Ryl Diversity Experience

Experience

October 2014

The

Regional Youth Leadership • 300 Buttermilk Pike, Suite 330 • Ft. Mitchell, KY 41017 • 859-578-6398

Diversity Session - Toyota October 7, 2014 Through our teenage years, we will go through many ac4vi4es that are designed to teach us things that will impact our future. As teenagers, there are few things that actually s4ck with us. Either teenagers think they know it all, or things are not important enough.

Diversity day proved this wrong. All of the ac4vi4es we par4cipated in during diversity day le> las4ng impacts on me.

It changed my way of thinking, my perspec4ve on people, and the way I will allow society to influence me.

On diversity day, we par4cipated in an ac4vity that allowed us to think about the way we see ourselves as individuals. It made us really think of what things formed our lives, and what defined us. By picking three things and sharing them, the way I thought of my classmates really changed, as well as what I thought of myself. To some

people, appearance was what defined them, while others chose personality.

The reasoning behind those decisions really told about that person, and made me think whether I could apply that to myself. For example, a classmate chose religion to define him/her. This made me wonder how much of an impact religion had in my life, and how much of it defined who I am. This ac4vity also allowed me to understand that we all see ourselves very different from how other people see us, making ourselves a group of diverse students with diverse viewpoints.

Another ac4vity we par4cipated in allowed us to see all of the stereotypes that influence what we believe. We took part in lis4ng the stereotypes that we have heard before about different groups, even if we didn’t believe them to be true. By lis4ng all of these

[1]

stereotypes, we saw how judgmental society really is, and the impact society and the media have on our thoughts.

By actually lis4ng out all of the stereotypes, we came to the realiza4on that most of them aren’t true, and some of them are actually preMy hurNul. We learned to not judge people without knowing them, even if the media tells us how we should perceive those people. Everyone is different, and stereotypes are just like rumors. Most of them aren’t true, and most of them are as bad as the person it came from.

The last ac4vity we par4cipated in included a discussion. The discussion was on very popular hot topics that all teens are aware of at the moment. The discussion allowed us to see who agreed with the situa4on, who was undecided, and who disagreed. By separa4ng into those three groups,

we got to explain ourselves and why we held the opinion we did. Hearing my peer’s explana4ons really taught me that even though we are all in the same age group, all live in the same tri-­‐state area, and all aMend high school, our opinions are very different. Some of those opinions are based off of strong beliefs, religion, or simply the area we lived in. The disagreements were amazing, and such an interes4ng thing to listen to. Even though we disagreed, we found a way to see each other’s point of view, which is something I believe is essen4al in life; the ability to be able to disagree, but to agree to disagree.

“Even though we disagreed, we found a way to see each other’s point of view, which is something I believe is essential in life; the ability to be able to disagree, but to agree to disagree.”

Cindy Vivar, Winton Woods High School

views or showing us that our views are incorrect. This method really helped bring certain aspects of society into a beMer perspec4ve as far as exposing stereotypes and showing why they are unfair.

Diversity day was a day that enforced acceptance. It taught us to not judge without knowing, and to accept everyone, even if they looked different from us, or even thought differently than us. Diversity day taught us that we are all different colors in a crayon box, and all of the crayons are needed to complete the picture. -­‐ Cindy Vivar, Winton Woods High School

As far as exposing stereotypes goes, it was not as much taking our answers and saying, “Hey, that is a stereotype, you can not do that, it’s judgmental.” It was more of a self-­‐discovery experience because as soon as the sta4s4cs or stories were shared concerning a certain stereotype or certain issue, you realize your mistake and prepare for recognizing the situa4on and stopping yourself from making assump4ons about someone based on race, size, On October 7, I aMended the diversity-­‐ oriented session of the Regional Youth weight, sexual orienta4on, or many Leadership program at the Toyota Plant other factors. in Erlanger, Kentucky. Although we The biggest personal takeaway that I obviously were not able to see the had from the session was as you go mysterious, secret inner workings of through life, you need to think more Toyota, I gained much valuable informa4on from the session regarding about the impact your ac4ons will have diversity. The session not only provided rather than the inten4ons you acted me with new knowledge about society. under. You may be ac4ng under inten4ons of the most genuine good It also challenged me at 4mes and impacted the way I view people that do will, but if this assump4on is incorrect, not live under the same circumstances it could offend the person, in which case your good inten4ons mean as I do. nothing.

A big part of the session was based around asking us ques4ons, seeing what most people thought—whether it was by simply raising hands and speaking aloud, or wri4ng it on a board, et cetera. Once we had given our answers or opinions, sta4s4cs would be provided to us either confirming our [2]

Overall, the session was a wonderful learning experience and I always enjoy progressively learning about my fellow classmates as each session comes and goes. The only thing not men4oned earlier that I would like to address is that I feel as if diversity could be so

much beMer understood if the group of regional youth leaders itself were more diverse. Collec4vely, the group seems to share most of the same financial and social class and seem to have preMy much the same views on most issues. This is not a complaint by any means, however I feel that diversity can be understood to the full extent without real diversity among the group.

Thank you for including me in this program, it is a real privilege and I am looking forward to the rest of the school year. Ian Brolley, Holmes High School I found Diversity Day to be very impacNul mostly because it made me think about my own personal beliefs and stance on the diversity subjects that were discussed. I am not faced with a lot of diversity conflicts in my everyday life considering the school I aMend, where I live, and the ac4vi4es that I par4cipate in, but at the same 4me, I know that the conflicts are out there. This session allowed me to further my understanding and personal a_tude toward diversity.

