What is diversity? Diversity is when a group of different races and cultures come together in one environment. I think diversity is something everyone should learn about at some point in their lives. Diversity is a concept that has played a very important role in my life, especially growing up in a community that wasn't very diverse and transitioning to a community where the school system embraced diversity to the fullest. Having introduced diversity into my life during my high school years, I was able to expect change as a positive thing and realize that race is a physical characteristic and does not make you who you are, develop a new thought process and new points of view and I was able to comfortably interact with people different from me and make new friends. When I was little, I spent a lot of time with my family and the local kids who grew up on my street and I grew up in a small town that was mostly populated by African Americans or blacks; there were barely any whites or other races. So in a way you could say this was all I knew growing up. Even though we grew up doing many different activities like dance and music lessons, I was always surrounded by families and children like me. When I was younger I remember seeing other kids who were different from me but I never talked to them and I kind of kept my distance from them. Since I started school and even though in middle school I went to school with people I knew even though there were other races (mostly white), we never really mixed the two groups. There was a period of separation between the two and I never thought this was a problem. When I entered high school my mother had decided to move to a new city. The first day I... I'm in the center of the card... and I feel more comfortable with it. By the time the paper was finished, Jen and I had become really good friends, actually best friends. And only by writing that document and taking the time to get to know someone who was different from me was I able to meet a friend. Once I did all this, I became a more open person and started joining different clubs like the International Student Alliance. I wanted to know more about other people's cultural backgrounds and where they came from. I also had the chance to join other students on a mission trip to another country and emerge into a different culture. It all started with a simple article about another student that helped me open up to others who were different than me. Through these experiences I have gained a new thought process and perspectives on others different from me. I finally gained many new friends that I will always have.