A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
She was sitting all by herself in the corner of the room. Even as a member of an organization that prides itself with accepting all types of people, she was not included because she was so different. Despite this, that day she became my "Best Buddy". When I first met Alex, the only thing I knew we had in common was that we were both part of our school's chapter of Best Buddies, an organization that creates one-on-one friendships between students with intellectual disabilities and students without. Aside from this, it seemed as if we were completely different people.
I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alex. "Hey, Alex. I'm Katie." I received no answer. "So Alex, what grade are you in?" Still no answer. Usually, I have a tendency to make friends very quickly and it's not difficult for me to engage in conversation for long periods of time. However, this time was different. I awkwardly sat next to Alex attempting to observe any social cues that would steer me in the right direction. She made no eye contact and appeared to be off in her own world. Attempting to help me, Alex's caretaker came over and explained Alex's disabilities to me. Unfortunately, Alex has several severe disabilities that make communicating rather difficult. She has muscular development problems, she is blind, she has a speech impairment, and is intellectually disabled. Responding to my plea for advice, Alex's caretaker told me to be creative and advised that Alex liked music and clapping. I began to realize there were methods of communication that I had been overlooking.
Deciding that it would be in both our best interests to try something new, I commenced to clap alongside Alex. For the first time, Alex responded to my actions. She began to clap, and soon we were clapping together in a unique sort of rhythm. We used clapping as a tool for communication when we worked together to create a clapping game. Although Alex couldn't observe the game to memorize it, she could hear the musicality of the beats and could feel the vibrations we made. Through the clapping I discovered Alex's love of music. Despite her physical disabilities, when I played music she gracefully swayed to the song and clapped out the underlying rhythm. I even found out that we had a similar music taste. We both enjoyed listening to Classic Rock, Motown, Blues, and the Beatles. Using these uncommon communication techniques Alex and I were able to understand one another despite obvious differences that we had.
Through this experience I discovered that I was overly focused on outward appearances. Because Alex did not encompass the conventional appearance of a high school student, I did not know how to treat her. When I disregarded Alex's disabilities and got to know her at her own pace, I realized that we had more in common than I originally perceived. In regards to my transition to the college community I believe that this experience will prepare me for many future encounters I may have. My friendship with Alex has given me a willingness to communicate with all different types of people and has taught me to be creative in my approach to connecting with others. I believe that these qualities will continue with me to the college environment where I will encounter many people that differ from what I am used to and will continue to offer my friendship through Best Buddies.
