My commitment and passion for diversity permeates the essence of my being.  I have been taught the beauty of diversity my entire life.  My grandmother had five children of her own and adopted seven.  Of those seven children, their ethnicities were different than mine.  My aunts and uncles are Hawaiian, African American, and Vietnamese.  On the other side, my mother’s brother is gay.  From an extremely early age, I was taught that the essence of humankind is that we are all diverse, made of different cloths to create a woven tapestry of the human race. 

Especially being in the health care profession, I can see the importance of embracing diversity.  Our clients are from different cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds.  It is crucial to honor those differences that make each client unique.  My dedication to this topic has been evident in many aspects of my life, including professionally.  In my previous profession, prior to being a full time student, I created a Diversity Awareness Committee.  Within this group, we had speakers educate the staff members about different cultures and ethnicities.  What I found was the greatest barrier to the lack of knowledge is lack of communication.  Bringing in individuals that are willing to discuss their experiences, norms, and intimacies of that particular race or ethnicity created means to discuss the differences and similarities.  This discussion allowed our employees the open and safe environment to learn how to respect someone else that does not necessarily have the same beliefs.  

Being a gay woman also gives me a personal connection to diversity advocacy.  I welcome the occasion when people ask me questions about being a gay woman.  The conversation usually takes place after that person has become comfortable with me.  Afterwards, I can feel the weight lifted off their shoulders, almost as if the fear has dissipated.  I believe fear of the unknown is the fuel of prejudice.  Speaking with someone affords the chance for the ignorance to be educated and therefore, fear lifted. Communication creates the means to overcome the prejudices that often accompany ignorance.

Consciously looking at the people that are closest to me, I am realizing that I embrace diversity at many intimate levels.  My best friend of fourteen years is Arabic.  My partner of three years is Hispanic.  Moving from New York to Texas, I have been made acutely aware of the necessity to promote and educate diversity in all sanctions of life.  The way I see it is; ignorance feeds fear, fear feeds prejudices, prejudice feeds separateness, and separateness feeds hatred.  I am dedicated to changing society to; education feeding knowledge, knowledge feeding acceptance, acceptance feeding togetherness, and togetherness feeding love of humankind.  I realize I am just one person with big dreams to change society, but I believe that the health care field presents numerous opportunities to change society one person at a time.