Cultural Diversity Essay Winners
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Club Unique and Charger Press organized a Cultural Diversity Personal Essay Contest. The winners have been announced, determined by the feedback of eight judges. Each essay was assessed based on three criteria: voice, organization, and idea development. Here are the top three entries:
Cultural Diversity: Challenge and Opportunity by Zen Nagao
A few years ago, I visited my mother’s side of the family in her hometown of Osaka, in Japan. Because Osaka is a city known for its rich culture in comedy, everyone would huddle around the tv and laugh hysterically at comedians all the time. Inconveniently, Osaka is also known for people speaking much quicker and in a different dialect than the rest of Japan. Resultantly, I listened to comedians for hours while not understanding a single joke the rest of my family were raving about. Having to coordinate when I start laughing, when I stop laughing, and how hard I laugh, it was exhausting. Although I was constantly surrounded by family during the trip, I started to feel all alone. As I was able to understand everything said in America, I realized that I have been taking communication for granted. Before, a simple interaction between two people was something I have never thought twice about. Losing that ability made me appreciate the convenience of communication. As I kept watching these comedians, I found myself starting to genuinely laugh at their jokes. Although it took a week of continuous stand up jokes, I finally understood what the comedians were saying. Being able to truly laugh with my family and share an interest in something was more rewarding than I could have ever imagined.
Although it wasn't vital for me to understand the culture and dialect of Osaka since I was only there for vacation, I cannot imagine how difficult it would be for me to live there. Having to assume what the cashier at the grocery store said, repeating my order to the waiter at restaurants, and losing confidence in my speaking as a whole, everyday tasks would become a nerve racking event every time. Unfortunately, these experiences are relatable to many people—one being my mom. Whenever she would talk to someone in English, she would get quieter every time someone asked her to repeat what she was saying. Regardless of whether the recipient was rude or not, she would feel the need to apologize for her poor English. Afterwards, I would make fun of her pronunciation—mainly by mocking her. At the time, it seemed like harmless joking as it is no surprise to her that her English isn't very audible. Ever since the trip to Japan where I have struggled in the same way my mom has, I have stopped making fun of her English. A person can only navigate through so many cultures until they start to struggle. Based on my experience, to intensify the struggle that comes with cultural diversity is the equivalent of kicking a man when he's down.
However, there are opportunities that come with cultural diversity as well. For example, I have competed in a Japanese speech competition with people all over the midwest region. The speech I performed is the Japanese version of the story about my journey in enjoying Japanese comedy during my vacation. I placed 4th in the competition—which I only got to participate in due to my dual cultural background. Not only that but this essay contest as well is an opportunity for people with cultural diversity. There are opportunities that only people with cultural diversity get to participate in and some that they don't get to participate in. This essay contest has taught me how important it is for culturally diverse people to take advantage of those opportunities in order to outweigh the struggles that come with cultural diversity.
2. Cultural Diversity: Challenge and Opportunity (When Two Worlds Collide) by Maxine Thao
As a person with cultural differences in many different aspects, I came to face a lot of challenges, racial comments, slurs, and facial expressions. Although those situations were difficult to deal with as a human being, none of those challenges will ever compare to me facing a cultural difference between not just one person but a whole other world.
I am a Hmong American, and this is my story. Both my grandparents and parents are Asian immigrants who immigrated from Laos to America due to the Vietnam War. My childhood was very different from the norm of American stereotypes, but as an innocent child, you're not aware of your differences from others. At least not yet.
The first day of elementary school is supposed to be fun and exciting. I was excited, from the bottom of my blue and pink sparkly light-up shoes to my pretty little pink bows clipped onto my pigtails. Little did I know that the second my sparkly light-up shoes stepped foot into that school, it would only be the beginning of challenges in this whole other world. In my first year of elementary school, I couldn't understand why all these kids were equivalent to one another, and I wasn’t. Every kid spoke the same language, comprehended information quicker, and found common interest in each other more. I was just the new girl with long black hair that every girl loved playing with, and then the girl who nobody could understand, the girl who always brought in weird snacks or who dressed weirdly. My entire elementary school years were dedicated to me trying to catch up to all the other kids, leaving multiple times in the day for other extra classes, bringing in regular snacks, and dressing more normally.
