stayce1988
Nov 27, 2014
Graduate / Rainbow nation child - Diversity Essay [10]
Hey,
I made changes to my first draft.
Let me know what you think :-)
Rainbow nation child:
The poster child for diversity is South Africa, a country which has 11 official languages and a mixture of skin tones, religion, beliefs, and ethnicity. South Africa has risen from hardship, periods of adversity, and extremely dark times to become what is known today as the Rainbow Nation. South Africa is a country which embraces diversity and breaks the boundaries which separate people and generations. I am the product of South Africa; I am a rainbow nation child.
Growing up in a multi-cultural nation experiencing opposition from my own was inevitable. I experienced this on a number of occasions. One experience in particular stands out to me. In my first year of school in which there were very few people of color. All I wanted to do was fit in with my peers but being the only Indian mixed race in my grade I stood out like a sore thumb. My parents did not make this any easier on me. The way they spoke, the things they said and the way they dressed embarrassed me. For lunch every day I would get samosas, curry, and various other Indian treats. The first time I sat down in class and opened my lunch box, one of my peers cried out; "Yuk! What's that?" The expression on her face made me feel so ashamed. Every day thereafter I begged my mom to make me "normal" food. I did everything in my power to hide who I was until I met my friend, Imelda.
Imelda had just moved to South Africa from the Philippines. Everyone was fascinated with her. She always brought traditional Philippine food and shared it with everyone. Even though some students had negative reactions to her food, she still proudly promoted her culture and customs. She never once shied away from who she was. We both were different yet everyone accepted her for who she was. I realized the only reason no one really knew who I was, was because I never shared it with everyone. As a result of this, I decided to embrace diversity and the beauty that came with the differences. As a South African Indian mixed with European descent, I am proud of my own diversity and I actively promote embracing diversity within others. This is something I am adamant about and actively promoted throughout my school days and into my university days.
During my third year of university my friends and I were having lunch when a little girl ran up to me and started talking in a foreign language. It was a language I had never heard before. Soon after, her father approached me and apologized profusely. He handed his business card to me and enlightened me about the Teach English in Korea program. At first I was not interested. Sadly, I could not even point South Korea out on a map which made me realize that I did not know much about the rest of the world. I decided that this could be a great opportunity for me to learn about other countries, societies and even cultures. I knew that traveling would change my outlook, or so I was told, but I had no idea of how significantly it would have impacted me. Through living and teaching in Korea, I gained an outsiders perspective on integrating into a new culture which helped me reflect upon my own experiences with integration in South Africa. However, I did not just want to be a foreigner looking from the outside in. I wanted to be a part of the culture.
Emerging myself into the Korean culture was far more difficult than I had expected. As a foreign English teacher, I was required to co-teach all my English classes with a Korean teacher. I thought this would be the easy part of moving to Korea. However working with someone who spoke a limited amount of English was more difficult than I anticipated. Beside the language barrier and cultural differences, we had different teaching styles which complicated matters even further. My co-teacher and I bumped heads often in the classroom which resulted in ineffective teaching. After a month of unsuccessful teaching, my co-teacher and I decided to sit down and figure out how we could use our strengths effectively in the classroom. We both had the same goal in mind which was to provide a healthy learning environment for the students, and ensure each student reaches their full potential. We decided the best way to accomplish this was to use our diverse skills and knowledge in the classroom. I taught in English, and she explained in Korean. I prepared games, and she prepared the worksheets. I handled the rewards, and she dealt with bad behavior. To ensure we were on the same page for each lesson we had weekly meetings. These simple changes made in the classroom strengthened our relationship and bridged a significant culture gap. We both learnt how to live and work in a diverse world.
Growing up in South Africa and having traveled, diversity is no stranger to me. I have learnt to understand that each individual is unique, and I have learnt to move beyond mere tolerance. I choose to embrace and celebrate the uniqueness within each person. As a social worker it is important to treat people in a caring and respectful fashion. This can only be accomplished through acceptance and learning to love because of our differences.
