Multicultural competence and student affairs

I am at the 2nd World Conference of Women's Shelters currently, and there are 92 countries represented here. It is amazing to see this kind of diversity, and it is something I have never been exposed to in such an extreme way. I was thinking about the fact that the conference has an official language of English. I have been amazed, though I know that many countries learn English as a secondary language. I've thought about all of the times I have heard students complain about their tutors and requesting a native English speaker because they can't understand their tutor. Some people defend these students because they shouldn't have to work so hard to understand when they are obviously already having difficulty with the class. I disagree. This inability to learn how to understand others' accents when they took the time to learn another language is absolutely ridiculous. I was thinking about the fact that I only understand very little Spanish and cannot speak it. I can read some and understand very little spoken word. I need to learn Spanish, and I know this. I want to, because I think it is ridiculous that we are so arrogant as Americans to expect everyone in the world to know English.

How will this attitude impact my work as a student affairs professional? Well, I was thinking about how I would feel if people made fun of my accent or were unwilling to work with me if I went to another country to live, if only for a little bit. It didn't feel good. After graduation, I'm going to make an effort to try to learn at least Spanish. I am still doing a lot of thinking about this, but being here and listening to people speak and understanding has made me think the world is so small now.