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Diversity in College

"There are so many good things that people can bring to a school besides just their academic record."

By Nora Harrington

Everyone knows about the lawsuit against the University of Michigan. For me, the situation is personal. I’m mixed race and since I’ve started looking at colleges, I’ve started to realize how rare my surroundings have been.

In my school there’s no one race that dominates. Berkeley High is only about 33 percent white. There’s about the same number of African Americans, and the rest are Latino, Asian, and mixed race.

Most of the schools I’d be interested in applying to are at least 60 percent white…and having been in Berkeley my whole life, campuses like that would be really uncomfortable. And a lot of the types of people that make up my circle of friends wouldn’t be represented.

For example, one of my black friends is a really smart person, but high school has never brought out his full potential. It might seem easy to judge him, but there are things he had to fight through just to graduate.

His mom has had diabetes since he was eight. He’s always had to take care of her. This means he sometimes had to miss school to take her to the hospital. When she died, he and his brother were left to take care of everything on their own. He’s had a real world education already, managing his family finances, working, and going to school. He’s exactly a type of independent thinker who can thrive in an open, college environment.

Looking at colleges, I’ve noticed that the classrooms are personal, and there’s a lot of interaction, like seminars conducted in a semicircle of maybe 15 to 20 students, and professors who are excited to teach, and know what they’re talking about. And that’s something my friend’s high school never offered him. I know he’d benefit from teachers who are interested in his success.

It bothers me to think about all of the people who, if they had their way, would sail through life never having to have any interaction with anyone not of their skin tone, aside from passing them on the street, or interviewing them for a job.

College is probably one of the safest places to learn to respect economic, social and racial differences. We all play the same role…as students. There’s no heavy power trip like there is when you conduct a job interview. College should be the time when we can learn from each other, getting an education about life, not just the stuff you learn in textbooks.

— Nora Harrington is a junior at Berkeley High School.