In the blink of an eye, I was about to start my first day of middle school, feeling like a new person getting a fresh start. I finally got out of ELA classes and academically caught up to most average students in my grade. I wore trendy clothing, brought the same popular American snacks, and talked with the same accent and slang as everyone else. To only figure out I was and will never be like every other kid.
The definition of normal conforming to a standard or stereotype. When you face a crucial cultural difference between you and the rest of the world, the first human instinct is to surrender and become the norm. Throughout the years of school, I did everything I could to become the norm, but it began to make me an outcast in my culture. Slowly, through the years, I started losing touch with my native language and became ashamed of my cultural roots. Experiencing racial criticism from a building filled with people within the majority created my mindset to believe that being different was a bad thing. It made me feel obligated to change my pure self and erase where I came from.
To this day, I find myself in situations where I try to be like the rest of the world but end up in the same situation as before. Every day facing a wall between two worlds clashing with one another is exhausting, but it is also a rare blessing to experience. An experience that forcefully took my innocence during my years that were supposed to be filled with happiness and laughter, but instead happiness was embarrassment, and laughter was out of judgment. Overall, experiencing a cultural difference between myself and a whole other world was and is still crucial. Still, I thank this experience for making me one of the few who understands the feelings of being an outsider. It's a lifetime experience that has made me feel more grateful for my differences than my similarities.
3. Living Harmoniously Amidst Cultural Diversity by Maliha Aroush
Head covering, headscarf, veil, hijab. All these describe types of pieces of cloth religious women wear to cover themselves. While the head coverings you see on the Nuns of a church and women of Islamic countries may look different, all these women are striving to achieve the same thing: purity, modesty, and the happiness of God. Personally, I would like to delve into my hijab journey and the behavior of my peers as I matured as a Muslim and further developed my love for my god, Allah.
This brief story begins on the day of my middle school graduation, when I showed up, rather hesitantly, in front of my whole grade including their families wearing a hijab for the first time. Sure, I had worn it before, but only in front of my close friends and family. I expected to be stared at, goggled, and judged, completely singled out and alone in front of all the laughing cliques of people hanging out before the ceremony. I never expected what happened afterwards. My friends ran up to me and congratulated me, and my teachers complimented my hijab? Instead of feeling paranoid and lonely, they made me feel I was born to wear a hijab, born to showcase my love for my faith publicly, proudly, passionately. This is the exact moment when I realized nothing would change about the way people see me and treat me, because they could see the amount of courage I had to muster to wear my hijab.
It hasn’t even been a full year since I have become a hijabi, but (surprisingly) the lack of “special” treatment and judgment I receive in high school and my public life cements my belief that you can and will be respected and shown kindness by the people who realize you are not different from them, that you are willing to give the same in return. My hijab has grounded me up and away from irrational beliefs and irrational people, shown me what it is like to let go of the fear of what others think about me, and I feel that it has shaped my life for the better.
In conclusion, while the reactions of my peers were positive, encouraging, and uplifting, my fears beforehand are shared with millions of girls and teenagers around the world. Having to muster up the courage to display your faith in a world where Islam is Westernized and defined by terrorist events long before our own birth? That is a feat in itself. I applaud and praise all the women who have to endure criticism and ridicule from their peers regarding their decisions, and I am blessed to not suffer their hardship. God has given them a hurdle to their loyalty to their faith, and Insha’allah (God-willingly), they will prevail through this obstacle onto greater things and a brighter future. All in all, the ability to live together harmoniously is a fate that is decided by the people you choose to listen to and surround yourself with.
