Roger Wilson My father farmed in the Nebraska panhandle. His mother lived with us and my other grandparents, the Kellys, also lived on our farm until I was about twelve. We visited my great-great grandfather Kelly's grave in Superior, Nebraska when I was a small boy. My grandfather's cousin lived there and told us some family history. The Kelly buried there had been a businessman in Missouri. He and his two teen aged sons were on a buffalo hunt in Kansas when he was accidentally shot. The poeple on the buffalo hunt buried him where he died but his two sons moved his remains to Superior when they were middle-aged. My grandfather's cousin was there when the remains were exhumed. The younger of these two sons, my great grandfather Bill Kelly, went to Texas and was a drover on the cattle drives north. No specifics are known about his history from his boyhood until he settled in Banner County, Nebraska some years later. He married and had two children. The oldest was the first white child born in Banner County. Grandpa Kelly was his second child. Bill Kelly's wife had been married before and had left her older children with her first husband. She also left Bill Kelly when the children were quite young so my grandfather was raised by his maternal grandmother, who was also his aunt. My great grandmother married three more times and had children with most of her husbands. My mother knew her in later years and said she was a very nice lady. The North Platte Valley Irrigation project, bringing water to the Nebraska panhandle, was built in the 1920's. Irrigation brought sugar beets and dry edible beans to western Nebraska. It also brought a number of immigrant farmers to the area. Most of these were Germans from Russia whom Grandpa Kelly referred to as "Rooshians". He did not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity as he hated almost everyone. My father's family moved there from south-central Nebraska at about the same time. My father's grandfather, who fought in the Civil War, had lived in Michigan. Most of the students in Dome Rock, the rural school I attended through the eighth grade, were "Rooshians". You found out who was related to who when you hit someone in the mouth. It turned out the "Rooshians" were all related. During parts of the year about a fourth of the student body were Native Americans. The school had 40 to 50 students depending on the number of Native American children in the district. In my school there were the "Rooshians", the Native Americans, and my brother and I. Another brother attended the school for the deaf in Omaha. The Lloyd Big Crow family lived on our farm after my grandparents moved to my uncle's place. Lloyd's youngest two children were my age and I played with them quite a bit. The Big Crows were good neighbors most of the time. We would simply stay away from their house during the time when it was obvious they were doing a lot of drinking. These times would last two to three days and then it would be very quiet. There was only one time when they came near our house during the drinking spells. One of Lloyd's adult sons came to our door and wanted to tell my dad about the human remains he had seen. Lloyd lassoed him off our porch, tied him up and took him home. In the spring officials discovered a woman's body near Marsland, Nebraska and arrested Lloyd's brother for murdering her. He had spent the winter picking corn for us. The Earl Poor Bear family also lived near us. He had one son younger than I, one my age, and the rest were older. Earl and his wife were nice, hard working people. Alcohol was never used in their home. Elisha was my age and my friend. He died from cancer when we were in grade school. I was very sad. Only Earl's youngest son is still alive and he has been ravaged by alcohol. I wish I had a solution for this scourge to Native Americans. We had one Japanese farmer in the school district. Sam Hamada was our closest neighbor and we used his telephone a lot since we did not have one in our house. There had been more Japanese farmers around Scottsbluff and Gering before World War II. The ones with children had moved to farms in the Lyman Nebraska area because the high school was smaller and they felt their children would have fewer problems. Before my time there had been a big rock fight at one of the rural schools between the "Rooshians" and the Japanese. It started during the morning recess and lasted until noon. The participants ended up over two miles away from the school where it started. Our neighbor, Sam, had married a Mexican lady so did not feel the same pressure to relocate for his children's sake. Sam never learned to speak English very well. There were three boys in our family and our farm was small so neighbors would hire us during their busy seasons. I seldom worked for Sam as he preferred my deaf brother, Jerry, because he could communicate with him better. My dad who employed a lot of migrant laborers would always use Jerry as an interpreter whenever he encountered a language barrier. Later, when I was an Agricultural Representative for Scottsbluff National Bank, nearly all of the bank's Japanese customers did business with me. I really like the Japanese and taught the business segment of a University of Nebraska short course for the Japanese Agricultural Training Program (JATP) the last three years. The University of Nebraska has been associated with JATP for over thirty years. I was a county extension agent for a while and trained under Ken Sakurada. Ken's family was one that had moved to Lyman. I asked Ken how he felt about that situation. He said he understood how, during a war, many Americans could feel they way they did towards the Japanese, so he could accept that pretty well. He did say he had a problem with accepting this treatment from those with a German heritage since we were at war with Germany as well as Japan. My dad hired migrant labor from Texas when I was in high school. We hired the same lady and her family for about five years. This lady's family consisted of her children, some of who had families of their own, and her male companion. Except for Freddy, who came two years in a row, there was a different man every year. The migrant labor hoed sugar beets and field beans. One year in the 60's, my dad also hired the migrant lady's male companion to help me and my deaf brother dig irrigation cuts. With what little Spanish I knew, and the little English he knew, and with the help of my deaf brother, we visited as best we could when we worked. He came from Mexico and had a family there. He sent nearly all of the money he earned to them. He planned to stay in the United States until he was deported and then to live the rest of his life with his family in Mexico. He was a good man and I hope he is doing well. Scottsbluff and Gering have a substantial Mexican-American population. The National Guard unit in Gering was nearly 50% Mexican-American and the Ammo section had very few people who were not. My first duty with the Guards was as a member of the Ammo section. Later, I was the Ammo Officer, Battery Commander and Battalion Motor Officer in the Gering unit. The only problem we had that was related to the ethnic differences concerned some comments made by a Battalion staff officer. The Battery itself was very cohesive. My wife's father was from a "Rooshian" family so now I am related to about everyone around Scottsbluff. He married a young lady from Frankfurt, Germany whom he met while serving with the occupation forces after World War II. She went with my wife and me when we visited Germany about ten years ago so we were able to see where she had lived and worked. We were also able to meet some of her friends whom she had not had any contact with for 38 or more years. The only close relative she had was her mother who had moved to New York City some years before. My children's heritage reflects the northern European component of the Scottsbluff area. The Kellys were early pioneers. My wife's and my families arrived at about the same time. My family came from other parts of the United States and hers from Germany by way of Russia. Finally, my wife's mother from Germany represents later arrivals into the area.

