Unveiling Diversity: That Photo Isn't As Perfect As it Seems

Diversity is beautiful. In name, it fosters an environment of liberal exchange, intercultural understanding, and as cheesy as it sounds, world peace. It has become so crucial to symbolizing inclusion that every school newsletter must include their student nationalities, in such detail comparable to food labels on instant noodle packages -- forced and artificial.

Here at United World Colleges, we breath diversity: 80 nationalities living side by side, finding home in this foreign city. "UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." Like many, I was drawn to the UWC mission, but the reality is must more raw, uncomfortable, and ambiguous.

We were not expecting to have lunch with someone from a rival country; we were not prepared to dance to foreign beats. We were not raised to hear prayers of another religion; we were not taught to befriend our political enemies. Yet we have, through much effort and sometimes chance, strived to understand what we've been conditioned to avoid.

Diversity brews conversation. From two hour rooftop talks about the hijab to Friday night debate about marriage; from heated confrontations about gender to cultural appropriation of music, we continue to question our own standards while grasping another we've been told to be false. To realize, that a can of beer doesn't make one sinful, just as restraint from alcohol does not make one weak. Embracing sexual freedom should not be shameful, just as abstinence should not be mocked. "Whining" at a party should not be frowned upon, the same way cluelessly jumping up and down (all I can do) should not be teased. Despite our initial judgment, we can not force any puzzle piece to fit in a defined frame.

That, in its essence, is the lesson of diversity: not to unite, but to unveil our cultured beliefs and embrace a spectrum of values and standards. By recognizing we are more than our stereotypical selves, we can learn to see people as individuals, not just representatives of their religion, race, gender identity and more. In the same sense, we can be more than the labels on our skin. We can change.

It is equally vital to realize that in the process of change will feel deviated, or as many of us UWCers can relate, "drifting away" from our rooted conceptions. Perhaps one day, when we look into the screen at our home and family, they will seem further away than the distance we traveled, because we have grown into our individuality. Through diverse exposure, we are breaking and mending our own identity, so that we are more than replicas of our culture.

Diversity, of course, does not guarantee harmony. Even in a school founded with the mission of global unison and peace, there will be times one must force a smile, shift in their seats, or conceal their shock when diversity becomes reality. In a world where we are told to avoid the unknown, there is no one to guide us as we navigate what is true or false, sinful or free, baloney, or simply, human. We must carve our own path - through uncomfortable conversations that build and bridge unlikely connections.

Diversity is more than a charming image. It is raw and rare, simple yet puzzling. Being a UWC student means more than smiling in a school photo advertising for peace, but to challenge yourself to new perspectives, as guilty, bewildering, odd, and opposing they seem. We have to strive to be truthful, because UWC is no utopia, far from it. It is painful to shatter an image, but hey, we didn't leave our homes as teenagers and come to a foreign country for nothing right? Only by uncovering the reality can we grow, only by unveiling diversity can we progress, a step at a time towards the budding hope of harmony.