Diversity Statement, rip it to shreds.
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 1:32 pm
Hey guys, started writing a diversity statement today and kinda rolled with it. Not sure if I'm on the right track with this, kind of feel like it's too long and rambley....tear it apart for me okay?
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I was born on a pleasant November morning in New Delhi. My parents had been hoping for a girl to compliment their 3 year old son. Pre-natal sex determination was, and still is, illegal in India. My mother’s blood pressure surged during her C-section, the doctor yelled at the nurse to put her under but my mother yelled even louder, “Is it a girl?” I was. She smiled and went to sleep. Whenever I hear that story, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be who I am. The odds were against me, a girl in India. My family wanted me instead of thinking of me as a burden, they sent me to college instead of marrying me off, they told me that I could do anything I wanted.
I owe everything to my father. He came from an extremely modest family, a chubby dyslexic boy who was always dubbed as the ‘slow’ kid. He defied all expectations by attending a prestigious engineering college. He was the first person ever to be hired by Unilever from his school. He diligently worked his way up the corporate ladder, sacrificing so much of himself so he could set up his children for success. We began to move into bigger houses, buy bigger TVs, plan fancier vacations. When everything was going perfectly, my dad came home early one day, something he never did, smiling. He announced that he was getting promoted and we were moving to Shanghai. I was devastated, at the age of 12, having spent 8 years in the same school with the same people the last thing I wanted to do was move to China. I never thought it would be the best thing that ever happened to me.
My first day in the Shanghai international school was terrifying. I had spent months perfecting an American accent, looking up American fashion trends, trying to blend in seamlessly. At my old school, differences were mocked. I soon realized however, that the international community valued differences. The other kids were fascinated, asking me about my life in India. They told me about their own lives, we bonded over our unusual stories. As I grew into my teens, I came to appreciate the vibrant city I lived in. The crowded metro stations with the Chinese signs terrified me at first, but now felt like second nature. The men who claim to give you a good price on bootleg DVDs because “You’re beautiful,” are in fact overcharging you. In the mornings, the bridge over the Huangpu river is the way to go, but in the afternoons the tunnel is invariably faster.
When I was 16, my father relocated back to India with his family in tow. This time, I was excited for my new adventure. I joined the international school to finish off the remainder of high school, and through the people I met there I was able to experience India a way I never had before. When college applications came around, I applied to the George Washington University because of it’s incredibly diverse student body, and I spent 4 incredible years in Washington DC, a place that was on the other side of the world from my family, a country I had never lived in before, a city I had never been to before, on my own for the first time ever, meeting people from all over the world and every rung of life and hearing their stories.
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I was born on a pleasant November morning in New Delhi. My parents had been hoping for a girl to compliment their 3 year old son. Pre-natal sex determination was, and still is, illegal in India. My mother’s blood pressure surged during her C-section, the doctor yelled at the nurse to put her under but my mother yelled even louder, “Is it a girl?” I was. She smiled and went to sleep. Whenever I hear that story, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be who I am. The odds were against me, a girl in India. My family wanted me instead of thinking of me as a burden, they sent me to college instead of marrying me off, they told me that I could do anything I wanted.
I owe everything to my father. He came from an extremely modest family, a chubby dyslexic boy who was always dubbed as the ‘slow’ kid. He defied all expectations by attending a prestigious engineering college. He was the first person ever to be hired by Unilever from his school. He diligently worked his way up the corporate ladder, sacrificing so much of himself so he could set up his children for success. We began to move into bigger houses, buy bigger TVs, plan fancier vacations. When everything was going perfectly, my dad came home early one day, something he never did, smiling. He announced that he was getting promoted and we were moving to Shanghai. I was devastated, at the age of 12, having spent 8 years in the same school with the same people the last thing I wanted to do was move to China. I never thought it would be the best thing that ever happened to me.
My first day in the Shanghai international school was terrifying. I had spent months perfecting an American accent, looking up American fashion trends, trying to blend in seamlessly. At my old school, differences were mocked. I soon realized however, that the international community valued differences. The other kids were fascinated, asking me about my life in India. They told me about their own lives, we bonded over our unusual stories. As I grew into my teens, I came to appreciate the vibrant city I lived in. The crowded metro stations with the Chinese signs terrified me at first, but now felt like second nature. The men who claim to give you a good price on bootleg DVDs because “You’re beautiful,” are in fact overcharging you. In the mornings, the bridge over the Huangpu river is the way to go, but in the afternoons the tunnel is invariably faster.
When I was 16, my father relocated back to India with his family in tow. This time, I was excited for my new adventure. I joined the international school to finish off the remainder of high school, and through the people I met there I was able to experience India a way I never had before. When college applications came around, I applied to the George Washington University because of it’s incredibly diverse student body, and I spent 4 incredible years in Washington DC, a place that was on the other side of the world from my family, a country I had never lived in before, a city I had never been to before, on my own for the first time ever, meeting people from all over the world and every rung of life and hearing their stories.
