I can’t stand it when I hear, see, or sense someone being discriminated against, no matter what the reason is. Race, skin color, intelligence, wealth, family, hobbies, mental disorders, and any thing else it is simply wrong. Although my own experiences don’t come close to the stories of the people I read about, I still know that one of the worst feelings is feeling like you don’t belong. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes love and belongingness before self-esteem, and I think this shows it’s importance in personal development.
[1] Anthony Luckett wondered “what life would have been like had [he] not lived with that tangerine family.”[2] I wonder too; what would he have been saved from had he been raised in a loving home? Family has sucha powerful role in a persons life, and in most of the essays, something always came back to their family. I am so thankful for my family and the love they gave me, and continue to give me. My family is the only place I ever feel like I belong. I’ve always struggled with friends, and until a year ago, I never really had any. I don’t know what it is, but I never feel like people like me and I never find friends who care the way I do. This has been my struggle. I always feel judged, and like I can’t be myself. But then I started to realize that I am who I am, and I have my family, so I’m not afraid to be different and to be proud of that. My family is my safe zone, they love me no matter what I do, who I am, or what I look like, and I love them no matter what too. But I am being to realize that I cannot depend on my family alone, I need branch out and meet people, and until I came to this university, I didn’t want to.
Diversity was something I heard U.T. had, but it didn’t mean anything to me. But I’ve discovered it means more to me than I could imagine. It means that each person I meet is different in their own wonderful and unique way, and that is what makes diversity beautiful. It is beautiful that we are each different, and it is something to be praised not rejected. Diversity means we can each teach someone, or show someone something new and different, everyone can bring something to the table to share, and most of the times the other person can connect to something they personally feel, creating unity. Because everyone is different, it leaves no room for discrimination. Sure, not everyone will like everything about a person, and that is okay, but making them feel like less of a person is not okay. Difference should be embraced, like speaking “Spanish in order to help retain [one’s] culture and heritage.”[3] Or looking at a difference in race just as a person would look at the difference in “the color of [one’s] eyes or preference in music.”[4] I feel like at this university, I fit it because I am different. One of the most important things I’ve learned this year is that people are different and that is a beautiful thing. This may seem simple, but discovering that has made life so much more enjoyable. I feel like I really have grasped what it means to listen empathetically. I will always make an effort to understand a person before trying to get information that will help me first. We all have a story, we are all different and we all belong here, every life is precious. 
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[1] http://socioloquy.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/maslow.jpg
[2] Anthony R. Luckett, “Multihued” in Leadership and U.T., ed. Jerome Bump, (Ausitn: Jenn’s Copy & Binding, 2008), 863.
[3] Miguel Ramirez, “The Unknown Want,” in Leadership and U.T., ed. Jerome Bump, (Ausitn: Jenn’s Copy & Binding, 2008), 854.
[4] Alessandro Melendez, “Living between the Lines,” in Leadership and U.T., ed. Jerome Bump, (Ausitn: Jenn’s Copy & Binding, 2008), 842.
[5] http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x83/winwin1111/unity.jpg
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