Brian Foley I am a 41-year-old Canadian male who moved to the United States with my family two and a half years ago. We now live in Lincoln after a two year stay in rural Clovis, New Mexico. Up to that time I lived almost exclusively in St. John's, Newfoundland. This is the city and province I was born as were all of my predecessors for at least four generations on both sides of my parents' families. To understand my perspective you need to understand Newfoundland. The recent book and movie, "The Shipping News" may provide a frame of reference as that setting is my home. This is a place which is perched off in the mid Atlantic Ocean on the far eastern tip of North America where the weather is apparently, cursed. It is geographically remote, afflicted with 250+ days a year with precipitation of all sorts imaginable. The mean temperature hovers around the freezing mark for nine to ten months a year with summer highs only in the 60s to 70s. It is wind-swept with storms and gales on a weekly basis BUT nearly everyone who has the fortune to be born or visit the place rarely wants to leave. It is an absurd form of nationalism. The soil is shallow and weak but the waters surrounding the Island portion of the province and those off Labrador, the mainland portion, are extremely rich in marine life including the richest fishing banks in the world. It holds all sorts of mineral wealth, rivers, forests, oil and natural gas however it is easily the poorest region of Canada. Newfoundland only joined Canada after a bitter soul wrenching debate in the late 1940's after Great Britain cast it aside with its own troubles after World War II. Scratching out an existence there has always been an ordeal. As if the forces of nature weren't enough Newfoundland was dominated by the old English system of absentee land/business owners until in to the 20th century. This system held most of the population in a near subsistence economy. Most of the population of 500,000 are of Irish, English and French ancestry. The cultural influences and even distinct accents to this day remain extremely strong to the point that news articles broadcast to the rest of the world with residents speaking are often accompanied by subscripts. Although it enjoys many of the advantages of today's Western world it stands as a product of its tough but proud past. Culturally rich in drama, music and folklore it provides many leading academic, business and national leaders to Canada. My cultural perspective was formed in this setting. It is Christian, white, and not particularly multicultural even today. Being an isolated part of the world except as a sea faring community which has been exposed to many outside but temporary influences, it has a strange mix of fascination with outsiders but few preconceptions and indeed prejudices of other cultures and peoples. As a descendant of this background, I am a father, a high school special education teacher, my wife of 15+ years is American born and lectures at UNL and although we plan to make Lincoln our permanent home I feel strongly that I am a Newfoundlander and a Canadian. I have been fortunate to study and work in Canada, England and the United States and have traveled in various part of the world. I have a strong belief in God and express this as a practicing Catholic.

Wendy Rutledge I am a 24 year old female. I grew up on an acreage outside of Lincoln, and attended a fairly white, middle-class school. Other then the traveling our family did, as a child I didn't have a great deal of exposure to diversity. I attended UNL and obtained a BA in Communication Studies in 1998. I am currently working towards my MST in Curriculum and Instruction, and my elementary education teaching certificate. Unfortunately, my family doesn't have any strong family traditions or ethnic ties. My mother is mostly German (maiden name was Ehrlich) and my father is of European descent. My mother's family arrived from Germany in the mid 1800s, and My father's family came to America from Ireland in 1705. We don't have any traditions we follow or special cultural beliefs. My family is Lutheran however, and our religion is very important to us. Being a Christ! ian is a big part of who I am. I am looking forward to this class and learning more about other cultures and backgrounds.

Cindy Nash I am a 26 year-old white female. My husband and I have recently moved to Nebraska from Delaware. We moved to Nebraska after the birth of out second daughter in May, 2001, to be closer to my parents. I taught eighth grade math in Delaware, but need to take a couple classes to get my Nebraska teaching certificate. My family is pretty easy to trace, as I am 100% Dutch. It is like a family tradition to only marry another Dutch person. Our family has been in America for 8 generations on my dad's side and 9 generations on my mom's side. Both sides of my family are from eastern Michigan, the only exception being my mom's dad (my grandfather) whose family moved to Michigan from South Dakota during the depression. This tradition of being completely dutch and from eastern Michigan stopped with me, as both of our children were born in Maryland and are biracial.

Kerri Hiatt I am a 32 year old white female. I am married and have a 1 1/5 year old daughter. I grew up on a small farm about 20 minutes northwest of Omaha. I was the youngest of four children. I attended K-12 school in a very white, middle class, small town. All of my friends and their families had pretty much been born and raised in that area. It was a pretty typical small town community where people went to school, got married, and raised their children in the same town. I had a pretty sheltered early life. I don't remember every traveling west of Lincoln until I attended college, and I had only gone as far east as Des Moines, IA. I was rarely exposed to people from other ethnic backgrounds or cultures. In middle school, a good friend of our families married a woman who was from Greece. She was a war orphan who brought to the US with about 12 other children by a movie star as a child and adopted by a family in Omaha, NE. I remember being very fascinated by her. As an adult she traced her family heritage and went back to Greece. She shared many pictures and stories with our family. I attended college at UNL where I received a BA in Business Education. I loved the "big town" of Lincon. There was so much more to do and everyone in town didn't know or care what you were doing every minute of the day. I taught business and computer science courses in Crete, NE for four years. After that I did software training for businesses for three years. During that time, I received my MA in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. I currently work for UNL in University and Community Partnership Programs. We are developing community education programs. My great, great grandfather immigrated from Laboe Germany in 1883 to Davenport, IA. The original name was Arpe, but was later changed to Arp, I am not sure why. He did odd jobs until 1885 when he moved to Ft. Calhoun, NE and worked for a farmer. In 1889 he married Meta Misfeldt, who was also German. In 1900 they started a farm in Kennard, NE. This farm was passed down to my great grandfather, then to my father, and I lived on that farm my entire life. In the early 1990's, my aunt researched our family tree and traveled to Germany to visit the original Arpe homestead. We still have distant relatives living there. My mother's side of the family is Pennsylvania Dutch and Swedish. My grandmother can only know fragmented pieces of their heritage. My great grandparents (Nelson) traveled by covered wagon and setteled in Burwell, NE through the Homestead Act. They eventually moved to Blair, NE. Little is know about my grandfather's family heritage (Rosenbaum). Although most of the people in the community that I grew up in were of German descent, I don't feel that I have very strong ties to any ethnic group. My family has some traditional things that we do every year, but I dont' think that they are related to our ethnic background. My mother really could not recall how some of the traditions started. My husband also does not have very strong ties to his ethnic background (mostly German). Neither of us have strong religious affiliations.

Cheryl Snodgrass I am a 37 year old caucsian female. I live in a small town in Nebraska. We are what my husband calls transplants to the small town . We lived in Indiana all of our lives until we moved to the small town in Nebraska 2 years ago. I am a registered nurse, and a nursing instructor for a community college. I am going back to school for my masters in nursing education. I am the mother of three boys 16,14, and 4 years old. That alone is an experience in life. My grest grand- mother on my fathers side is full blooded Cherokee. I don't know much about her since we were not very close to my fathers family. My grandparents on my mothers side were both descents from Germany, but they never talked about it. Many people tell me that they can tell I have indian bloodlines, because I have dark skin and hair. I have not known much about my indian heritage, but would be very intersted in learning more about it, since I am 1/8 indian.

Kristen Wilton I am a 32 year old mother of 4 kids ages 7 1/2, 6, 2 1/2, and 1. With the exception of the three years I lived in Lincoln during undergrad at UNL, I have always lived on a farm near a small town. I was the 7-12 Special Ed teacher at Clay Center school for four years. Clay Center is a class D school about 20 miles east of Hastings, NE. There were few minority students, actually about four, but there were many students from low-economic backgrounds. My family background is a mixed bag. My mom is 100% German, whose ancestors settles in a German community and for generations married only other German Lutherans. In fact, at family reunions I have so many double cousins that is can be hard to keep track of which family reunion you are at! My dad's ancestors are from all over, and spent about 200 years immigrating from England, Sweden, Wales, and Ireland. The earliest can be tracked to the 1700's when Roger Williams and the Quakers came to America. The latest were about 150 years ago when my dad's great-grandmother arrived as a 6-month old baby..

