"We know that diversity makes us a better university - better for learning, for teaching, and for conducting research."
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman)
Share an experience through which you have gained respect for intellectual, social, or cultural differences. Comment on how your personal experiences and achievements would contribute to the diversity of the University of Michigan.
It took a while for me to appreciate the effects of cultural diversity on each individual as an Arab American growing up in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with the densest Arab American population in the United States. A more extreme example is Fordson High School; over 90 percent of Fordson's students are Arab-American. To an outsider, us "Fordson kids" may look and act the same, but to me, we are all different reactions to a similar environment and upbringing. It may be the case that my experiences as a "Fordson kid" have equipped me with the ability to let my differences characterize my environment, wherever it may be.
To me, diversity is the quest to find one's identity and use this knowledge to work alongside other individuals toward a common goal. This is why, contrary to the "Melting Pot" (the assimilation of all of our cultural, social, ethnic, etc. differences) I have adopted the Salad Bowl theory. In a salad bowl, the differences characterize the environment; in fact, the more variation, the better the context of that environment. Most importantly, when one thinks of the word "salad" there is no intrinsic value that is required of every salad. There is no expectation or ideal picture of how this salad bowl should be; all that is required is diversity and unity all in one.
My plans for the University of Michigan are to ensure that I stand out among your 40,000+ students. If admitted, I plan to encourage my peers to take pride in their differences, and work together with their unique backgrounds to maintain the Wolverine salad bowl that is so important to your university.
(U-M President Mary Sue Coleman)
Share an experience through which you have gained respect for intellectual, social, or cultural differences. Comment on how your personal experiences and achievements would contribute to the diversity of the University of Michigan.
It took a while for me to appreciate the effects of cultural diversity on each individual as an Arab American growing up in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with the densest Arab American population in the United States. A more extreme example is Fordson High School; over 90 percent of Fordson's students are Arab-American. To an outsider, us "Fordson kids" may look and act the same, but to me, we are all different reactions to a similar environment and upbringing. It may be the case that my experiences as a "Fordson kid" have equipped me with the ability to let my differences characterize my environment, wherever it may be.
To me, diversity is the quest to find one's identity and use this knowledge to work alongside other individuals toward a common goal. This is why, contrary to the "Melting Pot" (the assimilation of all of our cultural, social, ethnic, etc. differences) I have adopted the Salad Bowl theory. In a salad bowl, the differences characterize the environment; in fact, the more variation, the better the context of that environment. Most importantly, when one thinks of the word "salad" there is no intrinsic value that is required of every salad. There is no expectation or ideal picture of how this salad bowl should be; all that is required is diversity and unity all in one.
My plans for the University of Michigan are to ensure that I stand out among your 40,000+ students. If admitted, I plan to encourage my peers to take pride in their differences, and work together with their unique backgrounds to maintain the Wolverine salad bowl that is so important to your university.