Diversity Day opened my eyes to the real meaning behind diversity and why it is so important. In one ac4vity, we got to visually see the effects of stereotypes, and how there are stereotypes out there about every group of people. The most impacNul part of the ac4vity, though, was learning how few people are willing to admit to believing in stereotypes. I learned that it’s not a bad thing to have stereotypes about certain groups, and is preMy much inevitable, but that it is how we act or don’t act upon these stereotypes that really maMers. One story that was told really emphasized this point by showing how the wording of a ques4on can even imply stereotypes,

but by being aware and conscious of stereotypes can help you avoid unrealized implica4ons by simply wording things differently. I found this so interes4ng, and a>er thinking about it more, came to realize how true it was.

Through discussion we got to see our differing opinions on diversity topics.

I always find it interes4ng to hear others thoughts, and found this exercise very helpful in broadening my view on the different topics. By the end of the session I had a whole new respect for diversity and more thoroughly understood its importance. Diversity can be a hard idea to grasp, especially since it is always changing, but it is an important one to get a hold of so a person can more easily foster rela4onships in all aspects of life.

“Tradi4on is frozen success” is one quote from this session that s4ll s4cks with me. Diversity in any amount of ways helps a group move forward, innovate, and succeed. Meredith Glover, Wyoming High School Upon reflec4on of my experience with RYL Diversity Session, I have found that I thoroughly enjoyed this session and realized that the field has much more to it than I originally thought it did. Learning about how different races and groups of people are viewed in society showed the amount of prejudice within our communi4es. A major point I learned was that we make judgments and assump4ons without even realizing we are doing so -­‐ it is in our human nature.

I also found it very interes4ng that we never truly see ourselves. We see ourselves in pictures, or in the mirror, but we never actually see ourselves living our daily lives. This goes for everyone -­‐ we

[3]

see other people and other people see us but we never truly see ourselves. This is why it is so important to make others see us the way we see ourselves and the way we want to be viewed.

It was interes4ng to see that different races of people automa4cally assume that other groups look at them in a certain way. A major factor that we learned about was the idea of stereotypes. For example, those of Asian ethnicity tend to think that others find them to be smart or nerds; some people do believe in this stereotype but not all people. If one person causes a stereotypes an en4re class of people can be affected.

I also found the debate about hot topics to be very interes4ng. Choosing one side versus another in topics that are very relevant to our world today allowed me to see the points of both sides and opened my mind up to different perspec4ves. I tried to push myself in this exercise to make sure I did not go to the unsure side of the group because I wanted to see how dras4cally, if any, my opinion would change based on the other people’s opinions. I was able to both listen to others and advocate my opinion which led to me changing my side of some topics and others valuing my points and switching to my side of the debate. This exercise helped me because it forced me to listen to others, think about what they had to say, and respond with something that supported my side. Sarah Hoffman,

“By the end of the session I had a whole new respect for diversity and more thoroughly understood its importance.”

Meredith Glover, Wyoming High School

what happens or how hard we try, stereotypes are never going to disappear.

The reason being there is always going to be someone who proves the stereotype right, leaving anyone who does not fulfill those shoes to be considered an excep4on. It was neat when we got into groups and discussed the traits that described us to catch myself out of habit filing someone away in a specific category a>er learning things about them, but with this experience I now know beMer. As much as I would love to say that I am never going to stereotype again a>er this experience, I cannot. Although, I am now more conscious of this impulsive thought process and can work towards dismissing stereotypes as they enter my mind. With that all being said, I also enjoyed the “Hot Topics” sec4on of the day.

“Discussing “Hot Topics” with a group of incredibly intelligent young adults was refreshing.”

Kennedy McDermott, Newport Central Catholic High School

The October diversity session at Toyota headquarters was something I thoroughly enjoyed. I chose to write my reflec4on on this session not knowing much about what ac4vi4es we would par4cipate in, but more so knowing how oblivious to diversity I can be. I say with great pleasure that in my weeks following this session I am much more aware of many things.

Something I recognized during my few hours in this session is that I stereotype, a lot. However, I’m not the only one. Everyone stereotypes, and it is so common we rarely even no4ce we are doing it. Something that was said during this session that really stuck with me was how no maMer

TITLE SPONSOR

the perspec4ves of people who think differently than I do, but also why they have those perspec4ves.

There were mul4ple 4mes during these discussions where I had a change of mind about things I was rather stubborn about. The “Hot Topics” sec4on of diversity day taught me to be pa4ent and hear others out, and also to respecNully deliver your opinions with the knowing that not everyone is going to agree with the way you think. This was different, yet extremely useful.

Overall, I think Diversity day was a huge success. I enjoyed our speakers and appreciate them taking the 4me out of their day to teach us valuable lessons. I cannot wait to experience more through the Regional Youth Leadership program. Kennedy McDermo?, Newport Central Catholic High School

Discussing “Hot Topics” with a group of incredibly intelligent young adults was refreshing. I really enjoyed hearing not only

SESSION SPONSOR

REGIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP is a non-profit 501c3 program of Impact Northern Kentucky, an affiliate of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

Ann Marie Whelan, Program Director amwhelan@nkychamber.com

[4]