Deb Weitzenkamp I am a 38-year-old graduate student working toward my Ph.D. I am married with two teenagers. My maiden name is Estermann (very uncommon in the states, but very common in Europe). My great-grandparents (Estermann/Nussbaumer) both immigrated from Switzerland as children, met in West Point, NE where they married in 1886. My other great-grandparents on my fathers side (Hughes/Prouse) had already been in the states for several generations. Both of their families were from Kentucky, but they met and married in the late 1800's in Neola, Missouri. It is my understanding that this side of the family immigrated from Denmark. My great-grandparents on my mother's side (Gibson/Ferrell) met in the mid 1800's near Sidney, NE. On this side of the family, I know the least amount of information. I really do not know when or from where they immigrated, even though I have several generations of names/birth dates etc. The other set of great-grandparents (Hawkinson/Eckloff) were both born in the Funk/Axtell, NE area and the families both immigrated one generation before (mid 1800's) from Gotland Island, Sweden. When they immigrated the spelling of the Hawkinson name was changed from Hakanson. Culturally, I should also mention that I grew up in the western part of Nebraska in an extremely rural area (my closest neighbor was a mile away, my consolidated high school, 18 miles, and an hour and a half bus route which only picked up 15 children). Growing up in a rural area definately has had an impact on me in that I am very tuned into issues of rural poverty, declining rural populations and an aging population without access to "public" services. I lived 15 years in Lincoln, NE, and in 1994 moved to the rural southeastern part of the state where it is quiet, but only a short drive to Kansas City, MO or Omaha, NE

Ann Buttner I'm a 49 year old Catholic white female. I've been married to Edward Buttner since January 7, 1978. We have one child, a daughter named Rachel who is a junior at Creighton University majoring in journalism. My husband is a CPA for a local accounting firm in Omaha and he retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 25 years of service. We've lived in many places in the United States and even spent 6 years in Germany. I'm originally from a small town (SpringHouse) about 16 miles outside of Phila. PA and graduated from Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley, PA. I'm a registered nurse and have been teaching nursing at Creighton University since 1990. I've been a nurse since 1972 and have worked in a variety of nursing staff and education positions. I am currently a doctoral student in the adult education/gerotology program via UNL. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother, all of whom still live in the Phila. area. My maiden name was Mecklenborg and I have English-German background from my father's side of the family. My mother's side is Irish. My mother's parents both immigrated from Ireland to Phila. in the early 1900s. My grandmother's (mother's side) maiden name was McEnroe and she was one of 9 children. In fact, one of her brothers was the grandfather of John McEnroe, the famous tennis player. If I identify with any ancestral background it's the Irish. I remember all the fun--with lots of music and dancing--at many of the large gatherings of my mother's side of the family. I also remember many of my grandparents (my mother's side) stories about when they first came to the US and how it was difficult at first for them to get a job because of the prejudice against the Irish. I particularly remember my grandfather telling me about his looking for a job for a long time since many of the signs in stores and factories advertising jobs also noted that "The Irish need not apply." We did not see much of my father's side of the family since most of his family resided around the Chicago area but a lot of my mother's family lived in Phila. and New York so we grew up knowing more about this side of the family than my father's side. I don't know how important it is for me to identify with my ancestral background since I don't see my family of origin on a regular basis and both my parents died by the mid 1970s. I think this can make a difference in how much--and how well--your background is integrated into your lifestyle. However, I am interested in learning more about the impact of culture on American life from an historical perspective. I also think that multiculturalism needs to be better integrated into all areas of education. As the readings suggest, we are really not sure of how to do this in education and, thus, have not been doing a good job with this to date. I think this is especially important re: teaching of older adults since culture may be more of an issue--positively or negatively--with older adults than with younger adults or children

James Blake I am a 25-year-old white male, recently married. Growing up in small town Iowa, I didn't get much exposure to other cultures, that is to say that most people seemed like a homogeneous group of white farmers or schoolteachers. Although there were migrant workers within my community, they didn't stand out in the social circles that I was in at the time, including the public school system. I didn't go far for college, attending a small private school in a similar community to my hometown. College provided me with a limited cultural experience, with only a few students from other countries. In contrast, since moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, I have had my eyes opened to many other cultures. As a graduate student in biochemistry, I was the minority for the first time in my midwestern life, with only two of my sixteen fellow students being American born, and many of my new colleagues being in the country for the first time. At the start, I felt lonely because I didn't know if I would relate well to such a diverse group. To my enjoyment, I have developed friendships with people from all over the world. At the same time, it has renewed an interest for me in my own heritage because I feel unique as an American, but I'm not sure what "American" means. Also, I think my renewed curiosity in my own culture comes from people I hang out with because they are much more interested in the things that most of us take for granted, from our government activities to proper dress for a funeral. My Uncle Paul Smith has done the most extensive genealogy on my mom's side of the family. To illustrate his great interest, I remember him telling me he has visited graves in Scotland of ancient ancestors. This assignment has reopened a line of communication between us about the subject of tracing our roots. According to P. Smith (personal communication, January 13, 2002), ".we have one line which were 3 centuries in highland and lowland Scotland, a half century in Ireland and 3 centuries in the US - Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Iowa, Missouri, Iowa. Those are my best records. Other groups came from Wales, England and one GGGGrandmother from France. Of course when you need details I can get them to you. On your Grandmother Smith side, the family moved from Maryland to Iowa in 1852 to Jones County near Anamosa north of Iowa City. On your Granddad Smith side, his father was born in Exira Audobon County Iowa where his parents moved in 1871." I knew we had an ancestor on the Lewis and Clark expedition, and because that was two centuries ago, we have been in the U.S. for a long time. Hearing about our ties to Europe is interesting to me because I feel so different from the ideas and culture I have been exposed to through my friend from Belgium (e.g. appropriate age to get married, different ideas about social alcohol use), yet my recorded roots are from that area of the world. My family is so far removed from our roots that I had to do my homework just to get this information and it comes as a surprise to me.

Keri Rockwell I am a 31 year old black female. My mother is white and my father is black. I do not consider myself (mixed/biracial) I am a person of color. Society does not look at me as a white person they look at me and treat me as a black person. I am adopted so as far as my ancestry goes I believe I am Norwegian, on my mother's side. I know nothing of my father. I was born in Wyoming, people have often joked "what are black people doing in Wyoming?".

