I moved around frequently as a child, going wherever my mom would take my older sister and me. My parents had been divorced since I was two, so it was just the three of us. We would randomly switch houses, states, schools, and be constantly making new friends. I don’t remember a whole lot of the schools, but the one that sticks out the most was a private-christian school in Mobile, Alabama. We attended this one from third to fifth grade which was a long time period being in one school for us.

For thousands of years, women have been oppressed. For thousands of years, women have carried the burdens of stereotypes and unrealistic expectations.

At 25 years old, the echoes of racial commentary still resound in my life. It’s a reality that echoes not just for me but also for my parents, deeply entrenched in the working class where racial slurs seem to find fertile ground. Their narrative, etched by a lack of educational opportunities due to the struggles of mastering English, intersects with mine, shaped by the privilege of pursuing higher education.

In this division lies a personal revelation: education serves as a beacon, illuminating the path toward understanding and combating racial discrimination. Witnessing firsthand the disparity between my parents’ experiences and my own highlights the significant influence of educational opportunities on how diversity is perceived.

Continue reading Educational Divide Shapes Understanding of Diversity – by Heather Kounthapanya →

My journey of self-discovery and cultural identity unfolds in Grandview, Tennessee, a gorgeous area filled with nature, wildlife, and a beautiful mountain view. My parents, hailing from Michoacan, Mexico, immigrated to the United States with little to no knowledge of English, along with my two older brothers, before I was born. As the first US born citizen in my family, I was introduced to a world that was a blend of Mexican heritage and the new American life. 

Continue reading Embracing Culture – by Alondra Mejia-Rendon →

It all started with a car accident that my mother was in while she was pregnant with me. My mom and dad were rear-ended that caused the seatbelt to tighten up on my mom’s stomach which inevitably tore her placenta. She was rushed to the hospital where I was born about a month before my due date. I was born a healthy baby, just smaller than the others in the nursery. 

Fast forward about seven or eight years my mom noticed that I started to walk a little differently that normal. It was nothing too serious, it started off with me just walking on my tippy toes. Then I started to fall, like a lot. Finally, it progressed into me walking hunched over and with a limp. My mom, a nurse, put her medical knowledge to use to try to figure what could possibly be going on with me but it was no use. She couldn’t figure out what the problem was so we did what any sane person would do and went to the doctor. My primary care physician looked at me, and he was just as lost as we were. 

Continue reading Living with a Disability Shaped Me – by Jasmyne White →

I never understood the significance of women empowerment until the lack of it inadvertently affected me. 

I was raised in a two-parent household, where all of the attention was devoted to me and my sister. My dad taught us how to treat others, he always treated my mother with respect and wanted nothing but the best for his daughters. He led by example and allowed us to express ourselves and our femininity freely, which as I’ve grown up, I’ve realized that most men don’t do. My mother was also an excellent parent, she was the breadwinner of the family, teaching my sister and I how to be independent and take care of ourselves. Like my father, she also wanted nothing but the best for us, and was always there when we needed her. 

Continue reading A Girl’s Experience – by Jana Pursley →

Once upon a time, in a beautiful garden, there existed blooms of all hues and sizes in blissful harmony. A group of flower friends soaked up the sun every day in their same patch of peaceful land. On this land lived Rosemary Rose, Donna Daisy, Fran Fern, Heather Hydrangea, and Lila Lavender. Their closeness and bond are what nurtured this patch of land and caught the attention of many ongoing spectators. Every day the flowers continued to grow and spread their seed among the patch of land.

Life was seemingly perfect, that is until one dark cloud gathered over the friend’s patch of land and later that day a storm blew through the peaceful garden causing chaos. In the midst of the storm, the group of flowers were ripped from their patch and strewn all over the landscape.

Continue reading The Diversity Garden – by Sammy Mckenzie →