Defining Diversity
There is so much diversity in Washington. What I mean by diversity is the abundance of international families living here. Whether you are on Embassy row and meet the ambassador’s family from Denmark, or walking the corridors of a Smithsonian Museum, not a day goes by that I do not hear a foreign language being spoken. I have always been interested in learning about other cultures and meeting people from around the world; and I have had the opportunity to do so in the Washington Semester Program because of the large number of international students enrolled in the program. I love just sitting down with these students over lunch or coffee and learning about where they grew up and see how their upbringing was different from American life. My mother is from Germany, making me a German citizen. I was not always so appreciative of this because I did not like being different as a kid. I did not like how my mother would speak German to me in front of my friends or bake German cookies for Christmas—I wanted to be American. But as I got older I realized how advantageous it was that I was German. I mean, I could travel to Germany any time I wanted and visit family; I could speak another language; and I was able to experience another culture. Over the years I have come to terms with my heritage and have totally embraced my German ethnicity. I realized that being different is not a bad thing and I actually like being different—I think it makes me the unique person I am today.