This is a two-part series on helping scratch the surface of dealing with difference for the first time on campus.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard a student say ‘I’m from a small town, I’ve never met someone who is ________ (fill in the blank) before” I’d be a rich person. Also, I can’t tell you the number of times our housing office got called for a roommate change request because parents or students were having an issue because their roommate was of a different race.
For a lot of students, coming to a college or university is the first time they’ve encountered difference in their life. It is the first time they are aware they are encountering difference. Perhaps it is their Resident Assistant who identifies as an atheist, or maybe it’s their classmate with a physical disability, or maybe their professor speaks with a “non-American” accent. Regardless of what the difference is, many students struggle through these changing experiences.
Often times, students want to revert back to what they know to be safe…hanging out with students that look, act, sound, date, and socialize with people just like them. Maybe it even means hanging out with fellow students from their graduating class, even if they weren’t really friends in high school. Sometimes this is accompanied by judgment, which in some of its worst incidences include lashing out against other students that are different than them based on ignorance or lack of exposure.
For other students, and this is often times a smaller group, they dive head first into getting to know people who are different from them. These students thrive on going to all the cultural activities they can, and ask tons of questions. They are the ones who call home talking about the foods that they tried, the new words they learned, and their lab partner who came out to them.
One thing is clear, though. Most students, as they progress through college, come to understand that difference is good. Difference allows for opportunities that weren’t presented to us in the towns we grew up in, or the church we attended. Difference allows us to have more than one perspective on issues, and allows us to learn critical thinking skills to formulate mature, informed opinions on life issues. Difference allows us to see our world as not just the college we attend, but a much larger society we fit into.
As referenced in a recent post on identity exploration, students often times come into conflict with parents, family members, or significant others that they left at home. This conflict comes from this experimentation with difference, and sometimes can be very difficult for a family to work through.
In my next post, I’ll offer a series of tips for not only the new student, but also family/hometown friends on how to ease into understanding and celebration of difference on campus.
Mickey Fitch is a higher education professional who has crafted her career around the residence life experience on the college campus. Mickey loves to tell stories and help students make the most of their residential experience on campus. A native to the upper Midwest, Mickey is currently undergoing a job search to find her opportunity to serve in residence life. On the personal side, Mickey is an avid fisherman and outdoorswoman and is currently engaged in a life-changing health and fitness journey! You can learn more about her at mickeyfitch.weebly.com.
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