WSU--Diverse, but not in Hometown

My experience with diversity at WSU has been pretty broad. I associate with many people who would agree that we are more different than alike. My grad classes have not been ethnically diverse, but in terms of beliefs, customs, and stages of life they are. In terms of diversity, my experience with WSU is that diversity is encouraged, promoted, and extended as an opportunity. I am comparing this with my undergrad experience at BYU which was ultimately, not very diverse. Most people are of the same religion and despite the fact that many were from out of the country and most were out of state, having the same religious beliefs made us more alike than different. Unlike WSU, BYU students were mostly in their early twenties and late teens. WSU serves a variety of ages. The way in which I find WSU not as diverse as BYU is that most are from around this area. Here at Weber, people often ask what high school you went to. At BYU, most were from out of state and that question was rarely asked. There were differences at BYU in state customs etc. but that common religious belief made people feel more alike than different. Also, at BYU most did very well in school. The average ACT was a 28. At Weber, some excelled in high school, while some did very poorly. Although there are more people from the same area at Weber, I have felt that diversity is more wide here because beliefs, cultures, age, academic success etc. vary so much here.

As employees of the writing center, we need to understand that we serve everyone on campus and that we will serve people who are different in language, gender, ethnicity, cultural customs, religion, or social economic class than we are familiar with. Tutoring English 955, I see a diverse array of students. Many are coming back to school for the first time in twenty years. Some never graduated high school. Many have been working with hands on jobs for many years. Some have never read a book. We need to be accepting of people who are different than us. As we read writing which often explores sides we do not agree with, we should look at what they say with an open mind and remember that everyone is different. Tutoring at WSU has helped open my eyes to how diverse this campus really is and has helped me embrace diversity.