Symbols tell a tale about us

By Marcos Moreno

It occurred to me the other day as I watched my housemate, Eric, sport an anklet he got from a friend, that we are a culture that is obsessed with symbols. If you think about it, students around this very campus use symbols that tell all kinds of things about themselves. They can denote religious affiliation, show inclusion in an organized club, describe their passions or just show how awesome they are. Whatever the case, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at why symbols are so important to so many people, and why we need them.

I guess it goes without saying that we use symbols to express something about ourselves without actually having to say it out loud. This does not necessarily mean that such things are insignificant; in fact, I think the contrary is true. We use emblems and insignias because we lack the adequate words to express the complete meaning of what it is that we are trying to communicate. I think that makes sense. To put it another way, sometimes it is not enough to say what we are, so we have to show it in an another way.

"I would say that symbols mean a lot to people because they are an easy way of showing what one stands for without having to actually say it or explain it," said Michele Enos, an associate resident director in Swig. "They can show the history of an ethnicity or culture, religious views or even our morals."

In that sense, symbols can help us remember where we came from. They serve as a constant reminder of who we are and what we have accomplished.

Symbols can even be used to commemorate an event. Take a tattoo for an example. I can't think of a more permanent form of expression than body art. Evan Sarkisian, a Community Facilitator, says his tattoo of a Celtic heart represents his Scottish heritage and his ideas of love. He explains that something like a tattoo is different from a picture in that "(A tattoo) represents a commitment to not forgetting."

You can throw away or forget about pictures, but it's not so easy with a tattoo. His tattoo is more than a physical part of him -- it also has a deep personal meaning for him. Yet, Evan's Celtic heart is not something he displays in plain view -- most of the time it is concealed by his clothing, because he "didn't want it to be something (he) was showing off."

Whether we hide them from view or exhibit them proudly, symbols convey what mere words cannot. And though our purpose for using them may differ from person to person, their significance to those who do use them, for the most part, remains constant. As senior John Sabine said, "It's not the symbol that's important, it's what is behind it."

Marcos Moreno is a senior English major.