For about eight months a year, I live in a community brimming with diversity. I am a boarding student at Westminster school where the majority of students come from upper middle class to high class economically stable, Caucasian families. However, about a fifth of the school’s population consists of minorities and international students, with a variety of backgrounds and beliefs.
When I first arrived at Westminster in my freshman year, I was not sure what to expect. Before I had begun the boarding school process, I had never really socialized with people outside of my ethnic group, as I was coming from an area that was about 97% Hispanic. Knowing how different I was from my fellow classmates made me feel like an outsider in the Westminster …show more content…
It wasn’t until some of my friends began buying new clothes every week, $100 lululemon leggings, and trekking into the nearby town twice a week to get Starbucks and dine out that I noticed the economic gap between them and myself. However, not all of my friends were that well off, and my time was spent hanging out with those friends instead of wasting money on lavish material objects. I learned to differentiate between the lifestyle I wanted and the lifestyle I could lead. I learned to appreciate what I had more than waste my time wondering how much I could buy if I had the privilege that some of my classmates had. In some cases, I felt that having that much money didn't always bring happiness such as when a group of classmates took a private plane to Canada for a weekend.
Economic barriers were not the only walls that had to be knocked down. There were several cultural differences with my friends. After living at Westy for almost two years I have met people from all over the world, from Brazil to Spain to Tunisia. I embrace my classmates’ cultures rather than shy away from them. I love learning about different countries and their cultures. I have learned to say simple phrases in various languages including Swedish, Russian, and Korean. My friends have taught me about their cultures and traditions. I, as well, have shared my Peruvian and Argentinian
When I first arrived at Westminster in my freshman year, I was not sure what to expect. Before I had begun the boarding school process, I had never really socialized with people outside of my ethnic group, as I was coming from an area that was about 97% Hispanic. Knowing how different I was from my fellow classmates made me feel like an outsider in the Westminster …show more content…
It wasn’t until some of my friends began buying new clothes every week, $100 lululemon leggings, and trekking into the nearby town twice a week to get Starbucks and dine out that I noticed the economic gap between them and myself. However, not all of my friends were that well off, and my time was spent hanging out with those friends instead of wasting money on lavish material objects. I learned to differentiate between the lifestyle I wanted and the lifestyle I could lead. I learned to appreciate what I had more than waste my time wondering how much I could buy if I had the privilege that some of my classmates had. In some cases, I felt that having that much money didn't always bring happiness such as when a group of classmates took a private plane to Canada for a weekend.
Economic barriers were not the only walls that had to be knocked down. There were several cultural differences with my friends. After living at Westy for almost two years I have met people from all over the world, from Brazil to Spain to Tunisia. I embrace my classmates’ cultures rather than shy away from them. I love learning about different countries and their cultures. I have learned to say simple phrases in various languages including Swedish, Russian, and Korean. My friends have taught me about their cultures and traditions. I, as well, have shared my Peruvian and Argentinian