Take Me As I Am

If someone asked: why is diversity important, I probably would have rambled on about economies, control groups, and ethnicity funding.What if instead I was asked: Why is diversity important to you? Diversity is important to me because I am part of diversity. Diversity is simply explained as different from the normalcy. You can be diverse by your sexuality, religion, ethnicity, beliefs, and how you were raised. In the world no one is the same as anybody else, though some do try to “fit in” to the standards of billboards and society stereotypes. I am diversity. You are diversity. We are all different.

In specific to me I am seventeen years old. I am bi-sexual and extremely proud of that. I have many heterosexual friends, as well as many gay friends. I am Puerto Rican, Mexican and a mix of many other things whereas my friends range from Irish to Guyanese in their bloodlines.

As a feminist I organize small movements with neighbors and friends to empower woman and help domestic abuse victims. As a Roman Catholic I was confirmed in tenth grade but I practice Wiccan rituals and Buddhist meditation daily. People should enjoy diversity but of course in life there are some who react negatively towards those who are not the same as them.
In life we have different forms of prejudice: Homophobia, racism, sexism. All of which affect the lives of those attempting to live proud of who they are. We should not attempt to live our lives set to the standards of people who do not exist. There is no “normalcy” in the world. I have learned not to be who I don’t want to be. Before my generation, I’m sure there was a lot of hatred towards minority groups. Nowadays we try to accept people as who they are, not as who we want them to be. Though we are slightly more accepting now, however, there will always be hate.
Diversity is important to me because without it, I would not be me as I am today. Learning to accept other people has made me able to accept who I am as well. Diversity is key to the survival of the world, but change and difference will always come as a shock to people, which will make it difficult for the world to grow. . Fitting in is not the most important part of someone’s life. I was told by one woman ,who spent her whole youth attempting to fit in to what her friends and family thought she should be, that I should let my inner light shine and I should never let anyone keep me from being who I am. I am diversity, take me as I am.