Well to start off, I grew up in and went to school in a small town of about 1500 people. Of course being in Iowa, it was a farming community and it's one of those towns that it only takes about all of thirty minutes for news to get around town and back to your parents if you screw up, lucky me. But there something else that seems to be a trend with small towns, they aren't as open to cultural diversity. It seems like, or at least for my hometown, that there was a set of norms and anybody who stuck out was looked down upon, quite the opposite of cities like Iowa City and Davenport.
Diversity is all around us, we just have to be willing to look deep enough. It might not be something as shallow or blatant as skin color or sexual orientation, it could be something along the lines of growing up in a neighborhood with a high crime rate and being scared for your life every day or maybe the kid you're sitting next to lost both their parents when they were too young to know better and they've grown up differently then you because of it. There are numerous subtle aspects that make us who we are, some of them we're comfortable with and we put out there for the world to see. While others might be more personal or painful and we keep them to ourselves. Those are several things that you should keep in mind when you move into a different environment like one found on a college campus.
An important facet of diversity to keep in mind that not everyone is like you. Just because someone is different doesn't make them weird or awkward. I'm working on adjusting my own views and keeping an open mind as I continue classes this year.
Austin,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. I too came from a smaller town that was not very diverse. I am glad that you are so open to the new diversities at ISU. I hope that you continue to learn more about the people here!
It seems like most of us haven't experienced very much diversity where we grew up at being in rural Iowa. I am glad you are able to meet different diversities here at Iowa State. It is amazaing how much we can learn from people that are from different backgrounds. I think you have a good outlook on diversity. It is good to keep an open mind on people who are different than you. It makes making friends easier. :)
ReplyDeleteComing from a small town as well mine is very similar to yours. If your "different" in anyway, you stick out and are looked down upon. It's a pain in the butt, but you just have to learn to be yourself. It's part of the reason I love Ames. There's so many people from so many back-rounds people don't judge you on it, and you don't have to fake anything.
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