Making Our Diversity Our Strength by Angela

Making Our Diversity Our Strength by Angela - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

I believe that my biggest impact to my high school was my non-judgmental inclusion of everyone. I was a nerd who had good grades and loved studying. I was a jock who played basketball and ran track. I hung out with the “misfits” and was often their designated driver. My two best friends were a pregnant teenager, Michelle, and a boy with cerebral palsy, named Jessie. Rather than being part of a typical high school clique, I enjoyed the differences that make each of us unique.

My high school was in a wealthy suburb outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. .Most of the students had lived in the district since elementary school, so I was an outsider when I transferred there in the 8th grade. My graduating class consisted of around 45 students, so it was a small school. The biggest surprise to me when I started was that there was not a single non-white family in the entire high school. My previous school was very large with a mix of races, nationalities, and income levels, so it was quite a shock on my first day.

My family was considered middle-class because my mother worked rather than staying home like most other families in the area. This was a noticeable difference from my first day, but I didn’t care. I focused on myself, my grades, and my interests. I gradually made friends from several of the different groups, which was uncomfortable for a lot of them at first. I was frequently asked why did I hang around this person or that person because they were in a different clique. My reply was always my basic belief that everyone is different in some way, and everyone is the same in some way. After awhile, many of my friends started to befriend others outside their normal group as well.

By my senior year, the lines separating the cliques were barely distinguishable. Nerds were dating stoners. Stoners were best friends with football players. Football players hung out with introverted loners. Mixing up the dynamic of my high school student population was not a deliberate thing I had set out to accomplish. I was just being myself. I believe that by demonstrating my acceptance of everyone, I showed my classmates that our differences can be our strengths if we allow them to be.