Lexi Czupik

Business
Pathways
Vicki Forcina
February 9, 2017

Diversity and Inclusion Reflection

Upon meeting someone new first impressions and preconceived

notions help form somebodys opinion about you. Forming a judgement

about people before meeting them is unavoidable. That is the way society

has taught people to behave. Millennials embrace acceptance and preach to

one another about being open minded, yet still form preconceived notions on

others, creating quite a paradox.

Foreigners, who are new to America, probably have many preconceived

notions and opinions about Americans. Their preconceived notions probably

reflect stereotypes about everything in America being supersized from the

people to the houses. From a high school students point of view, college is

seen as the ultimate freedom to binge drink and to do as they please as

often as desired. Even though, that is quite the opposite, as a college

student, one is strapped down with a heavy load of responsibility. However,

in both scenarios, the outsiders are basing their assumptions on stereotypes

or a single story so to say.

In my lifetime, people have only accepted a single story about me in

many situations. Everybody in their adolescent years undergoes some sort of

hardship. My hardship happened to be an eating disorder. I am very open

about the fact that I dealt with having an eating disorder. It is something I

overcame, and no longer struggle with, so I am no longer ashamed about the

fact that I had one. I have a tattoo of the eating disorder symbol on my

ankle. Whenever people ask what my tattoo represents, I must explain the

whole process of having Anorexia. People do not talk about eating disorders

or mental health often. Those who struggle with eating and mental disorders

often keep quiet about it to avoid judgement. Whenever I tell people about

having an eating disorder, they make many assumptions based off common

stereotypes circulating about eating disorders. People assume that I do not

eat or that I am bulimic, which is far from the truth. At a restaurant with a

group of people who know about my struggles, I notice people watching how

much I eat and if I go to the bathroom after I eat to puke. That saddens me,

and makes me feel like an animal in a cage at the zoo that people observe. I

feel like the only way to change that assumption based off the single story

I have told people, is for them just to get know me better.

Growing up, I had preconceived notions about the Lesbian, Gay,

Bisexual, Transsexual, and Queer community. Entering my senior year of

high school, one of my closest friends who I had been friends with

throughout my entirety of high school came out to my friend group as

bisexual. Before her coming out, I had never assumed she was bisexual. She

now has a girlfriend, who is also from our high school, and they have
completely shifted my opinion about the LGBTQ community for the better.

They have taught me that love is love. That their love, even if it is between

two girls, is just as real, justifiable, and beautiful, as if it were between a man

and a woman. She has shown me what it means to have courage and

humility, and to stay strong even during moments of harsh judgement. I feel

like our friendship is very one sided as I have learned more from her, than

she has from me.

The danger in accepting a single story, is facing the reality that you

may be missing out on somebody great who could completely alter your life.

Why should you let a preconceived notion about somebody stop you from

interacting with a person or lead you to treat them differently. If people

choose to act on the preconceived notions that they have adopted from the

single story about a person, then they are the idiotic ones. The ones who

should be ashamed of themselves. People should see the beauty in diversity

that makes up humanity.

As a college student, I witness people accepting a single story about

a group of people all the time. At the University of Cincinnati, we are very

culturally diverse. However, most ethnicities continue to hang out with

people as the same race as themselves. African Americans hang out with

African Americans. Indian and Asian Exchange students hang out with other

Indian and Asian exchange students. Since the groups that people hang out
with are so structured already, I feel as if I should stick to my designated

friend circle who is predominantly white. However, I am not opposed to

hanging out with people of other races.

The world would be such a beautiful place if, groups of people could

create bridges between the gaps that separate us as humans. I feel that

should be human races ult1imate goal. We are such a stronger force, when

we stand together in unity.