Sarah Buck - Diversity by Sarah

Sarah Buck - Diversity by Sarah - January 2018 Scholarship Essay

If I had to choose one word to describe why I want to go to college it would be diversity. Let me first acknowledge, I love my small school that I will soon be graduating from. I have grown so much more academically from the support I’ve been given by my teachers. However, at my small, rural school, with approximately 120 high school students, I am the only biracial student. One of the reasons I am so excited about going to college is because of the experiences that will open up to me by being a part of a diverse community of learners and teachers. I am looking forward to continuing my education in a diverse setting. I know that by learning among people with diverse backgrounds will help me continue to grow as a person while I keep an open mind and elevate my academic growth. My hope is to attend a college with a diverse student population, bringing diverse points of views and perspectives, and a wide range of diverse experiences to help me become a better counselor in the future.
As I begin my college career focusing on becoming a counselor for youth, I think the most important thing a counselor can do is support others as they learn to be comfortable in their own skin. That is how you help people. Growing up in a place where I stood out as “different” was hard. It has taken me a very long time to feel comfortable with my own diverse background and in my own skin. I have faced many uncomfortable situations because if my racial ethnicity and a lack of sensitivity from many classmates through the years. Through these difficult experiences, I have persevered and have learned some of the greatest lessons of self-acceptance and kindness towards myself. I want to help guide others find their own path to self-acceptance and help them learn to be at peace with who they are. I for one, have learned those lessons through challenges I have faced and I want to help others realize that our differences can make us a better community. I want to help others learn that we are more like each other than we are different. Ultimately, I hope to help others realize we all want to be understood, loved, and treated well regardless of our ethnic backgrounds.
Since I am submitting this essay on Martin Luther King Day, I wanted to end with a quote by him. Dr. King’s work is meaningful because of he honored diversity and equality.
“We’ve learned to fly in the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish and yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters.”
This quote reminds me to continue to connect with people based on what we have in common rather than focus on our differences. It also inspires me to always keep an open mind when meeting new people. As a counselor, I want to help others be open-minded as well. One of my goals is to teach others to not be judgmental towards themselves so they can be less judgmental towards others. I think that I can accomplish this by viewing diversity as a strength, learning in a diverse educational community, and I look forward to doing this at college.