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What Life’s All About

Madison is the perfect example of the “New England bubble.” Madison is a very stereotypical suburban town that values high social status, wealth, great education, and titles. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in Madison. It’s a great place to raise a family and get a phenomenal K-12 education, and overall a great place to live. However, it lacks different cultures, compared to a city like New Haven.

Madisonians are virtually the same, meaning many of us want to fit in rather than stand out. We dress the same and even have the same lifestyle of going to school or work, exercising, then returning home to our families for dinner. It’s interesting how we are technically putting exercise or sports before seeing our families at the end of the day, but in other cultures that would be considered very disrespectful. For us, that’s just our daily routine. On the other hand, it’s important that people learn and experience other cultures because it teaches you to be different and more accepting; the type of teaching that can’t be taught in schools.

We are so used to our daily routine and lifestyle that anything outside of that can scare us, and we become less inclined to learn about other cultures and how others live, but learning about different cultures and meeting new people is what life’s all about, and learning to accept others.

If everything in the world was meant to be the same, it would be, but it’s not. We are supposed to see how other people dress, eat, talk, and just go about their day. Seeing new cultures is a good way to open your eyes to the world, and that’s why getting out of Madison and our New England bubble can enrich your soul.

Erin McHugh

Madison