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Anonymous Student, Class of 2008—

I have lived most of my life in a country torn apart by intense tribalism, poisoned inwardly by corruption within the government, and plagued by intense drought in which thousands of children starved to death. In my own life, I have moved back and forth between continents, never understanding where ‘home’ was. I have gained and lost some of my closest friends, lived on the opposite side of the world from my parents and family during some of my teenage years, and understood the effects of severely limited finances.

In my service at college, I have tutored kids in terrible family situations: parents who care nothing for their children; children who have only an imprisoned father as a role model; children who live with their great-grandparents because both their mother and grandmother are addicted to drugs and deemed unfit to care for them. I have gone to school with friends who have grown up with the mentality that as human beings, they are worth nothing more than their GPA; friends who hate their parents with a passion from being sexually abused growing up; friends who have turned to prostitution in high school in order to feel any sense of value or worth; and several friends who have been on the edge of suicide for reasons they could not explain. There were 11 countries represented by the 20 students in my high school dorm. I have seen people from many walks of life—their values, customs, and beliefs. I have grown to understand that we are a product of our experiences; our perceptions are shaped by what we have seen and what has happened to us, much of which may not have been perceived as necessarily positive.

At this point in my life, I cannot point to specific situations or exact revelatory experiences that have led to some of my beliefs. I know that from the collage of stories, hardships, accomplishments, and sometimes apparently insignificant experiences that make up who I am, I have become increasingly convinced of the sovereignty of God. This sovereignty extends not only from Him as sustainer of all things, but also as a governor who predetermines and controls all aspects of life down to the smallest and most minute detail. And by definition as the sovereign ruler, He has the right to exercise this authority and to use it towards his purposes. There is no other way I can see life functioning the way it does. Without getting into the finer points, I see all of life on earth, as well as the universe itself, as functioning toward one end, which is determined by this sovereign God. With such power and authority, it is hard for me to think that atrocities, such as those aforementioned and far worse, are without purpose or not divinely appointed. They are not necessarily for our own good, but toward the end to which God has ordained the universe. As humans, we are mostly reacting to the experiences and situations put around us by the sovereign God. I would go so far as to say that even what we perceive to choose for ourselves is actually determined by motivations imprinted by God and not really left up to us at all. This point of view is not so much blind faith, but rather the way the aforementioned experiences and reasoning have shaped my outlook on life. Based on what I have seen, both the good and the bad in life, as well as for reasons I am unable to even recognize, much less articulate, I have become more and more convinced that life is a product of a sovereign God exercising His rightful control on the universe. This I believe.

Vaidehi Trivedi, Class of 2009—

I believe in multiculturalism, whether it is the acknowledgement of the multiplicity of one’s character or simply doing things that lead one to cultural awareness. Too often, we remain complacent within the restraints of our own stereotypes and assume that we are culturally aware when really there is no concrete limit to such development. This is not directed toward any particular ethnic group because belonging to an ethnic minority group does not exempt one from becoming multi-cultural.  Someone once said, “No man is an island.” I believe this to be true especially in this era of globalization. Migration within countries, a main contributor to the removal of the “island” status, perpetuates the “mixed salad’ analogy for many parts of the world, not just the U.S.

Immigration is an especially poignant part of my life and has led to many drastic changes in my perception of the world. The movement from the bustling, vibrant city of Ahmedabad, India to a remote location in the southern United States was personally abrupt. On the one hand, I wanted to integrate myself in order to better administer my settlement into the country. Conversely, I did not want to assimilate. I remained adamant in my traditional Indian ways. For example, for roughly the first year my life here, I refused to listen to anything but Bollywood or Indian music because I found “American” and all other types of music to be too crass, without meaning and profundity, unlike my Indian music. This bias was partly based on my inability to understand and transition from something I had listened to my entire life to something entirely new.

High school led into college and more mind-broadening and horizon-expanding happened. I encountered people of varying perspectives and backgrounds, but still remnants of my “Indian” arrogance remained. I do not know why but I believed my one unique facet—a differing ethnicity from the majority of the campus—to be enough, not striving to further develop my character. That is not to say that I was not still gung-ho about retaining my stereotypes; I was most certainly exposed to many multicultural encounters, yet the realization was not profound enough.

It was not until my study-abroad experience in Spain that I realized the importance of developing the multiplicity of one’s character rather than adamantly trying to preserve one unique facet. The full immersion in Spanish culture, living the Madrileño lifestyle and experiencing something completely unique yet still somehow relatable, was exactly what I needed. Awareness about Spanish painters, history, and other aspects of Spanish culture became engrained in my mind and my stay there left me craving more. I read the Spanish newspaper online, listened to the Spanish radio, and of course, read literature for my Spanish major classes to satisfy my craving. So what if I rock out to Alejandro Sanz and find Flamenco occupying many playlists on my iPod? I do not consider that as a loss of my personal cultural aspects but rather, my embracing of many facets of my character that were not fully discovered.

With that perspective in mind, I continue my service to the community, especially with regard to the diversity within said community and what we all stand to gain. International development is always a goal mentioned when service is discussed. However, successful implementation of that goal relies heavily on condoning plurality within one’s own character and thus becoming culturally aware, delving into those settings with an ethnocentric view.