her free time, she likes to hang out with friends, paint, and play volleyball. Growing up in the Bay Area, she noticed many children of immigrants did not pay much attention to their parent's culture. Her talk, "The Importance of Biculturalism", outlines what it means to have cultural awareness and explains the numerous personal and professional benefits of being bicultural.
TEDxYouth@TorreAvenue unites the global network of high school students in Cupertino through the power of ideas. Staffed and run entirely by Cupertino Teen Advisory Board and Cupertino Teen Commission, TEDxYouth@TorreAvenue aims to showcase the biggest ideas by filling the gaps created by misinformation and social barriers.
A
When
I
was
in
elementary
school,
my
mom
forced
me
everyday
to
read
short
stories
to
her
in
to
Indian
languages.
I
was
six
I
would
much
rather
have
been
doing
anything
else
than
waste
precious
playtime
reading
short
stories
in
foreign
languages.
It
was
basically
worse
than
doing
homework
because
I
couldn't
pulled
the
classic
sorry,
my
dog
ate
my
homework
excuse
because
well,
the
teacher
was
at
my
house
and
she
knew
I
didn't
have
a
dog.
So
what
did
I
do
to
avoid
my
misery?
A
A
Needless
to
say,
this
was
not
my
favorite
thing
to
do,
and
I
drove
my
mom
crazy,
but
now
years
later,
I
proudly
say:
I
can
speak,
six
languages
have
a
diploma
in
Indian,
classical
dance
and,
most
importantly,
talk
to
my
extended
family
in
India.
Not
just
small
talk,
but
I
can
really
connect
to
them
on
a
level.
I
could
not
have
if
I
did
not
know
much
about
my
culture
growing
up
in
the
US,
we're
already
exposed
to
American
culture,
whether
it
be
through
school,
social,
media,
extracurriculars
or
friends.
A
We
grew
up
watching
the
fourth
of
July
fireworks,
going
door-to-door
practically
begging
for
a
candy
on
Halloween
and
looking
forward
to
every
Super
Bowl
halftime
show,
but
in
a
multicultural
world
like
ours,
we
have
the
opportunity
of
being
exposed
to
other
cultures.
Of
course,
staying
connected
to
another
culture
will
take
more
effort,
but
developing
cultural
awareness
will
ignite
the
light
within
you
and
ultimately,
society
I
will
be
covering
three
main
topics
today.
What
is
cultural
awareness?
What
are
its
benefits,
and
how
can
we
develop
it?
A
America,
as
we
know,
is
the
land
of
opportunities
making
it
a
hub
for
immigrants
and
a
melting
pot
for
various
ethnicities
and
cultures.
Cultural
awareness
is
much
more
than
knowing
just
how
people
dress
or
what
they
eat,
I
like
to
think
of
culture
as
a
tree
with
the
leaves
being
attributes
that
you
can
see,
such
as
language,
attire
celebrations
and
behavior
and
the
roots
being
values,
traditions,
customs
and
beliefs.
A
Once
you
understand
both
the
leaves
and
the
roots
of
the
culture
tree,
you
have
cultural
awareness,
but
why
is
this
important
I
ask
myself
the
same
question
years
ago,
when
sitting
at
my
kitchen
table
reading
those
short
stories?
Why
should
someone
go
through
the
efforts
of
being
and
staying
culturally
aware
well
years
later,
I
know
why
cultural
awareness
ignites
the
light
personally
professionally
and
for
society.
I
have
known
my
friend
since
first
grade
to
protect
her
privacy.
A
Let's
call
her
Michelle,
both
of
Michelle's
parents
were
born
and
brought
up
in
China
and
later
emigrated
to
America
just
a
couple
years
before
she
was
born
ever
since
first
grade,
Michelle
would
tell
me
about
her
occasional
visits
to
China,
while
talking
to
her
a
couple
weeks
ago,
I
noticed
a
pattern
and
all
of
her
stories.
She
would
be
extremely
glad
to
be
back
home
in
California,
not
only
because
she
missed
her
friends,
but
because
she
felt
like
a
complete
outsider,
the
entire
time
she
was
there.
A
A
Since
her
last
visit
to
China,
Michelle
has
been
able
to
rediscover
her
roots
and
be
become
more
open-minded,
they're,
taking
an
AP
Chinese
course
in
her
school
now
whenever
she
calls
her
family
in
China,
she's
able
to
better
connect
and
better
relate
to
which
ultimately
strengthens
a
sense
of
support
and
connection
whenever
she's
around
them.
So
obviously,
there
are
personal
benefits
such
as
developing
the
deeper
connection
with
your
family
and
friends
and
having
a
wider
social
network.
