For my academic event this semester, I decided to attend German Night at the German House with Kate and other IA scholars. German Night interested me because I have German ethnicity (along with ethnicities from nine other European countries) and always want to learn more about the cultures in different countries. I also have met multiple teenagers from Germany from foreign exchange or through other family members and talked to them about their life in Germany, their school system, and their activities. I thought it was interesting how Kate mentioned the history of Germany starting from the Roman empire up until present day Germany. With my knowledge from my History of Holocaust class I took last semester, I was able to recall the history of Germany from 1871 to the 1940s. However, the entire summary of the region’s history was really interesting considering that I have always loved my history classes throughout the years. My family has many history nerds; my brother can name off just about any history related to sports (he’s a walking encyclopedia). But for me, Germany is an incredibly interesting region in Europe, and its history definitely validates that idea. If I could learn more about myself through Germany, I would love to know where in the Germanic state my ancestors lived, their professions, and when they traveled over to the United States. For example, did me family flee Germany before World War II, or did they travel across the sea many years before then? I also thoroughly enjoyed learning about Germany today, because in today’s public school systems (or at least in Ohio), students are lucky to learn about the Cold War, let alone any events from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Her presentation was very thought provoking and very informative, and the food was delicious. Interesting enough, the Spanish language has Germanic influences from the medieval period in Europe from when Spain’s “rulers” were constantly shifting with different groups conquering the territory. While this information seems somewhat trivial, it is relevant to me in multiple ways: it connects to my Germany ethnicity and love for Spanish culture, and it somewhat relates to my second year experience project. I plan on doing an independent research project on Spanish linguistics, so knowing this information helps to understand why the language is the way it is, and to view how it has evolved over hundreds of years. It combines these two aspects in a way that someone might think does not make sense, but it is quite interesting to analyze and read into the specifics of Spanish language. It is surprising yet intriguing how two completely separate cultures can affect each other despite time or distance and create the complexity that is culture within different identities of people. Both Spanish and German influences affect my life in different ways, but I strongly identify with my semi-mysterious ethnicity and my constant desire to learn more about the Spanish language and continue to see their presences in my life.