To conclude, the late Tata Madiba (Nelson Mandela) said: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
Hey,
I made changes to my first draft.
Let me know what you think :-)
Rainbow nation child:
The poster child for diversity is South Africa, a country which has 11 official languages and a mixture of skin tones, religion, beliefs, and ethnicity. South Africa has risen from hardship, periods of adversity, and extremely dark times to become what is known today as the Rainbow Nation. South Africa is a country which embraces diversity and breaks the boundaries which separate people and generations. I am the product of South Africa; I am a rainbow nation child.
Growing up in a multi-cultural nation experiencing opposition from my own was inevitable. I experienced this on a number of occasions. One experience in particular stands out to me. In my first year of school in which there were very few people of color. All I wanted to do was fit in with my peers but being the only Indian mixed race in my grade I stood out like a sore thumb. My parents did not make this any easier on me. The way they spoke, the things they said and the way they dressed embarrassed me. For lunch every day I would get samosas, curry, and various other Indian treats. The first time I sat down in class and opened my lunch box, one of my peers cried out; "Yuk! What's that?" The expression on her face made me feel so ashamed. Every day thereafter I begged my mom to make me "normal" food. I did everything in my power to hide who I was until I met my friend, Imelda.
Imelda had just moved to South Africa from the Philippines. Everyone was fascinated with her. She always brought traditional Philippine food and shared it with everyone. Even though some students had negative reactions to her food, she still proudly promoted her culture and customs. She never once shied away from who she was. We both were different yet everyone accepted her for who she was. I realized the only reason no one really knew who I was, was because I never shared it with everyone. As a result of this, I decided to embrace diversity and the beauty that came with the differences. As a South African Indian mixed with European descent, I am proud of my own diversity and I actively promote embracing diversity within others. This is something I am adamant about and actively promoted throughout my school days and into my university days.
During my third year of university my friends and I were having lunch when a little girl ran up to me and started talking in a foreign language. It was a language I had never heard before. Soon after, her father approached me and apologized profusely. He handed his business card to me and enlightened me about the Teach English in Korea program. At first I was not interested. Sadly, I could not even point South Korea out on a map which made me realize that I did not know much about the rest of the world. I decided that this could be a great opportunity for me to learn about other countries, societies and even cultures. I knew that traveling would change my outlook, or so I was told, but I had no idea of how significantly it would have impacted me. Through living and teaching in Korea, I gained an outsiders perspective on integrating into a new culture which helped me reflect upon my own experiences with integration in South Africa. However, I did not just want to be a foreigner looking from the outside in. I wanted to be a part of the culture.
Emerging myself into the Korean culture was far more difficult than I had expected. As a foreign English teacher, I was required to co-teach all my English classes with a Korean teacher. I thought this would be the easy part of moving to Korea. However working with someone who spoke a limited amount of English was more difficult than I anticipated. Beside the language barrier and cultural differences, we had different teaching styles which complicated matters even further. My co-teacher and I bumped heads often in the classroom which resulted in ineffective teaching. After a month of unsuccessful teaching, my co-teacher and I decided to sit down and figure out how we could use our strengths effectively in the classroom. We both had the same goal in mind which was to provide a healthy learning environment for the students, and ensure each student reaches their full potential. We decided the best way to accomplish this was to use our diverse skills and knowledge in the classroom. I taught in English, and she explained in Korean. I prepared games, and she prepared the worksheets. I handled the rewards, and she dealt with bad behavior. To ensure we were on the same page for each lesson we had weekly meetings. These simple changes made in the classroom strengthened our relationship and bridged a significant culture gap. We both learnt how to live and work in a diverse world.
Growing up in South Africa and having traveled, diversity is no stranger to me. I have learnt to understand that each individual is unique, and I have learnt to move beyond mere tolerance. I choose to embrace and celebrate the uniqueness within each person. As a social worker it is important to treat people in a caring and respectful fashion. This can only be accomplished through acceptance and learning to love because of our differences.
To conclude, the late Tata Madiba (Nelson Mandela) said: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
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