Alright, so I'm fed up with writing essays, so I'm recycling an essay from another college, with a slightly different prompt. Yeah, I changed it a little, but now I have one question to ask you guys:
Do I answer the new prompt?
Here it is:
USC's speaker series "What Matters to Me and Why" asks faculty and staff to reflect on their values, beliefs, and motivations. Presenters talk about choices they have made, difficulties encountered, and commitments solidified. Write an essay about an event or experience that helped you learn what is important to you and why it is important.
and here's the essay:
Diversity is important. Allow me to tell you a story.
It was not until I stopped speaking English that I began to think about the meanings of words; until I left the country that I realized what America stands for; until I understood nothing that I truly understood myself. Here, in a foreign country, speaking a strange language, and even living with a new family, I have realized that diversity is not something that can be simply defined-- as hard as we might try to visualize ourselves in somebody else's shoes, that picture will never be the same as what we see actually walking in them
I worked in a senior living home for almost three years, and I used to try to picture life from the residents' points of view. Quickly though, I realized the impossibility of what I was attempting- these people all had decades of experiences behind them, dozens of friends, and entire families- their lives were all entirely unique. Aside from being grouped under the same label of "senior", the residents had nothing in common. They had different likes and dislikes, they had different goals, and they even had different perceptions of the same events. It didn't take me the whole three years to realize that experience, not demographic groups, shapes how people think.
Why then, do we value diversity? If demographic groups are indefinable, why do we strive so hard to incorporate them? Simply put, the value of diversity is that a diverse group has collectively has more experiences and perspectives than a homogenous population. These experiences, though, are personal- being old doesn't make seniors valuable, the experiences that they have lived through makes them valuable. The same is true culture wise- coming from Colombia doesn't make somebody valuable, but the experiences and perspective gained from the Colombian way of life are invaluable.
This year, I'm living in Lübeck, Germany, as an exchange student and as an ambassador of the United States of America. Once again, I find myself among a world that I that I cannot completely comprehend. This time, though, I am the diversity- my American experiences are new here. From introducing quesadillas to giving input on global politics, I offer a new perspective here that adds to the cultural mix.
Diversity doesn't always reveal itself so quickly, though. For my first few weeks here in Germany, I was enrolled in a language camp at a local community college. Also in my class were two dozen other foreigners- there was the eighty-year old Russian couple, the Persian father and son, the seventeen-year old Turkish bride, the Jordanian schoolteacher, and more. By any traditional meaning, this group was the very definition of diversity. Without means of communication, though, that diversity remained untapped- any perception that we might have learned from each other was lost to in communication. Four weeks later, though, we could understand each other on a basic level. While the diversity of the group had not changed, it could only then be taken advantage of.
Language is only one part of unlocking diversity, though. Truly taking advantage of diversity requires language, but also a mutual willingness to learn and exchange. Only then can a person- or, in this case, college- truly reap the maximum benefits of diversity. This year in Germany, I am sharing, I am teaching, and I am learning. When I go back home in July, I'll be a new person- I'll have learned a new language, I'll have had a greater range of experiences, and I'll have gleaned some insight into a the mindset of another country. With a willingness to exchange, though, my experience with diversity doesn't end with the end of my year abroad- quite to the contrary, that's only the beginning. In college, and through the rest of my life, not only will I continue to learn through my own experiences and through communication with others, but I'll also offer my own unique perspective, enriched by my year abroad, to the world around me.
Of course, any corrections are also appreciated, or ideas on how to make it fit better to the prompt. Thanks guys!
