We should look at the differences of the world and try to learn from them. All
people have their good points and bad points. We live in a world that is not all
white, all black, or not even all yellow. We live in a world where all races
interact among themselves. The university in the United States is where this is
easily seen. At the university, we see people of all color and ethnicity from
our neighborhoods and from around the world. This is the place, where we are
hoped to be forged into begins that will be a contribution to the world that we
live. But to be a good contributor to the world, we have to know who lives among
us in the world and why we are different. This is where the university plays an
interracial part in shaping the future. The university forms a miniature version
of the world we live in. Because the university represents the diverse world we
live in, the uniersitry gives the futures of the world a good base to learn, to
experience, and take advantage of the strengths of the different races in their
miniature world to help them to become better members of society. In our
neighborhood, we live among many people. Not all the people in our neighborhood
are the same as you or I. Down the block there is a black family, and around the
corner, there might be an Indian couple living in the red brick house. There
might be a Korean family that just moved into neighborhood. But do we know them;
do we know how they live or what their impressions of the neighborhood are that
we share? Most likely we have only seen them in the morning when we are getting
into our cars to go to work or seen then as they were walking back to their
homes from the T stop. We probably do not know if they are interested in the
same things as you are, such as the safety of the neighborhood, or a nice
baseball game? Most people do not know the other culture that resides in their
neighborhoods. The university gives most people the opportunity to talk and get
to know people of other cultures, for hardly any class we take are only full
white students or only full of black student. One might have the opportunity to
sit between a Spanish person and a Japanese person and find out they all enjoy a
nice beer on the weekends and happen to have been patrons of the same local bar.
Or from an essay of a classmate, one might find out the Latin Americans are big
fans of soccer. You may even learn the black student in front of you hates rap
music and loves Mozart. From the other students in our class we learn that all
black people are not like all black people, or all white people are not like all
the other white people. This helps us to understand who our neighbors are. In
the multi-cultural universities we attend, we learn about each other’s
strengths and weaknesses through social contact. With this knowledge we can
apply the strength of other cultures and disregard or try to improve in
ourselves the weaknesses we see in other’s or ours cultures. The black student
might find out that the study habits of the Korean students are effective and
try to implement them. The white student might learn that the work habits of the
German people are productive and try to emulate them. The university gives the
opportunity to look at other races at a person level instead of a passer-by. At
the universities, students of all races are evaluated by their performance, not
by the color of their skin. This might not be the best way to evaluate each
other, but it is better then just visual clues. The removal of the color factor
will give a better impression of the strengths and weaknesses of each race. The
multitude of classes that the universities now offer help the students better
understand the differences of the fellow students that attend the same classes.
In the classes we learn that the races have different problems and similar
problems. Such classes help others look at the problems and successes of a
culture in a different perspective. In a class of Asian studies, a student can
learn how a defeated nation after a war, such as Japan, has become an economic
leader in the world. The students can learn how many countries in Asia prospered
at an astronomical rate. The students who study in the classes can learn how to
use the formula of success and stray from the problem of such success to shape
the future that they are preparing to enter. In a class of black studies, a
student can learn about the process of attaining racial equality. Students can
examine the tools that were effective and the tool that were not as effective.
Tools that were violent or illegal for the fight for racial equality can be
modified to be peaceful and more effective in the progress to total equality.
With these studies, we can learn how to effectively prosper and not make the
same mistakes our predecessors have made. We learn that the similar problems can
be solved with different means. Some means are more effective and others are
less. The students have the opportunity to learn this through taking a class on
the other cultures. The university is a great place to learn, not only about
computers, human anatomy, and even math, but a place to learn about the world we
live in, a place where we can learn about the different races and different
problems that they face. The university is a place where we can learn more about
our neighbors. It is also a place where we learn about the strengths and
weaknesses of our neighbors. We also learn how we can use the strength to our
advantage. With the help of the programs and opportunities that the university
offers the students, they can form a good base and progress toward being a
better citizen to the world. This will help everyone move forward in leaps and
bounds to make a better place to live in the fast changing world.