L. Jackson Page Life-long learner "Southerner through-and-through" Ph.D. Program - I will begin by telling you I have started writing my first book. It will be entitled GED to PHD and Still Poor White Trash. I think, age and history teach you that some things are priceless and are garments that become more comfortable because of their wear. Growing up I had no idea that this wonderful world of post-secondary academia existed. As age has enveloped me in its warmth and satisfaction, academia has become the embryonic fluid that sustains me. I have also found there are circles in which I do not wish to travel and lessons and familiarities I do not wish to abandon. Education has taught me to be comfortable in that which I am and from whence I came. As a child growing up in a very harsh environment, the wonders of youth rendered me oblivious to my condition. As I grew I became aware and began to question my surroundings and ask why me? I now know I was, and continue to be, blessed. Everyday, people move around me in a stupor, dissatisfied struggling with life and demanding more and more of life's intangibles. Hardship marked me and blinded me to excessive want. Books became my existence and my world. Day in and day out, I meet children of like experiences and know we are one, bound by experiences. There is mutual encouragement in our smiles. Life's realities are our bond. I am the kid who didn't get Christmas. The kid who felt the coldness of a dog chain across her back. The kid who sat silently at her desk worrying about her Mother, wondering if her Mother would be safe until she could get home to take care of her. The child who … These are things I would not have known had I grown up "normally." I would not have known the tremendous pride of watching two children grow up to excel in areas that were for me from another dimension. I would not understand that God reclaimed an infant son to save us both. As in his infinite wisdom and love for me, he made me my Mother's keeper because she would always need somenone to watch over her. Life is so full of positives mistaken for negatives. The rough patches of life allow the surface to be scratched away revealing the true and invaluable lessons of reality. A child taken in death is a child released from pain and misery. A mother's inability to care for herself or her children forces a child to gain strength and independence. A grandfather's illness rears a child in a non-traditional environment. This non-traditional environment allows the female child to grow up uninhibited by society's norms and expectations. The coldness of a chain and the harshness of alcoholism allows the child to retreat into a world of books and forces her to accept alternatives to life's "norm." My goal as an educator is to make a difference, to be outside the norm, to be the voice in the dark, the last water fountain and U-turn on the road to Hell. I will not be part of the status quo. I am not sure where my role will lead me. I want to make people uncomfortable and in their discomfort I want them to feel comfort. I want to stand with not head-and-shoulders above the fray. I want to stand closer to those who have too long been forced to stand-alone.

Melissa Abeleeri I am a 26-year-old second year Master's student in Educational Administration, with an emphasis in student affairs administration in higher education (that means administration of activities occurring outside the classroom at a college or university), concurrently I am pursuing a post-doctoral teaching certificate in secondary English. Lincoln has been homebase for me since birth. My family is entirely European-American with my mother's side 100% Irish, several generations of which have lived in America. My father is half-Czech (thus my maiden name of Hosek), half-German. Little of my mother's ancestory has been passed on because her family lived in Nebraska for several generations and have not kept close ties with their background. My father has long believed that an understanding of heritage is important. My grandmother was a war bride from Munich after World War II so she was strongly interested in sharing stories of Germany and what it meant to be German. My great-grandmother (my Czech side) came to America as a child so she also remembered much of what it was like to grow up in Europe and passed that through the family. Beyond what I learned about my family's history, my grandmother felt it important to impart on us the benefits of being American-born citizens and the culture that it gave us. She was interested in priveleges we receive from being middle-class women in the late twentieth century/early twenty-first century. Socio-economically, our family has always been middle class, both my parents grew up in Omaha, so we have a more urban background (for lack of a better description of the mid-size towns like Lincoln). I was raised Catholic, but have recently switched to Lutheran, a place both my husband as a Methodist and myself as a Catholic, feel more comfortable. We believed it important to raise our children in a single church and both of us were ready to question our religious upbringing to find a place we felt we both believed in. Many articles we have read recently have discussed the topic of "whiteness" and "white privelege." I will find it interesting to think about these topics more in depth throughout the semester.

Ann Laughlin I am a young 47 year old Caucasian female currently teaching in the accelerated nursing program at the Creighton University School of Nursing. I am married and the mother of five children; ages 14, 13, 11, 9, and 6. One year ago I decided to take the plunge and started working on a doctorate in the adult gerontology/education program at UNL. I have been a nurse since 1976 when I graduated from Creighton. I have been teaching at Creighton since 1990. My background in nursing has been varied. I have worked in acute care settings and community health settings. My true love within the nursing field is hospice care. I developed and implemented the first Medicare certified hospice program in the State of Nebraska at Bergan Mercy hospital in 1983. It was a most rewarding and enriching experience to work with patients who were dying and their families. I hope to return to this some day. My ethnic background is one of strong Italian descent. My maiden name was Franco. My father was 100% Italian and my mother 80% Italian with a little Polish. Both of my paternal grandparents came to America on a boat from Sicily. I had an opportunity to visit some distant relatives still living in Sicily about 20 years ago and this was a wonderful opportunity to actual go to the birth place of my ancestry. Of course, none of my relatives could speak English and I couldn't speak Italian so it made for an interesting visit. I strongly believe my personality and behavior has been shaped by my heritage. Italians are close knit as family and very demonstrative when it comes to expressing feelings and thoughts. This trait describes my up-bringing. I have six siblings, all living in the Omaha area. We are very close knit and are always together at holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. This closeness has helped me through the grief of my father's very unexpected death 7 months ago. My Italian (and of course Catholic)up-bringing was one that at times instilled a "sense of guilt" in me. What I mean by this is that in order to keep my behavior in check, I was constantly threatened with the pitfalls of sin and the fires of hell. Of course, as a young child this instilled a great deal of fear in me and to this day, I find myself using this same behavior strategy on my own children. I'm not sure if it is working. I was raised in Catholic schools all my life and just now feel that I am beginning to appreciate the deep roots of my faith. I could not have survived the grief of my father's death without my strong faith to sustain me. I married a party going Irishman 15 years ago. All of our children look Irish and not a single one looks anything Italian. I can only hope that they incorporate into their own lives the best of both our ancestries. Socio-economically, I was raised in a middle-class family. Money was not plentiful but I never went without. My parents struggled to give me a private education and to instill in me the sacred belief of the value of the dollar. I think this belief comes from the fact that both of my parents lived through the days of the depression. One of my father's favorite expressions was "Save for a rainy day." I remind my children of this daily. I look forward to this class in hopes of broadening my perspective on cultural issues and the role they play in our lives.

Juli Steen .I am 31 years old, married, and have a daughter. I presently live in Nebraska, but I grew up in a small town in rural eastern South Dakota. Most of my ancestors came from Norway in the late 1800's to find land for farming. At that time, the land on Norwegian family farms was divided equally among the sons. Around the 1880's, the farms were becoming too small to support a family so many young men came to America for land. Three of my grandparents were Norwegian and one grandmother was Irish. My Irish ancestors came over to escape the great potato famine and were also farmers. All of my grandparents' families lived within fifteen miles of each other in eastern South Dakota. My dad was the first generation of the family that didn't take up farming as a living. Now my siblings and I are the first generation to live outside of South Dakota. I identify strongly with my family roots in South Dakota, but I really don't know much about Norwegian history. About the only way to know my family was Norwegian was that lefse and lutefisk were served on Thanksgiving and Christmas along with the turkey and ham. Also, my ancestors were all devout Lutherans. The churches in Norway kept all the birth and marriage records so my ancestors that came to America were deeply religious and founded one of the country Lutheran churches near the town where I grew up. Even though I grew up in a non-diverse environment (white and Lutheran), my parents always emphasized keeping an open mind about other cultures and religions.

