Racial Diversity - an Important Point in a Student Development - Essay Example

Your Prof’s Racial Diversity in Social Circles: A Broadening Experience College is supposed to be a time that we useto improve ourselves in a wide variety of ways. Some are obvious: we are supposed to learn from our courses, develop useful skills, and things that will be useful to future careers. But we are also supposed to develop other ways: expanding our horizons, being more critical of the world around us and so on. One of the most important aspects of that is broadening our social horizons.

Many people who come to college have very limited experience socializing with people of other races, because school systems tend to be so segregated, as do communities. One of the most important things to do in college is broaden the diversity of people one socializes with, in many ways such as socio-economic class, gender, and, importantly race. I feel that I should socialize with people from a wide variety of races because it will be immensely beneficial for me. I already hang out with a large group of people from races different than my own, because I myself am not from this country, though like many people I do find myself congregating with people with similar experiences as me (immigration, for instance).

But I believe it is always the best to socialize with people from a wide variety of races, for a number of reasons. Firstly, if you only socialize with people of your own race, you might be subtly uncomfortable in mixed-race groups. This does not mean that you are racist because you are not the most comfortable in those kinds of situations – people will always have some degree of discomfort with new or novel experiences. But this level of discomfort will be apparent to you, and possibly force you to miss out on important events or feel uncomfortable in the.

This could have negative impact on job performance, because many workplaces are racially diverse, or might make one feel uncomfortable in a mixed race job interview (which many employers use to ensure diversity). Socializing with people from a diverse group of races will help ensure that you are very comfortable in those situations, which will help in a wide variety of places later in life. While comfort is one major reason it is important to socialize with people with a broad range of backgrounds, mental development is another.

People’s thoughts about many topics and ideas are heavily influenced by their backgrounds, and race is an important part of many people’s backgrounds. This means that many people from the same race might have similar ideas on some topics, especially ones that relate to race. By socializing with people from different races, one is able to see and learn these ideas, and integrate them into one’s own understanding of the world. This can be invaluable, because a variety of perspectives can always help decision making.

Furthermore, this will help develop the ability to “project,” to understand what another person will probably think in a given situation, which can make one more socially skilled and assume different points of view in a debate. I think that I should try to keep as racially diverse a social network as I possibly can. This does not mean that I will tokenize people, and try to get a “black friend” or an “Asian friend” just so I can say I have one, but rather that I will take opportunities that present themselves and not be shy about befriending people based on race.

Racial diversity is one of the most important things in a person’s development, and a properly socialized person, who has experience working and socializing with people from many backgrounds will be more comfortable in any mixed-race situation, and will be better able to see and understand other points of view.