A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your background, please 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. (500 words)
I was still learning my ABC's when my mother and I got the opportunity to go to New York City to live with my dad. Moving from Bangladesh to the USA was a time of difficulties for me: I not only had to learn a new language, but I had to study with people of different races as well. I was uncomfortable with this at first because the school I used to study in Bangladesh did not have such variation among its students. As time passed by, I eventually got settled in quite comfortably into the mixture of students and teachers in PS 114 Bronx, New York. I became quite popular among my peers and gained their respect as a human being.
I soon found myself on a turntable: my family was shifting back to Bangladesh. I had to adapt to a completely different environment, once again, at the age of 10. But this time, from a majorly developed country to a majorly underdeveloped country. Pollution, overpopulation and poor drainage conditions that lead to floods whenever there is a few hours of torrential downpour are only a few of the drastic changes I had to face.
I enrolled into Oxford International School and in the first few days of class-5, my classmates looked at me with curiosity spelt all over their faces. Some even assumed that I could not speak in Bengali! I replied to each of their question with a smile: the easiest route to friendship. They were very intrigued about the lifestyle I had in USA. I on the other hand, was intrigued by their actions and conversations. I found the differences between the students in USA and those of Bangladesh to be quite significant. My classmates here portrayed themselves differently: most of them were very conservative and timid while only a few were very carefree.
High school in Oxford International School was a different experience as well. I started to have classmates who came from countries such as Africa, India and Indonesia. I even learned to speak some Hindi from a friend. I am not surprised that I was able to interact with a foreign student more comfortably than most of my class mates because as far as I could interpret, Americans are more open to new relationships, but Bangladeshi's like to stay reserved.
It was the transition from one country to another that gave me the chance to develop and appreciate the diversity around me. Diversity allowed me to experience a spectrum of characteristics possessed by different people across the globe and to know about their unique perspectives. I am proud to experience and have seeds of two vastly different cultures planted within me.
[Please let me know of any corrections needed or if I can add something to make the essay better].
I was still learning my ABC's when my mother and I got the opportunity to go to New York City to live with my dad. Moving from Bangladesh to the USA was a time of difficulties for me: I not only had to learn a new language, but I had to study with people of different races as well. I was uncomfortable with this at first because the school I used to study in Bangladesh did not have such variation among its students. As time passed by, I eventually got settled in quite comfortably into the mixture of students and teachers in PS 114 Bronx, New York. I became quite popular among my peers and gained their respect as a human being.
I soon found myself on a turntable: my family was shifting back to Bangladesh. I had to adapt to a completely different environment, once again, at the age of 10. But this time, from a majorly developed country to a majorly underdeveloped country. Pollution, overpopulation and poor drainage conditions that lead to floods whenever there is a few hours of torrential downpour are only a few of the drastic changes I had to face.
I enrolled into Oxford International School and in the first few days of class-5, my classmates looked at me with curiosity spelt all over their faces. Some even assumed that I could not speak in Bengali! I replied to each of their question with a smile: the easiest route to friendship. They were very intrigued about the lifestyle I had in USA. I on the other hand, was intrigued by their actions and conversations. I found the differences between the students in USA and those of Bangladesh to be quite significant. My classmates here portrayed themselves differently: most of them were very conservative and timid while only a few were very carefree.
High school in Oxford International School was a different experience as well. I started to have classmates who came from countries such as Africa, India and Indonesia. I even learned to speak some Hindi from a friend. I am not surprised that I was able to interact with a foreign student more comfortably than most of my class mates because as far as I could interpret, Americans are more open to new relationships, but Bangladeshi's like to stay reserved.
It was the transition from one country to another that gave me the chance to develop and appreciate the diversity around me. Diversity allowed me to experience a spectrum of characteristics possessed by different people across the globe and to know about their unique perspectives. I am proud to experience and have seeds of two vastly different cultures planted within me.
[Please let me know of any corrections needed or if I can add something to make the essay better].