Steve Rogers I am a 23 year old white male who just got married in May. I am currently working on my Masters of Secondary Teaching here at UNL. I also have a grad assistant job teaching a couple classes here at UNL. I am from Lincoln by way of Omaha(twice), Columbia, MO, Pocatello, ID, & Altoona, PA. I say that because I have moved so much in my life already that I have kind of just adopted Lincoln as home, for now. I have lived in Lincoln now for 8 years, while graduating high school, and undergrad. My wife and I are planning on moving next year hopefully to Blacksburg, Virginia, to begin work on my Dr.'s Degree. She is finishing up her grad degree and sitting for the CPA exam soon. My mom's grandmother was Welch & Dutch, and her grandfather was German. That makes my Grandma Welch, Dutch, & German (but growing up in England, she truly is english). My grandfather is a second generation with German and Dutch ancestory. Both sets of my dad's granparents were German. So that basically means I am part German, Dutch, Welch & and a little english customs for fun!

Jessica Broerseri I am a graduate student here at UNL. I am originally from Colorado but I grew up in central Nebraska. I come from a family of German and Irish decent. My mother's family originated in northern Germany while my father's family is from southern Germany. My ancestors traveled from Ellis Island in the 1800's arriving here in America. My mother's family moved to Michigan where her father's father and her father served in the U.S. Naval Academy. My father's family traveled to the Midwest where they farmed and led a traditional middle-class lifestyle. My mother grew up in Michigan where her family practiced a strict Catholic lifestyle. Since my mother's family is catholic and my father's family is Lutheran, religion is very important to our family's cultural background. The German heritage practiced among both families is very important to the lifestyle and cultural beliefs that we practice. As a white female in today's society I feel that growing up with strong religious and cultural beliefs has made me the proud person that I am today.

Kathleen Hesser My name is Kathi Hesser and I am 43 years old. I have five children, ages 22, 20 and three 8-year olds. I have taught secondary science for several years and am currently pursuing my MA and supervising student teachers for UNL. My grandparents, except one, are no longer living and my parents provided what little they know about my ethnic background. My maternal grandfather¹s parents emigrated from Norway to Minnesota and my maternal grandmother¹s parents emigrated from Sweden, also to Minnesota. My father knows little about his heritage (a long story) but could tell me he knows his maternal grandparents were from Kentucky. Consequently, ties to my ethnic roots have not been strong. I was born in southern California. My parents left there to escape their own parents, we moved several times during my early childhood and finally settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. The home I was raised in could be described as white, middle class, and Protestant. I have a strong Christian faith but would not necessarily describe myself as deeply religious. There was and still is a strong bond to familySmy parents, siblings and I remain very close to one another. Until the birth of my triplets, my experience with cultural diversity was mostly academic. My triplets, however, are deaf and, subsequently, members of a culture different that my own. Learning about deaf culture has been a rich and rewarding experience for me..

Colette M. Mast My name is Colette M. Mast, and I am originally from a rural/reservation town called Winnebago here in Nebraska. I am an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Lame Deer, Montana. I was born and raised on the Winnebago reservation, which was both an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. My father is white; therefore I am biologically a bi-racial person. I identify with my Northern Cheyenne culture or generally speaking as an American Indian person. My mother’s family made the decision to send her off of the Northern Cheyenne reservation for schooling. Consequently, she settled on a different reservation. My mother did a great job of creating a solid foundation for her daughters in Northern Cheyenne culture. She valued our heritage and tried to insure that her children would as well. My father’s family is of German, Dutch, Swiss, and English ancestry. My father’s paternal and maternal grandparents were immigrants to this country. My father was ver! y knowledgeable about his ancestry and valued the diverse European heritage his family consisted of. I am also a 25-year old mother to a wonderful four-year old boy named Chase. He keeps me very busy, and I love being a mother. I am currently a Graduate Student in Curriculum Studies at UNL. I am very committed to improving education for American Indian students as well as all students.

Leslie Hinrichs I am a 24 year old white female who comes from a small towm in south central Nebraska. I have just started on my master's degree for special education, and I have an undergrauate degree in Agricultural Economics. For my ancestory, I called my mom and my dad to see what they could help me with. My ancestors came from Germany around 1880to the United States because they were fleeing from war. My Grandma's father was a smalll child then, and hid on a train from New York so he wouldn't have to pay a fair. What is funny is that when you arrived in NEbraska, they discovered that he didn't have to pay a fare because children rode the train for free!!!! They ended up in Bloomington, NE and started farming. My Grandpa's Mom came here from Illinois and marriedGeorge Hinrichs on sort of an arranged marriage. The house they lived in near what is now Hildreth, was the only house standing between Kearney and Bloomington (about 50 miles.) This homestead is where my dad grew up and where I grew up, as well, and the house was about ver one hundred years old. Mostly, my dad says that our relatives were from the Polish part of Germany, and when we had a foreign exchange student stay with my family from Germany, he said that is a region that is made fun of throughout Germany. Tha's a little background of my ancestors. Having settled near Hildreth such a long time ago, there are many Hinrichs' in and around Hildreth. It is neat to be so close to my relatives, and we have a great support system for each other. That is really important to me, and I like having them around. We have family get togethers,and we even used to have a Hinrichs basketball team that did well because my family is soooo tall. Well, that covers the basics. I look forward to this class and getting to know people.

Marissa Wanamaker I have fairly dominant German heritage roots. My father's side of the family came from a small town in the middle of Germany called Berg. They immigrated to the United States 4 generations before my time and have settled basically just in the Midwest. We still have old hymnals and letters written in German from distant aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas. My maiden name and the name of this side of the family is Muller, which earlier had umlauts like Müller. This name in Germany is as common as Smith is here. My mother's side of the family also has german roots. My great grandmother and great grandfather both came from Germany, somehwere in the Black Forest. They met and got married there at a young age, and then travelled here to escape the slow economy and other rough times. They spoke german to my grandpa and his brothers until they started school, then after having difficulties decided to "americanize themselves" and didn't speak it after that. They adapted their ways quickly, as to not stand out. Their name is Wittmann, which is German as well.

Janice Hayes I grew up in Fremont, Nebraska, and found it to be a very racist, bigoted town. When I was 8 years old, we visited a great-aunt in Des Moines, IA. That was the first time I saw a black person, and asked my mother if the boy had been burnt. I think that was the beginning of my passion for other cultures. My mother grew up in South Dakota and had developed a dislike for Native Americans. My father didn't like any one - Catholics, Jews, or any ethnic group. We were "poor white trash", so it was perhaps ignorance on their part. I was the rebel and dated Catholics for defiance, since we had no ethnic groups in town. At 30, I married a black man and had 2 biracial sons. I have a constant thirst for knowledge about other cultures and ethnic groups. My ancestors were a mixed bag: Irish, English, Germans from Russia, Scots and Wales. I remember my d! ad singing Irish songs/hymms, and my mother's brother is still heavily involved in geneology. I refused to join my aunt's group of Daughters of the American Revolution (is that DAR?) and others because they excluded blacks. We had German food often but no real 'nationality' celebrations. We do have the distinction of being in the line of the first man hung in the colonies. I am not proud of what Europeans have done to Native Americans and blacks in the US, so I don't honor my ancesteral lines as I perhaps should

John Duplice I am a 29 year old white male originally from Northern California. I am currently working on my masters in C.I with an emphasis on ESL. I first started going to college when I was in the Air Force. Then when I got out of the service I started studying full time. I graduated in 1997 from Cal. St. Chico and have attended two Japanese universities as an exchange student. My fiancée is Japanese and I currently live and teach ESL in Tokyo. On my mothers` side I am of French heritage. I also use my mothers` last name. My family first came to the states in the early 1800`s. On my fathers` side I am Italian. My father was born and raised in Italy. He later moved to the states for business and stayed. I never knew him well. I have two half sisters who speak Italian. I am the only one on my fathers` side who does not speak Italian. Growing up in California I have been exposed to minorities most of my life. Most of my friends are of color or from other than European herita! ge.

