In this essay, Joe Robert Gonzalez describes the process of his own growth as a Mexican American from Brownsville, Texas, who attended Villanova University. Coming from a majority-minority town, Gonzalez identifies the importance of safe spaces for Mexican American youth, many of whom doubt their own potential to thrive within university settings. He laments the current push for cultural organizations on college campuses to educate the broader student body as well as the general inefficacy of these organizations due to the limited scope of their mission. At the same time, Gonzalez celebrates the opportunities that his university gave him to interact with people from a variety of different cultures who hold different opinions about the world. Thinking about his friends from home, he laments the way that homogeneous experiences can nurture stereotypes and fear. Gonzalez concludes by suggesting that college campuses must provide students with both safe spaces and opportunities for growth.