I'm trying to throw diversity in a differenty light, in terms of embracing the right to be different as being a good thing. I need to incorporate this quote by Dr. Seuss to depic diversity: Dr. Seuss once said, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Any help, constructive criticisms, or suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated. I need help with the organization, where I can place paragraphs to let them have more impact and a better flow. Also I would like to cut out any fluff or unneccessary sentences. Also i think my ending was kind of weak.. WORD LIMIT: 794 Current Word Count: 714
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The rules were simple, if you wanted to be popular, then you had to play the game. You either went along with everyone else or you became an outcast. I used to think that fitting in was everything that mattered, even when it came at the expense if what I believed in.
Popularity in a private all girl's school meant being in the "it crowd," a group of beautiful, seemingly perfect girls who talked about other people behind their backs, who gossiped and took extreme measures to torment anyone who was different. It was this group that I lost myself in. Though I did not directly participate in their campaign of maliciousness, I did not do anything to stop them either. I was afraid to stand against them, for fear of rejection.
When a new girl came into our class from the countryside, she was immediately ridiculed for her funny accent, the oversized glasses, and her aloofness. Whenever she would recite, or when the teacher mentioned her name at roll call, the classroom would be filled with coughing noises, and suppressed laughter. She was treated like a disease, usually avoided and isolated.
Despite these obstacles, I envied that new girl because she did not let the prejudice get to her. She was uniquely herself, and in many ways she was freer than I was because she did not buckle under the pressures of conformity. Though I had succeeded in gaining acceptance, I did not feel the confidence and respect that I thought would come after conforming. I could see myself as the new girl, one wrong step, one miscalculated move and I would be the next reject. At the same time, I began to question the injustices. What right had anybody to dictate what was acceptable? Why did being different have to be a crime?
These locked up feelings I had suppressed were begging for release. And I got my chance that day I found the new girl's desk cruelly overturned by some immature classmates. Seeing her queer drawings, her bottle cap necklace, and several fantasy books scattered on the floor, made something inside me snap. The silence was deafening as I picked up her things and righted her desk. I could feel eyes digging at the back of my head. It was like flipping a switch inside me, turning over a new viewpoint. Prejudice, I discovered was a dangerous and unsubstantiated fear of those who are different. This was the first step of daring to be myself, destroying the prejudice by standing for something that I believed in, the right to be unique.
My heart thudded as I walked back to my seat, feeling like I had just doomed myself. But at the same time I was bursting with pride at having accomplished something bigger than myself. I braced myself for the tirade of insults. But to my utter shock and amazement the room had instead burst into a frenzy of cheering and clapping.
Dr. Seuss once said, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." To break the chains of prejudice one must dare to be different. For, if the world were made of black and white, with differences neutralized, condemned and cast aside, there would be no room to grow. Diversity means having the courage to embrace, those different from ourselves, even if it means stepping out of our comfort zones, or from the groups we belong. Today, I have continued to carry this philosophy with me, that tolerance for others begets respect. And true confidence, comes with being comfortable with who you are, enough to appreciate the beauty of coexisting alongside those who possess a different race, gender, or creed.
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The rules were simple, if you wanted to be popular, then you had to play the game. You either went along with everyone else or you became an outcast. I used to think that fitting in was everything that mattered, even when it came at the expense if what I believed in.
Popularity in a private all girl's school meant being in the "it crowd," a group of beautiful, seemingly perfect girls who talked about other people behind their backs, who gossiped and took extreme measures to torment anyone who was different. It was this group that I lost myself in. Though I did not directly participate in their campaign of maliciousness, I did not do anything to stop them either. I was afraid to stand against them, for fear of rejection.
When a new girl came into our class from the countryside, she was immediately ridiculed for her funny accent, the oversized glasses, and her aloofness. Whenever she would recite, or when the teacher mentioned her name at roll call, the classroom would be filled with coughing noises, and suppressed laughter. She was treated like a disease, usually avoided and isolated.
Despite these obstacles, I envied that new girl because she did not let the prejudice get to her. She was uniquely herself, and in many ways she was freer than I was because she did not buckle under the pressures of conformity. Though I had succeeded in gaining acceptance, I did not feel the confidence and respect that I thought would come after conforming. I could see myself as the new girl, one wrong step, one miscalculated move and I would be the next reject. At the same time, I began to question the injustices. What right had anybody to dictate what was acceptable? Why did being different have to be a crime?
These locked up feelings I had suppressed were begging for release. And I got my chance that day I found the new girl's desk cruelly overturned by some immature classmates. Seeing her queer drawings, her bottle cap necklace, and several fantasy books scattered on the floor, made something inside me snap. The silence was deafening as I picked up her things and righted her desk. I could feel eyes digging at the back of my head. It was like flipping a switch inside me, turning over a new viewpoint. Prejudice, I discovered was a dangerous and unsubstantiated fear of those who are different. This was the first step of daring to be myself, destroying the prejudice by standing for something that I believed in, the right to be unique.
My heart thudded as I walked back to my seat, feeling like I had just doomed myself. But at the same time I was bursting with pride at having accomplished something bigger than myself. I braced myself for the tirade of insults. But to my utter shock and amazement the room had instead burst into a frenzy of cheering and clapping.
Dr. Seuss once said, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." To break the chains of prejudice one must dare to be different. For, if the world were made of black and white, with differences neutralized, condemned and cast aside, there would be no room to grow. Diversity means having the courage to embrace, those different from ourselves, even if it means stepping out of our comfort zones, or from the groups we belong. Today, I have continued to carry this philosophy with me, that tolerance for others begets respect. And true confidence, comes with being comfortable with who you are, enough to appreciate the beauty of coexisting alongside those who possess a different race, gender, or creed.
