Diversity/ISCORE

This is always one of my favorite weeks! This week is off to a VERY stressful start, but I am trying to keep my positive attitude. I thought last weeks class was great. I know that Cory and Jenna got put on the spot a little but that is what 311 is all about. We get to learn from each other so that we can make our students experience the best it can be. I really thought that they put a lot of thought into the activity and their lesson. I thought it was very interesting how Cory has not been around much diversity but Jenna has. It is always exciting when you get to work in a team with people who have different experiences with the topic. It always makes the project more successful. I think diversity is the hardest topic to talk about. It means so many different things, to different people. I know that I am a lot like Cory in that, I did not grow up around a lot of diversity. I think it is really exciting though to learn about all the diversity we have here on campus. Diversity just hits on the fact that we are all different and no one should be put down or treated differently because of their differences.

For ISCORE I got to attend the Defining an Ally session. This session was absolutely terrific! I learned a lot about what an Ally is and that it can mean very different things to different people. The session focused a lot on group discussion so we got to hear a lot of different point of views. We discussed the definition of an Ally. Some people thought that it was a person who stood up for the minority or a person being oppressed. But we also talked about how it can mean just simply not oppressing the oppressed. For some people, it is not easy to stand up to people who are saying or doing hurtful things, but that doesn't mean they are not an Ally. We also talked about how being an Ally is also realizing that as a white person we do have privilege. We cannot always change the fact that we are privileged in some situations, but we can be aware of the fact that we are and be more understanding and helpful to those who do not necessarily have the privilege. I thought that it was an amazing session, and I really learned a lot about different views of an Ally. I would definitely recommend this session if they offer it in the future.