A
Those
who
are
bicultural
can
often
speak
more
than
one
language
and
past
research
has
already
shown
the
correlation
between
multilingualism
and
high
cognitive
power
and
emotional
and
social
skills,
but
it
turns
out
that
a
lot
of
other
benefits
jump
from
having
different
perspectives
that
are
developed
when
being
deeply
rounded
within
two
cultures
that
you
identify
with
these
perspectives:
ignite
creativity
and
innovation
and
influence
the
way.
We
think
and
behave
three
researchers
from
Tel
Aviv
University
in
Israel,
Northwestern
University
in
the
US
and
in
seed
in
Europe.
A
Recently
conducted
three
studies
on
both
by
cultural
and
monocultural
students.
In
the
first
study
with
the
group
of
MBA
students
in
Europe,
they
found
out
that
by
culturals,
whom
were
fluent
flexible
and
novel,
which
means
that
they
generated
a
great
number
of
ideas
that
were
more
unique
and
more
creative.
In
the
second
study
with
the
group
of
MBA
students
in
the
US,
they
found
out
that
by
culturals
had
more
patents
for
products
and
services
than
monocultural
students.
A
The
researchers
noted
that
the
reason
bicultural
is
exhibited
high
creativity
is
because
they
had
a
high
integrative
complexity
in
simple
English.
That
means
that
their
thought
processes
combine
various
different
possibilities
and
perspectives
for
any
given
speech.
Situation
specifically
by
culturals
are
able
to
view
a
situation
from
two
different
lenses,
giving
them
a
more
holistic
view
on
how
to
approach
it,
their
ability
to
think
outside
the
box,
ignites
creativity
within
them,
which
automatically
sets
them
apart
from
others.
A
This
creativity
carries
through
professionally
as
well.
The
three
researchers
from
before
conducted
a
third
study
this
time
with
a
group
of
Israeli
professionals
working
in
the
Philippine
Valley.
They
found
out
that
biculturalism
lead
to
led
to
a
higher
promotion
rate
and
a
better
managerial
reputation
with
businesses
going
global.
It's
crucial
not
to
underestimate
the
effect
that
cultural
differences
may
have.
A
The
reason
is
the
Israeli
professionals
were
so
successful
is
because
awareness
of
your
own
culture
translates
to
cultural
sensitivity,
which
again
is
increasingly
important
in
a
diversified
workplace
through
cultural
sensitivity,
people
are
able
to
combat
dealing
with
conflict
and
hierarchy
through
different
perspectives.
This
results
in
an
increased
communication
between
co-workers
and
a
greater
compatibility
within
a
team,
but
this
is
not
only
about
the
individual.
Cultural
awareness
can
prevent
cultural
appropriation
within
society.
A
Let's
go
back
to
the
culture
tree
that
was
talking
about
simply
put
cultural
appropriation.
Is
one
people
from
one
culture
carefully
and
conveniently
pluck
the
leaves
off
the
culture
tree
of
a
different
culture
while
completely
disregarding
the
roots?
An
example
of
this
happened
last
year
with
the
recent
production
of
The
Lion
King,
now
I
know
what
you're
thinking
The
Lion
King
has
been
the
children's
classic
for
the
past
quarter
century.
So
what
could
have
possibly
arisen?
A
Well,
it
turns
out
that
Disney
had
trademark.
One
of
the
most
popular
phrases
in
the
movie-
Hakuna
Matata,
meaning
no
worries.
However,
this
understandably
outraged
many
Swahili
speakers.
How
can
a
business
trademark
a
part
of
the
language,
a
part
of
a
culture
just
to
make
more
profit?
Such
an
outrage
could
have
been
avoided
through
cultural
awareness
and
cultural
sensitivity.
A
A
A
Everybody
can
start
learning
a
language
that
they're
interested
in
younger
children
can
talk
to
their
extended
family
about
various
traditional
holidays
and
festivals.
High
school
students
and
college
students
can
take
part
in
exchange
programs
to
broaden
their
understanding
about
different
countries
and
different
cultures
in
the
workplace.
Professionals
can
celebrate
holidays
and
festivals,
such
as
Diwali,
Chinese,
New,
Year,
Hanukkah
and
more.
However,
it's
important
to
do
this
carefully,
because,
if
not
done
properly,
cultural
appreciation
can
quickly
turn
into
cultural
appropriation.
A
So,
to
conclude,
if
I
could
go
back
in
time
and
tell
my
six-year-old
self
one
thing,
it
would
be
to
appreciate
those
short
stories
instead
of
challenging
them
because
go
short
stories
help
me
embrace
my
culture
enhance
my
language
and
ultimately
brought
me
closer
to
myself
on
a
global
level.
Cultural
awareness
allows
people
to
be
more
appreciative
of
each
other's
differences.