hello, i hope i dont sound too ignorant or problematic
when i was in middle school i went to a school that was probably about 80% filipino (im hispanic) and a lot of my classmates were very cliquish and only hung around people who were of the same race, i was never really treated as one of them, bullied for being light skinned, ect. i had crushes on guys and id get rejected simply because i wasnt the same race. now that im older i understand why they might prefer people who share the same experiences even though i think we have similar cultures but it still feels bad to be rejected from an entire community. anyways.
then high school was the first time i saw white people in my classroom, though still a healthy diverse mix and this time people were more accepting and less cliquish. i joined key club, which was pretty fun. however whenever we’d go to key club events with other schools, everyone was asian and once again i felt that cliquish vibe and the feeling that i was never going to be welcomed with open arms or treated as a fellow equal or friend. and i know this is probably a stereotype but a lot of people from key club flocked to uci (and explicitly said it was because of the high asian population)
so im just wondering if UCI will be as cliquish as i fear it might be. i dont mean to be problematic or anything, it’s just that i really do want to be their friends but i feel like ill never truly be allowed to be a best friend or close friend to anyone simply because of my race. i expect people might be nice for a while but you’ll never be allowed to “move up” into a closer friendship sphere, you’ll always be treated as this outsider/stranger.
and i know there are stereotypes about “they stick to their kind” so i hope im not perpetuating that stereotype. tbh i only heard of that stereotype just now when i googled more things about this topic, but i want to reiterate that i get this impression from my own personal experiences and i apologize if i offended anyone it was not my intention.
it sucks cuz i dont really fit in with fellow latinos either because i look too caucasian. but i dont fit in with white people because im not white either. im a transfer student so at my current school it’s pretty diverse, i pretty much just make friends with anyone who happens to be in my class and culture never seems to be a problem. everyone is pretty driven academically (i go to a CCC so i can’t stay here for 4 years) and that seems to be the thing that connects us. is UCI an intellectual campus? do people genuinely love learning and discussing science or research or academia in their free time with people?
i think UCI seems like a beautiful campus and has solid sciences, but i sort of always wrote it off out of fear of being socially discriminated against.
can someone please offer some insight? and please call me out on any problematic misconceptions i may have, i want to be educated.