Reflective Essay On Diversity

It wasn’t until my freshman year of college (last year) that I was exposed to significant diversity. Growing up I went to the same private Catholic school from pre-school to the day that I graduated from high school. While I often refer to Hawai’i as being a “melting pot,” that term could not really be applied to my education prior to attending University of Portland. About ninety-five percent of the students that I went to school with were caucasian, and the other small portion of five percent were students of asian and/or pacific islander ancestry. While I once considered this to be diverse, I wasn 't aware that the term “diverse” would mean so much more when coming to Oregon. Not only would it have to do with one’s ethnicity, but it would also encompass one’s family culture and social class. As it could be assumed I due to the fact that I went to a private school, on average all students came from middle-class families and a few could be considered as belonging to a family from the upper-class of society.

I must admit that University of Portland is a pretty diverse school, but my encounter with diversity was far more prevalent when beginning my field experience as a freshman. The term “diverse” took on a whole new meaning! One of the first things that I did after finishing my

While I often found myself being judgmental when I was of a young age, in regards to those who came from slightly different backgrounds or family situations than I did, I began to see how much of a role teaching students about diversity has on the upbringing of an individual. Because of my lack of knowledge behind diversity I was very closed minded and that it the opposite of how I would want my future students to