<p>So I’m starting to write my Diversity essay. I’m not diverse, I’m a middle class suburban white girl, so clearly it will have to be about an encounter with diversity. I am having a hard time coming up with topics, but I was wondering if anyone could share with me if they think these are really cliche and I should keep looking, or just settle for them…
My oldest friend (Since I was 2) is persian, her parents came here from iran, and since I was always at her house, things like speaking a different language at home, celebrating ramadan, etc. always seemed really natural to me even at the age of 5 etc. I could talk about some time I realized how I was more accepting of others because I had been exposed to diversity, but that’s not really an encounter, is it?</p>
<li>I did an exchange to Spain this summer so I could write about that, just picking some event b/c there were lots. Seems really cliche though, and also my best friend who applied to whitman ed also did an exchange to spain this past summer and wrote about it for her essay. so that’d seem kinda weird, haha.</li>
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<p>ok so are either of these topics possible? i’d love to hear your thoughts. thanks!</p>
<p>When I applied last year (I am a first yr) I wrote about the fact that I <em>am</em> a white, upper middle class, suburban girl, and that I am <em>not</em> diverse in the terms that we typically measure diversity - skin color, race, ethnicity, etc., but I am different in my personality - my love of learning and scientific curiosity. Slightly on a tangent, I believe that diversity does not have to be measured by only race/ethnicity - I think geographical and socioeconomic diversity are more important in a student body.</p>
<p>I was actually thinking of doing something like that (what you did)! but one of my teachers said that wouldn't be a very good idea. Well you kinda changed my mind. :)</p>
<p>I talked to an adcom about this 'diversity' essay topic and expressed my displeasure at it.</p>
<p>She told me she isn't fond of the essay topic herself because many of the submitted essays always focus on 'skin color'. She says the term 'diversity' is so broad that it can be interpreted in anyway way you wish. Don't be afraid to be interpret it differently - Whitman is really open minded.</p>
<p>Also, her quote: "The length of the essay should be long enough to cover the topic but as you
know a long essay means more reading for us. If you can keep in a page that
would be great but I would say probably fewer than two pages."</p>
<p>haha its true
i'm actually starting to write it right now.
i was thinking about writing on "diversity of thought" and i was gonna write about how, since childhood, everyone i've known has been liberal like me, but once i got to high school, there was more of a mixing and i'm really good friends with some conservative people now. i was thinking about saying how important differing views are, because if we only see one side, it's easy to demonize the other, etc.</p>
<p>except, i have 2 questions and i was hoping someone could help me:
1. do you think that the above would be an "encounter"? because it's not really an event. i'm not sure if it exactly falls under either category. ahhhh.
2. nhs-the person you talked to about keeping it within a page, she meant single spaced right? ok thanks!!!!</p>
<p>estrella, check out the Diversity statement on the Whitman website if you haven't. Then address that stuff a little in your essay...I think they want to make sure everyone they let in is going to be supportive and excited about a diverse community.</p>
<p>required essay prompt 2: (theres another essay 1 - required graded analytical paper. plus the commonapp topic of your choice)</p>
<p>Give your personal backgroun, describe a) how you would contribute to fostering diversity and inclusion in the whitman community or b) an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.</p>
<p>Apparently, you don't have to be diverse at all, in any way, to respond to the prompt: the question is what you will contribute to "fostering diversity and inclusion". You can "foster" diversity even if you are not yourself diverse. You can foster inclusion too--and inclusion is on a par with diversity in part a) of the prompt. </p>
<p>On the other hand, one can be a minority in some relevant sense who stays strictly within one's own group. Then one will contribute little or nothing to diversity or inclusion.</p>
<p>So the question presumes that whatever race, culture, religion, socioeconomic status, manner of thinking, etc. that one brings to the college may not mean much unless one actively "fosters" diversity or inclusion.</p>
<p>So how would you "foster" diversity and inclusion?</p>
<p>i wrote something about saying something along the lines of...</p>
<p>if you keep pointing out our differences in an attempt to 'embrace them' - how is it really diverse? when things are diverse race, socioeconomic, etc shouldnt be an issue at all. there would be no need to 'include' yourself.</p>
<p>For this essay I wrote about how encounters with diversity remind us how little superficial differences really matter. Through getting to know people who have different backgrounds and appearances we can learn that there are no real schisms dividing humanity. This realization allows us to discard our prejudices and accept people for who they are.</p>
<p>The diversity essay should be 500 words or less responding to the following statement:
Describe your leadership, work experience, service experience, or other significant involvement with racial, ethnic, socio-economic, or educational communities that have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education, and how these experiences would promote a diversity of views, experiences, and ideas in the pursuit of research, scholarship, and creative excellence. Refer to the Graduate School funding website for more information on these Purdue fellowships and other funding opportunities.To upload a document in response to this question, please click the ‘upload’ button below. If your upload is successful, you will see a ‘view document’ button and a ‘delete’ button appear next to the question.
This is for Purdue, yet now I still have no idea about how to write it. Anyone for help?</p>
<p>Think about diversity based on something other than ethnicity. I think all adcoms like seeing applicants who think outside the box. There is no wrong answer!</p>
<p>Don’t complicate it by looking at a prompt from another school and (it would appear) at the graduate level. </p>
<p>Whitman wants to know what you will bring to the school and asks “What is your concept of diversity, and what experiences have you had that inform your thoughts?” I do think that is awkwardly phrased but I think it is simply meant to create an avenue for hearing about what makes you unique (that is, in some ways diverse from others). It gives you room to talk about any aspect of your individual experience that could bring a novel perspective to the community. At the same time, it should not just be “all about me”–it should also show some reflection on what this experience means for your capacity to respect and include others who are different from you and how it helps you contribute to a larger community in some way.</p>
<p>I’d say don’t be too abstract–rather use it to give them a picture of you, the individual.</p>