Andy Boell I am a 24 year old born and raised in southeastern Nebraska. I currently live in Adams, NE with my expectant wife, who is a substitute teacher for area school districts. I grew up in Bennet, NE, just 10 miles SE of Lincoln. So would consider myself raised more in a rural environment, with urban accesibility. I attended a typical small-town Nebraska school with a graduating class size of 36. After highschool I received my Theoretical Mathematics degree from Chadron State. Then I moved to Lincoln at was in the Masters of Biometry program at UNL. When I figured out that wasn't for me, I found a job programming in Chicago. However, after a year I decided that neither an office job or big city life were for me, so I found the accellerated post-bac teaching & MST program here at UNL and here I am. As for my ancestry, I had to consult my grandparents. Luckily for me, I still have 3 grandparents and 1 great-grandmother still around and in the area, so the information was easy to obtain. After tracing the heritige of some of my family, I have determined I am a little over half German, little less than a quarter English, some Swedish and Welsh, and just a little Spanish and Irish. Different branches of my family immigrated during different generations, with the most recent being all of my grandfather's grandparents (on my dad's side), to the furthest (that I've been able to find) being 8 generations ago, on my mom's side. I have often been interested in learning of my past, but never had enough incentive to actually ask about it. Thanks to this assignment, the lines of communication have been open and hopefully I can continue this in my spare time

Dustin Buggi I am a 25-year-old catholic male from Nebraska. I received my B.S. in Biology form Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA. AT B.V. I also stayed busy playing football and was active in may different organizations. After graduation from B.V. I worked at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Psychopharmacology Research Department. Along with work I volunteered at Central High School as assistant football coach. I am currently studing for my Master in Secondary Teaching at UNL. My ancestral background has been very important to my family and me. My great-grandfather on my mom's side left his family and snuck on a ship from Poland heading to the US. He was just looking for a better life. He worked for the Railroad through Chicago until he got to Nebraska where it, "felt like home" (meaning back in Poland). I am able to know this because I actually got to meet him as he lived till 104 yrs.old! In Nebraska, he married a beautiful Polish girl where they farmed and had 13 children. So summarize, I am 100% Polish farmer on my mother's side. My grandfather on my father's side is also 100% Polish but a businessman. He ran a egg business where he actually changed our last name to help business. His bride (my grandmother) was 100% German and 15 years younger! He did not get married until he was about 36 and she was 21! Even with their age difference, they had 10 children!

Karla Scheele I am twenty-five years old and a student in the accelerated post-bac/MST program in social sciences education. I grew up on a farm near Waco, NE, graduated from Iowa State University, and then spent two years in graduate school studying Middle Eastern politics at UW-Madison. I also have studied women and gender in the Middle East and in the U.S. As this might indicate, I am a committed feminist with a strong interest in gender and gender issues. My identification with racial, ethnic, and religious issues is less intense, perhaps excepting my interest in Arab and Muslim cultures. My own ethnic heritage—German on my father’s side, English on my mother’s side—has been more important in a historical sense th! an a cultural one. I say this because my paternal grandfather and my father will sometimes talk about our German roots in a way that communicates their significance, but this side of my family does not celebrate any German traditions—not even eating German foods. My great-great-grandfather emigrated from Bielefeld, Germany, in the late 1870s, initially settled less than a mile from my family’s current farmstead, and in 1893 built the house where I grew up and where my parents and brothers live. My grandfather represents the last generation of the family to learn German in childhood. My mother’s family is largely of English descent, but my mother could not tell me much more than that. After having some experience dealing with issues of pluralism and di! fference in the classroom (I taught a sociology unit on gender during my practicum), I am looking forward to learning more about diversity and multiculturalism in educational theory and practice

Judy Jensen I am a white female, 49 years old, who just recently returned to Nebraska after having been gone from the state for 26 years. My husband was career military so we lived in several different states and two foreign countries (Germany and Belgium) before returning to our roots here in Nebraska. I have two sons attending college at the University of Wyoming. I grew up in a small town in Nebraska (Clay Center) and didn't leave the state until graduating from UNL in 1975. While my husband was stationed at Fort Sill, I obtained a Master of Library Science degree and have worked in church, medical, public, and school ibraries. I am a second generation American on my father's side. His father and mother (Fred and Margaretha Schwindt) were German Russians who came to the US in 1906 for better opportunities and freedom from oppression after my grandfather finished the required military service in the Czar's Army. My grandfather's older siblings had already emigrated to America and settled in Lincoln. They sent him money for him and my grandmother to come to the US. My father and all of his siblings were born in America, but spoke German at home. They did not teach the language to their kids. My grandparents lived in Lincoln till about 1920 when they moved to Clay County to farm and be near my grandmother's sisters who had married and come to America too. My mother's paternal grandparents (Lovgren) came from Sweden in 1879 and settled in Illinois. They moved to a farm southeast of Harvard in Clay County in 1895. My great grandfather Lovgren was a prominent farmer and gave each of his six surviving children a quarter section of land when they married. My maternal great grandmother (nee Strine) was of Scotch Irish descent, whereas my paternal great grandfather Brenneman's family can trace the family roots back to 1479 in Switzerland. The Brennemans originally settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the 1700s and later moved westward to Ohio, then Illinois before settling in Clay County in the last quarter of the 19th century. The church (Protestant) was important in the lives of all of my ancestors and it is still an important part of my life, but probably not to the extent that it was for my ancestors as the hub of all social acitivity. My Grandpa Schwindt was an important leader in the early German Russian Congregational church organization in Nebraska. I remember that the last 15 minutes of each church service was in German when I was growing up. I identify somewhat with my European roots of German Russian and Swedish, but more than anything else I identify myself as being an American. My six years of living in Europe made me realize how fortunate I am to be an American.

Cindy Litz I am a 47 year old white female. I have lived in small rural Nebraska communities most of my life. I am married, and the mother of a 14 year old boy and 10 1/2 year old girl--they keep my life very busy. I am an RN. After practicing nursing in a hospital setting for 26 years, I took a position as a nursing instructor at a community college in August 2001. I am working toward my Master's degree in nursing following an education tract. I consider myself a true American of the "melting pot" variety. My ancestral background is very mixed, and largely unknown to those of us surviving. My grandparents are all deceased, and my parents never explored their "roots," so I know very little. My paternal grandmother was a 1st generation American from Germany--she was the only member of her family not born in Germany. To my best knowledge, the rest of my grandparents were of mixed European descent. I know I have some English, Scotch and Dutch bloodlines in addition to German, and probably several others. Both my mother and father's families were from farming/ranching communities. My great-grandfather homesteaded a piece of ranchland in Southwest Nebraska, near the community where I grew up. My uncle now operates that ranch. Spending much of my life in small southwestern Nebraska communities, I have experienced a limited amount of cultural diversity.

