Idea for Diversity Secondary Prompt

[dreamcokedreamboat]

Hey all,

I had an idea for the "how will you contribute to the diversity of the class" prompt but I'm not feeling confident on if it really shows diversity and also I'm not sure if it would be controversial. Basically, I used to be extremely religious, I was deeply involved in my local faith community and my religion used to be a big part of my identity and worldview. After a long period of questioning, I eventually completely left the faith and I now consider myself non-religious. I was thinking I could mention two takeaways of how this "experience" would help me contribute to a class's diversity:

1) I have a unique insight into and understanding of the worldviews of both religious and non-religious people (two worldviews that are very different imo)
2) The entire experience was very humbling and I've learned to always be open-minded and question ideas, even if they seem certainly true (I feel like this kind of attitude would contribute to the diversity of a class)

What do you guys think? My backup options are either talking about 1) being an immigrant or 2) my diverse academic/intellectual background. Thanks a lot for your help 🙂

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[Mr.Smile12]

I think you are on the right track. I'm missing a sense of what makes you an inspiration to others. The immigrant experience is always in bounds.

 

[dreamcokedreamboat]

I think you are on the right track. I'm missing a sense of what makes you an inspiration to others. The immigrant experience is always in bounds.

Thanks for your response Mr. Smile! 🙂 In terms of "inspiration", I was thinking of talking about how when I was religious, I would be involved in a lot of religious discussions with people from many different backgrounds, and I learned a lot through that. Those same discussions are what led me to leave the faith as well. I was thinking of using those examples to say that I am very open-minded/curious/enjoy discussing things with people from different backgrounds, and that having similar critical discussions like that (about medical/scientific stuff, not religious stuff) with my classmates would lead to us learning a lot and contribute to our intellectual diversity or something like that. Do you think that would be sufficient, or does it still feel like something is missing?

I do agree that the immigrant experience is probably safer, but the thing about religion is a much more meaningful experience to me personally (I was quite young when my family immigrated). So, I would prefer to write about that, so long as I can do it successfully 🙂

 

[Goro]

Hey all,

I had an idea for the "how will you contribute to the diversity of the class" prompt but I'm not feeling confident on if it really shows diversity and also I'm not sure if it would be controversial. Basically, I used to be extremely religious, I was deeply involved in my local faith community and my religion used to be a big part of my identity and worldview. After a long period of questioning, I eventually completely left the faith and I now consider myself non-religious. I was thinking I could mention two takeaways of how this "experience" would help me contribute to a class's diversity:

1) I have a unique insight into and understanding of the worldviews of both religious and non-religious people (two worldviews that are very different imo)
2) The entire experience was very humbling and I've learned to always be open-minded and question ideas, even if they seem certainly true (I feel like this kind of attitude would contribute to the diversity of a class)

What do you guys think? My backup options are either talking about 1) being an immigrant or 2) my diverse academic/intellectual background. Thanks a lot for your help 🙂

Nope. Try harder.

 

[dreamcokedreamboat]

Nope. Try harder.

Thanks for your input Goro. Would you mind elaborating on what makes you object? Is it more of my approach to the experience, or is it the experience itself? What do you think of my backup options? I liked the religion idea since it's personally meaningful, and I felt like the journey from devout to secular was less common and showed more of my uniqueness.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

We are limited to what you post and there is a point where this discussion is better served breaking anonymity. However, there is potential as you really highlight your "contribution" as a facilitator for difficult discussions. While I can see value there, I don't know if that is really the intent (how good of a facilitator you are). That said, most good facilitators leverage their self-assessment abilities to know where their biases and behavior could work against them.

The essay should be about you, and I can see how facilitation could fit (cultural competency). But you need a piece of yourself to make it work. That's probably where your former religious orientation comes in. Just try it and see what others think.

That said there are more people in the US who don't really identify strongly with a religion. Many I know walked away or were pushed away.

 

[Goro]

Thanks for your input Goro. Would you mind elaborating on what makes you object? Is it more of my approach to the experience, or is it the experience itself? What do you think of my backup options? I liked the religion idea since it's personally meaningful, and I felt like the journey from devout to secular was less common and showed more of my uniqueness.

Your experiences are nothing unique. What's cool about you? What do you bring to the class?