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Open Your Mind to the Reality of Diversity

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Jaziree Smith
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Stacey Oswald
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vanderbilt chapter.

 

Hi readers!

Before you read this article, opening the doors/barriers inside of your mind is suggested. Free yourself from the invitation to conform to the reflexive responses to the following questions that seems to be inherently ingrained into our minds.

Now. Think about the word diversity. When seeing or hearing this word, what immediately comes to mind? Why do you think those things come to mind before others? These are important questions in our society as the word DIVERSITY increasingly begins to be integrated into the systematic structures of our everyday lives.

The next word that you should think about is MINORITY. What do you personally believe are the qualifications of being a minority? How often do you encounter minorities in your everyday life?
 
The answers to these kind of questions are often the keys to understanding the dynamics of many quantifiable and unquantifiable elements of our society. This article is meant to inspire reflection. Reflection about the ways in which you as an individual communicate, stigmatize, and analyze people that have diverse characteristics and that are categorically determined as a minority.
 
Please click here and allow the connection between the voices of these students and the answers to the questions listed above to form an umbrella of understanding how they are correlated. This blog will be the first of a series that will slowly allow you as a reader to become introduced to the dynamics of our society that surround these terms. Until next time. Never stop reflecting…
 
 
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Stacey Oswald

Vanderbilt

Stacey Oswald, originally from South Florida, came to Vanderbilt as a member of the class of 2015 and got involved with HerCampus her freshman year. She became assistant editor that year and is now the Campus Correspondent for Vanderbilt HC as a sophomore. Stacey is currently a columnist for Ask Miss A- Nashville and the life section of The Hustler. She's also very involved in her sorority, Kappa Delta, as well as Invisible Children. Outside of school and her extracurriculars, Stacey finds happiness in many sources, the most crucial being exercise and the sun. She loves to attend exercise classes and is an avid runner; she recently completed the Country Music Half Marathon. She also loves Vitamin D, especially when on the beach- though of course, she only soaks up the sun after applying SPF. A few of the things Stacey couldn't live without? Good food (especially from Sweet Cece's, Bricktops, and Samurai Sushi), great books (The Hypnotist's Love Story is a recent favorite), her family back in Florida, her wonderful boyfriend, and all of the great friends she's made at Vanderbilt.