Chris Harper I am a 32 year old white male. I grew up in a town of about 20,000 people and located 20 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. It was an interesting place because one could literally ride their bike 10 miles further south and be among farms and open country. Ride your bike 10 miles to the north and you were in the urban outskirts of downtown Cleveland. Needless to say I had classmates that were Christian, Buddist, Hindu, and Jewish. Most of my classmates were white but but I had at least three different races present in my first years of elementary school. However, most of my elementary school classmates were middle class or upper middle class. It was not until I attended junior high school that I experienced a wider variety of economic classes. Unfortunately, neither my paternal nor maternal background is well documented. I do know that my paternal great-grandmother come to America from Czechoslovakia and that my mother's maiden name, Gilkey, is of Scottish origin. The joke in my family is that we've inherited genes from both sides that prevent us from keeping records I have a degree in Biology from UNL and am working towards my MST certification.

Kari Nathan I am a 25 year old woman of Eastern Europe descent. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota but, have since lived in 6 states. My Father was a farmer for many years but had to sell the farm due to a back injury. This turned out to be good because it was right before the big farm economy crash in the eighties. My Fathers parents are one, The Bengtson, full Swede and one, The Wycoff, is mostly Dutch with some Irish. The Swede part is know but I have been unable to find any info because he came over from Sweden before Ellis Island was open and because he changed his name from Bengt Anderson to Lewis Bengtson. The other part the Wycoff family has a very large book tracing their ancestry. The oldest house in the US is in Brooklyn, NY and is the Wycoff house. They were among the original colonists to settle in New York. My Mothers parents were one full German, The Polzin, and one, The Stambaugh, was not really claiming any nationality due to the mix already existing. She was Dutch, Irish, and other less identifiable to her. I have found a new set ancestors since I am now married to a Nathan who knows a lot about his past. We found his family on the Ellis Island site when they came from a German Town in Russia. They were part of a group of farmers asked to move to Russia and farm. When times got tough in Russia I understand that many tried to go back to Germany but could not regain their land. They moved to North Dakota in 1909 and my husbands grandparents and father still own and farm the land. It was great to find some success in this research however my father has wanted to know more about his family so the search continues.

Stephanie Loos Hello! I am currently working on my Masters degress in Education. I received my bachelors degree from UNL in 1993 in Business Education and am currently the Business High School Teacher for Independent Study High School here at UNL. I have also taught at the middle school and post-secondary levels. I am the third generation of teachers in my family. I have been married for 7 years. I have a 4 year old son and one on the way that is due in March. I have lived in Linocln, Nebraska all of my life. My sister, parents and grandparents are also native to Nebraska. My maiden name is Equall. (pronounced ECKWALL) I am a mix of several different ethnic backgrounds. On my fathers side I am a mix of Sweedish and Greman and Russian. On my mothers side I am a mix of English, Irish and Dutch. It is not really known how my relatives arrived in the United States. We have traced them back to Pennsylavian and North Carolina as early as the 1750's. Both sides of my family have backgrounds in Agriculture/Farming and it was the Homestead Act that brought them to Nebraska. My fathers family settled in the Wilcox and Holdrege areas and my mothers family settled in the Belgrade and Fullerton area. Religion has played an important role in both sides of my family. My grandfather on my fathers side was the first one to break tradition and not farm. He became an Ag teacher. My father followed in his footsteps and was an Ag teacher as well. My mother was the first one to break tradition on her side and became an Elementary teacher. It was teaching jobs that brought my parents to Lincoln. My sister and I are the first ones in the family to break the tie to Agriculture but not to education. There has always been a strong since of close knit community within our families. Though I did not grow up in these communities I was a part of them by our frequent visits and the history and traditions that was shared by grandparents. As I continue to grow older and have a family of my own, knowing about my past has become more important to me. I look forward to finding out more.

Tom James I am currently a graduate student in the excelerated certificate program. I want to teach Spanish to high school students. I graduated this December with a degree in Spanish and international studies. I spent a semester in central Mexico taking classes at a University there. I grew up in Nebraska in a small town close to Omaha. I went to a smaller class B school with about 400 students and very little diversity. I was very active in school activities then, but not very active in the community service area. Now, however, I participate in a mentoring program through the Hispanic Community Center in Lincoln. As I said I came from a small farming town near Omaha. My family, however, does not farm. My parents are both from small towns, and even though they both have jobs in Omaha, they chose to live in a small town. I am white of German, Irish, and Welsh decent. I am Catholic which comes from my mom's side of the family which is mostly the Irish and German. My father is protestant and the Welsh comes from his side of the family (James is a Welsh name I guess, at least that's what my grandmother says.) I don't really identify myself with any of the above. I am catholic, but not a very devout one. I rarely ever go to church, however, when the day comes I will get married in a Catholic Church. My family doesn't do anything in particular to show or ethnic pride in any way. I would identify myself more in terms of social class. I am your typical middle class college student. My family was pretty poor when I was young and don't remember much, but my parents worked hard for many years, and now we live comfortably.

Brad Francis I am a 25 year old male beginning a MST certification program in Spanish education. I also plan to obtain my endorsement in English education. I'm a native of Kearney, which is about two hours west of Lincoln on I-80 and grew up in middle-class, family of four, home. Since finishing my undergrad in 1998 at UNK, I've spent most of my time either living or travelling in Latin America or living and working in Minnesota. I initially began my undergrad as a secondary education major, but knew I didn't want to teach right away and ended up finishing with just my BA's in English and Spanish. Kearney is one of the bigger "small" towns in Nebraska and I did have a little bit of diversity around me growing up, mainly due to the presence of a university there. However, it wasn't an enormous amount of diversity and I would guess that 90 percent or more of my graduating class was white. There is definitely a racist attitude among much of the majority population there, which has probably worsened in recent years as a result of an influx of poorer migrant and factory workers coming from Latin America and Mexico. I don't think I had any strong feelings either way regarding race while I was growing up. I had a few friends who were of a different race, but of the same culture, like a Korean friend who was adopted as an infant into a white family. In addition, my immediate family was also an essentially neutral environment with regard to racial stereotypes. While they didn't have friends outside of their race, they did serve as hosts to a few international students and I never heard them make racially charged comments. With regard to my ethnical background, I know a little more about my father's side than my mothers. My paternal grandmother is still living and knows about her ancestry at least a couple generations back. Both of her parents came to the United States as children from an area that she believes is now part of Russia, but is sure that, at the time, the ethnic group they belonged to was called German-Russian. Her parents learned English very young and by the time my grandmother was born, very few family members still spoke German. On my paternal grandfather's side the information is less complete. There is definitely some English and Scandinavian (my grandmother wasn't sure what country), but probably a mix of other European heritages as well. My maternal lineage is very incomplete. My mother knows that her father's side is primarily French-Canadian, but isn't sure what the original roots are, and her mother died when she was a girl and has no information on the origins of the lineage on that side. No one really knows the reasons why our ancestors immigrated. It seems, based on the little that we do know, that they came to the United States looking for a fresh start in life and were more focused on the future than the past. Whether or not the "melting pot" concept is true in the United States today, the heritage of my family has basically become a mixture of many separate backgrounds that were gradually been lost over time and simply faded into what most would see as a generic form of "Americana." Personally, I've sometimes been frustrated by this and sometimes not. I have often looked at people with a distinct cultural heritage, such as a "pure blooded" Italian, and felt that I was missing something by not having any unique traditions or history within my family. On the positive side, I've felt free to travel and explore other cultures and even take on some characteristics of them, Latin American culture in particular, without feeling like I'm "compromising" who I am.

