Diversity

Looking for something in Google Docs today, and totally found this.

One of her essays for admission.   Cry along with me.

Q- West Point and the Army are committed to the idea that respect for others and an understanding of diversity are important leadership traits. Why will you be successful in working with leaders, peers, and subordinates of a gender, color, ethnicity, and/or religion different from your own?

As a child I was taught that everyone is equal no matter their color, ethnicity, religion, or culture. I have wondered why people try to find the negatives in our differences, rather than using those differences as advantages to make our society stronger. Diversity is capable of being a huge strength in our world, and should be seen as something that makes us stronger, rather than something that breaks us down.   

I have grown up with a single mom who has inspired me to be anything I can imagine.  She has always told me I can do big things, and has taught me there are no limits to become anything and everything I want to be. As a single mom, she is very independent compared to other women that I have met. She brings home the only paycheck, she cooks our meals, she helps us with our homework, and she teaches us who we can grow up to be. I know that I am capable of doing anything because I have been raised by a mom who does everything, and has taught me to be an extraordinary woman, person, and leader.

When I turned 13 years old my mom decided she wanted to foster children. It was heavy on her heart to help the kids who have no home and were living in city shelters. My first foster sibling’s name was Gina and she was 11 years old when she arrived. She is Vietnamese and grew up in a home where they completely followed the Vietnamese culture. She was very different from me and it honestly took some getting used to at first. To have someone who came from a completely different culture, ripped out of their house and thrown into yours is a very hard experience for everyone involved. Gina was inconsolable the first day and wanted to leave the minute she arrived, but once we found her brothers, Steven, age 7, and Zachary, age 3, and were able to move them in as well, they became our family and never left. After their parents gave up their rights, my mom adopted Gina, Steven, and Zachary two years later, and it has been such an awesome experience growing up with them. Although we came from different backgrounds and cultures, we became a family fairly quick because we all wanted the same outcome: for them to have a better and safer life.

I know that I will be successful in working with people of different gender, color, ethnicity, and religion apart from my own because I have experience with different cultures, even in my own household, and I could not be more excited to work in a diverse atmosphere such as West Point. I know I will respect everyone I meet at West Point, because I respect them already for making the courageous decision to attend such an amazing school. If given the opportunity, I will feel so honored to work with anyone there, no matter what their background is, because I know we will all be there for the same reason: to become the best leaders possible for the United States Army.