Understanding and Embracing Cultural Diversity

Diversity is a concept that I believe most people do not have the correct knowledge of nor do they understand what it truly means. Being able to help educate others about diversity would mean the world to me, therefore it’s important for me to understand diversity. In order to understand diversity it’s especially crucial to have an open mind so that one can truly understand. I have traveled to Ecuador, worked with Me to We, taken diversity focused classes, participated in the 2015 Global Youth Summit, as well as created an awareness presentation with fellow students to further my understanding and knowledge of diversity. During my service learning trip to Ecuador I was lucky enough to be able to learn about a completely different culture. Without an open mind, I would have never noticed all of the different and intriguing aspects of Ecuador’s culture. There was one portion of the trip that really stood out to me. On the first day we were able to visit the Yunguilla Community in the Cloudy Forest. This was only the start of learning about a culture utterly different from our own. In this community, an average of 50 families work together to preserve this area of the Cloudy Forest. Cheeses, jams, and handicrafts are all made on the land that the community owns. It was captivating to see these

We decided to create an awareness presentation about the experiences we had in Ecuador. In this presentation we included a video showing the highlights of our trip: the nearly completed school, the exquisite nature, and the amazing children that we were able to help. Being able to assist the children to receive an education was a main topic in the presentation. It’s my hope that anyone who sees this presentation will take their education more seriously and be willing to learn about and respect new cultures, such as the one we encountered in