“French?” thought Gary to himself, looking at his assigned group once again. He didn’t even know that the school had a French Culture Club. He wasn’t even sure that that counted as a culture. Wasn’t that supposed to have something to do with race? He didn’t have much time to ponder over his confusion though, as Dr. Martinez went over his introductory lecture, talking about the syllabus, midterm, and an introduction to “a global mindset”.
None of it was particularly helpful in answering Gary’s question on why his assignment was considered valid, so he approached Dr. Martinez after class to get some clarification. The professor was happy to oblige.
“Think of it this way, Gary,” he started. “Culture is the practices and arts of a specific group of people. They can be anything, and aren’t even limited by race, like what you’re thinking. There are even examples like sports or gaming culture, even though those aren’t part of this class.”
“Huh, that makes sense.” Replied Gary. “I guess I always thought those comments were tongue in cheek.” He paused for a second. “Hey, how did you know my name? It’s a fairly large class, I don’t think I stand out that much.”
“I do have access to the registry for students in my class, you know.” Replied Dr. Martinez, without missing a beat.
“Right..” said Gary, still thinking that it was weird for the teacher to be memorizing all of the students’ names and appearances before the first lecture.
Dr. Martinez made a mental note about Gary, that man was a sharp one, catching his slip up. He’d have to specifically try to keep him on track. “Well, do you have any further questions? I’m happy to explain anything to you.”
“Um, no, I think I’m alright. Thank you though.” Said Gary, starting to head to his next class.
“Au revoir!” called out Dr. Martinez to Gary as he turned around. Gary didn’t know what it meant, but that was fine. He stepped out into the hallway of the second floor or the social sciences building, into the throng of students. He heard his name being called out from down the hall, among the crowd noise. He spotted his friend Khadija calling him.
“Gary! Are you in Dr. Martinez’ class this year?” she asked, sounding very excited.
“I am, yeah. You took it last year, didn’t you?” he asked, jogging his memory.
“Yes!” she said, adjusting her hijab so it was a little tighter. “It’s a really easy A, or even A+. Dr. Martinez just matched us all to clubs of our own culture, so it was a joke class. I did learn a lot though.”
“Huh.” Replied Gary. “Looks like he isn’t going so by the book this year. I’ve been put into the French Culture Club, despite not knowing a word or anything about the country.”
“Which one?” teased Khadija, winking at him. “You know, many countries have large French speaking populations.”
“Uh, sure.” Replied Gary, totally not knowing that at all.
“With all due respect, you’re about as white as mayonnaise. What cultural group would you even belong to if you were matched with something on campus?” asked Khadija, prodding her friend.
Gary wasn’t happy to hear that, and scowled for a second, when he realized he really didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t one of those people who touted white culture by any means, but he never really stopped to think about his identity beyond American.
Khadija noticed his silence. “That’s what I thought.” She said, matter-of-factly. “Hey, I’m sure you’ll still have an easy time with the class. All they really wanted me to do was show up and participate in their club’s events. It’s really not hard, you’ll be fine.” She said, reassuring him.
“Right, yeah, I’m more worried about being awkward than anything.” Gary confessed.
Khadija laughed, “Don’t worry about it! You’ll be okay!” then pulled over to the side of the hall to stop. “My next class is in here, but I’ll text you later, okay! You should find out when your club is meeting next, there’s no excuses for not starting right away!”
“Alright. Later Khadija.” Said Gary as she headed to her classroom. Unlike his friend, Gary had a few hours of free time to burn and no homework scheduled at the beginning of the semester. He had to find some time to waste until his next class.