5 Paragraphs
Race
Growing up I played sports and attended many schools. I have also lived in another country! This exposed me to many different cultures, and areas that consist of people of different races than my own. This being said, I never treated or looked weirdly at people who are a different race than me, because I grew up around so many races. Although this was the case for me, I did learn as I got older how people who were not White (specifically Black people) were not also looked at as equals. As I have gotten older, and especially from my classes over the years at Longwood, I definitely know how inequality is still a HUGE issue.
Class
While taking Dr. Pederson’s class a person’s “class” was really focused on. While conducting a research study in Farmville in her class, the study showed first hand how much of a role a persons “class” plays a in adolescent education. Say a person is considered “upper class”, this means that this person has resources and can afford resources in order to help their child’s education. Resources that can help a child’s education are things such as tutoring, money for supplies (laptop, calculator etc.), family support, and so much more. As you can see, money is the main factor for class. This is a great example of inequality happening right now. How can one child not have access to so much, yet another child can have access to tutors, a laptop, and so much more.
Gender
One of the first things that comes to mind to me when thinking of gender is inequality. The reason being, recently gender has had one of the biggest spotlights on it. When most people are young they mess around and are told/or tell people you “kick like a girl” for example. This phrase itself is comparing woman to men, and is basically saying woman cant kick hard/far like men can. Since coming to Longwood gender inequality has seen some milestone what could be call accomplishments/victories, but in all honestly it should only be the start of woman being treated has equals. An example of this is the USA woman’s soccer team. Recently, the USA woman’s soccer team just one a court case that made national tv as they had their payed upped. This is due to them making significantly less than the men’s team.
Disability
Growing up I worked with children with “special needs”, most of the children I worked with had some form of autism. I loved working with them because they had a passion for what they were learning and did, and always showed determination in what they did. I learned so much from everyone I worked with there. This being said, not everyone looked at the people in these classrooms how I did. I looked at them as human beings, the same as me, just different. I truly believe everyone is different, making them unique and special, I mean come on how boring would it be if everyone was the same. With this said, many of my peers looked down on these people and did not treat them as equals, in fact, some would mock and make fun of them. Sense coming to Longwood my views have stayed the same, but matured and enhanced. I now know how crucial educating people on disabilities are. Even if it’s someone who has Dyslexia, knowing that they learn different and thats okay, but we are all unique and have different ways of learning.
Sexuality
Sexuality is a highly discussed topic, and is in the media a lot. When most people are young you hear phrases like “that’s so gay” if someone does something even if what the person is doing is not. The reason for this is because culturally many people are in a relationship with a person of the opposite sex, or at-least thats what considered as “normal” to most of society. What i like about Longwood is everyone can be there-self. You see a woman holding hands with another woman, but nothing is said, at least from the people I’m around. This is refreshing because i have a cousin who is Lesbian, and although i do not know what it is like to hear things that are said to hear every now and again or the weird looks she gets often, i do know that it probably doesn’t feel good. There are many movements know that are surrounding the topic of sexuality, whether it’s to do with same sex couples or weather its to do with transgender people. I do know that during my time at Longwood like every other topic i’ve learned how to talk about the topic in a “smart” way. I also know that education like every other topic is so important when bringing light to this and every other topic mentioned.
How do I see my changing views about issues related to inequality, potentially affecting my career?
I believe my career will be heavily affected in a positive and negative way, whichever people want perceive what I believe or say. For me this is okay. Knowing what I believe and what I “stand for” is so important. This makes me apart of who I am. I’ll be damned if I give into just “following the crowd”. It’s okay to be different, and I know everything I may believe or say might not be right, but what I do know is I have a great heart, I care for people and want to make a positive impact on those around me.