Defining Diversity
Lancaster University is reasonably diverse because it clearly promotes the importance of studying abroad. For a fair amount of students, English is not their first language. On my hall, there are students from Ukraine, Poland, Israel, Japan, and China. My friends from the United States also very diverse, come from many differing racial backgrounds, and can speak more than one language. My two English friends are well traveled, have lived in Whales, France, Holland, The United States, Ireland, and Corsica.
Although this all might sound fairly impressive, I don’t necessarily believe that living in many different areas in the world makes a person diverse. I believe it’s more so about a willingness to experience new aspects of culture, a readiness to learn, and the ability to acknowledge that you don’t know much. In saying that, I do believe I am in a diverse living situation here at Lancaster. My friends and I have a great thirst to understand differing cultures and ways of life. We share family, religious, and personal traditions of various holidays. We learn from each others’ beliefs and thus both solidify our own convictions and adopt new ones. It is a wonderful feeling be okay with the knowledge that I do not know everything and simply embrace diversity.