George Mason University has a very diverse population. There has never been a day that I walked out of the door and did not see someone of another race, culture, or gender. I am one in almost 34,000 students here at Mason. After an incident involving a racist comment that affected the entire campus, I realized I needed to become more aware of different social and cultural dynamics.
During an Emerging Leaders class period, the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education facilitated a concentric circles activity, which digs into the differences between the participants. I have partaken in this activity multiple times, but during this specific class, the students’ stories created an unforgettable experience. There were multiple students who were born in different countries, followed different religions, and had different world views. I decided that I really wanted to be present during this facilitation so that I could take something away from it.
Emerging Leaders class during Spring 2016.
I successfully did just that! I dedicated my time and attention to learning about other students’ social and cultural differences. A girl who follows Muslim traditions shared with me that it is hard for her to understand why multiple school days are taken away for Christian holidays, but zero days are taken off for Muslim holidays. I listened to her concerns without any judgment, which made it easy to self reflect. I realized that I grew up privileged and without problems such as hers. Without the awareness of that type of cultural difference,I would not have known that others might be hurt by the fact of certain days being dismissed for holidays.
Sometimes people are just unaware or uneducated about certain social and cultural differences. They may wrongly claim stereotypes or negative feelings toward a particular group. With the help from others, educating people can be the beginning to a more peaceful world. However, one thing to keep in mind is that one must be generous while doing so. In other words, I cannot go up to someone and tell him or her that he or she is wrong. I must be humble and acknowledge that they might not be aware of the dynamics and complexity of what they are claiming.
I continuously strive to create an inclusive community. In order to do so, I must ensure that everyone is just. Being conscious of those around you and how they connect with the world is important while creating any type of community, especially an inclusive and just one. By valuing the knowledge of social and cultural differences, being nonjudgmental, treating misinformation kindly, creating an ideal community would be a quick and easy process. I have learned that without the ideas and experiences of others, the world would be a pretty boring place.
Knowing that I am 1 of 34,000 students on campus pushes me to learn more about everyone’s cultural and social differences. I try my hardest to not judge those around me and to include them in every aspect.