My Education

Elementary School

For most of my life, racism seemed nonexistent. I grew up in a large white community in Connecticut, and not even one black kid went to my elementary school. Of course, we had learned who MLK was, and from what I understood, racism was a mere event that happened many years ago. Entrapped in my elementary school world, I never realized how this was not the norm for most of the world. I innocently believed that different skin colors belonged in only movies and picture books. (True story: when I was four I asked my Dad if he was African American because he was tan.) Clearly, I didn’t have a very diverse childhood.

Middle School

Now in Middle School, I had a whopping 2 kids in my school that were of a different skin color. However, middle school kids are cruel. Individuality was mocked. Racial jokes and sarcasm were frequently thrown around the classroom. Maybe my classmates justified their actions because they too felt the overwhelming sense of majority that was plagued throughout our school. Unlike the other kids in my community, I played sports in other cities and began to understand that diversity surrounded the cities around me.

High School

When I moved to Troy, I finally got a glimpse at true diversity. Different religions, sexual orientations, economic statuses, and races seemed to blend seamlessly together. Individuality is accepted and never ridiculed. I look back on my childhood years and wonder how living in a caucasian bubble may have affected me today. I truly am grateful for living in such a diverse community.