Patricia Michael. I am a 47 year old causasian female. I am working toward a PhD in education. I am a non-traditional student. I decided to go to college after I raised four children. I have been teaching for five years at all levels from elementary to middle and high school. My certification is in special education and reading. I am currently teaching at Lincoln East High School. I am originally from Pennsylvania. I relocated to Nebraska in August of 2001. I am of German-Dutch (lots of that in PA) decent on my paternal side and Lithuanian/Slovak on my maternal side. I have not traced my ancestry. I have not found it to be of great importance to trace my ancestry although I am told that Orville and Wilber Wright are cousins in our lineage. Religion is very important to me and is a c! entral focus in my life.

Peter Gomez My ethnic identity.. I was born in Fullerton, Nebraska. My parents meet in Central City, Ne, where my paternal grandparents owned a salvage yard after years of saving up money as migrant farmers. My paternal grandparents were divorced at this time, this grandma worked in Central City, owning the taxi-cab company. My paternal grandparents are of the following descent : Grandpa :3/4 Mayan, ¼ Spanish, Grandma : Full blooded German, abandoned when moved to Mexico as an infant. Maternal Grandparents: Grandpa : Fullblooded German, Grandma : German, Polish, Swedish, &English mix. Most of this information I know because one of my great -uncle's (Dr. Richard Galusha of Omaha), has studied extensively our family background. To me it isn't that big of a deal, I guess in many ways I don't really fit into any "traditional"category, because my name says one thing, but most of my heritage is of another. I am not of the religiously faithful, but I do go to the catholic church periodically with my wife. I feel very much a part of the community that I live in, I guess that's one of the positive things about living in a small rural town, people get to know you for who you are as a person, not upon facades, skin color, or name.

John Semchenko 24 year old white American male. Being born and raised on a farm in central/rural North Dakota does not develop much of a cultural conscience. I was raised/educated in a rather culturally narrow region of the world. The inhabitants of the area invariably can be lumped into two broad categories; 2nd-4th generation Scandinavians or 2nd-4th generation Russians. The vague cultural and ethnic lines have been further blurred by 80 years of blending via marriage. On my fathers side, I have fairly strong ethnic ties. All four of my fathers grandparents were born in czarist Russia. They immigrated to the fruited plain that is North Dakota around the turn of the century due to religous and economic oppressions. The Barnick and Semchenko families homesteaded a mere 2 miles apart and commenced to work the land and eak out what was a meager, but happy existence. My fathers parents married in 1944 and began farming near the small village of Max. Like my grandparents and father I attended school in that same small town(Population 301, salute!). This background did not provide me with much of a "world view". Through this course I intend to explore my own ethnic, racial, and cultural ignorances. Hopefully, it will also help me grow as an educator in that I will become more sensitive to issues of ethnicity in education

Barbara K. Pester I was born and raised in Lincoln NE. My grandparents grandparents immigrated from Germany. They were farmers. Their was no cultural tie to Germany. THey were very "Americanized" Growing up in Lincoln I was not exposed to much diversity. As an adult I found this troubling. Lincoln was very segregated when I was young. I went to Southeast High School (1977 graduate) and I don't recall any ethnic or racial diversity. Certainly no one talked about being gay or lesbian. Principles were men. Home Ec. teachers and English teachers were women. It was a strange world to grow up in. If you didn't fit with that mainstream image, white, middle-class, nucleur family, you were considered odd. My parents divorced in the early seventies and that was a rarity. I am thankful that Lincolns cultural landscape is expanding. There is certainly room to improve communication and opportunity for minorities in this community, but having grown up here I can say things are better than they were.

Dan Schwartz I am a third generation German American and Southern English mixture. My fathers grandparents were born on a ship from Europe. My Great Great Great Grandfather was the Confederate General Taylor. He took over the army when his General was killed and served only a short time. He rates one or two lines in some Civil War Histories. My father could not speak a word of English when he started school and went to the eighth grade and taught school for a year. My mother finished High School and had a year at the Dickinson State Normal School. She was teaching when Dad stopped in to meet the new school marm. She taught several years later after my sisters and I were all in school. She was quite a writer and a poet. She was the news reporter for local newspaper and wrote a history of the part of the country in which we lived. I planned to be a minister, but ended teaching. I started at the age of 19 in a one room school. This is my 40th year of teaching. I've taught all grades and all subjects in High School including girls Home Ec. and girls PE, woodshop, all four years of English, Social Studies, and Math, plus Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Jr. Bus, Bookkeeping, typing, Computer Science, and boys PE. I took off time to get my College and University Degrees (including an Ed.D. in School Administration and Elementary Curriculum) I taught one room schools in Nebraska and Washington State. I had 15 months of National Foundation scholarships in Science and Math. I taught in LA inner-city schools from 1960 to 1992 with 3 years out in school administration and two years out taking care of my wife with Parkinson's Disease. I was active in the teacher's association as staff director for curricular services and developed with a team of over 400 teachers the concept of a model school and methodology of education known now as Continuous Progress Learning. I became the staff director and CEO, a position I still hold. My major effort aside from teaching is writing a pure phonetic reading series and companion books in Math, Science, and Social Studies. We bought a home in Lincoln so that my wife could be close to her two brothers and sister. Since her death I've been active tutoring, teaching, writing and publishing, and promoting the Continuous Progress Learning Association. I've never stopped going to school, and am enrolled in 6 hours of on-line classes to fill my spare time.

Brittany Bailey I am a 22 year old white female. I graduated this last December from UNL with a major in English and a minor in Biology. I am now working on my Masters of Secondary Teaching so that I can be a junior high (maybe) English teacher one day. Sadly, I don't know much of anything about my ancestral history. The only thing that I've ever known is that my dad's side of the family is Welsh, but I'm not sure how far back that is. I've always been curious and interested, but my parents don't know and my grandparents are no longer living. I don't even know how to begin to look into it. It's something that I would be interested to know, but it's not something I feel like I have to know. I was raised going to a Christian church and religion has been a big part of my family on my mom's side, but my faith in Jesus Christ has become much more personal and important to me since I've come to college. That's the biggest part of my life and the part I identify with the most. Identifying with my gender is important to me as well. I enjoy being a female and right now am doing a study learning what Biblical womanhood looks like and am really liking it and learning a lot.