On the eve of graduating Queens College I am reflecting on an organization on campus which had a huge influence in who I am today. The QC Center for Ethnic Racial and Religious Understanding:
Not too long ago I realized what an immense influence CERRU had in the way I see the world today. I am a second generation college student, and for my parents, going to college was like learning to walk when I was a baby, its a natural process of life.
I migrated with my family to the U.S. when I was thirteen years old with the sole purpose to study and graduate with a degree from here. My parents realized that an education in the United States was much more valuable than back in our country.
Since then, I have
always been exposed to cultures different from mine. I went to a JHS, and then
a HS in New York City where only newly arrived immigrants were allowed to
enroll. As a result, I still speak English with a particular accent acquired
from the friends I made in my school years.
I had friends who came from countries such as Nepal, Burma, Colombia,
Mongolia, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Tibet, Bangladesh,
Togo just to name a few. More over, being exposed to so much cultural diversity
as a young woman was probably the single most important factor in deciding to
major in Anthropology.
Anthropology allowed
me to submerge myself in two of my favorite hobbies: reading and stepping into
someone else’s shoes. My parents are also very political and engaging when it
comes to discussing topics in the news, philosophy or literature. Thanks to the
upbringing I have received, I have always been pushed to formulate my own
opinions and voice them. The one thing I never learned was to listen back. Politics and religion are very sensitive
issues in my life, so encountering someone whose opinions are completely
different from mine, its like taking a test:
its hard, sometimes awkward, and all I want to do is get out as quick as
possible.
That was the time
when I heard but I didn’t listen, way before I joined CERRU. But I learned to
listen. Yes, I learned to listen. Through
CERRU’s facilitators’ trainings, slowly, I learned to listen when I was just
hearing. I learned to listen to others and I gained self-confidence. Even when
I am in disagreement about a subject, I stop and listen before I keep trying to
prove my point. I have come to learn my relationships with people have
considerably improved because I have learned to be honest and respectful with
them. I learned to stop anticipating and
to stop being in control. This is not to
say I was a walking mess before, but as we grow to become adults, we become
aware of our behaviors and actions. We may learn to eat better, to love more
carefully but intensely, to read books, to call back friends, to understand we
are powerless to the random acts that life may presents to us. In my case, I
learned to listen to the world.
And listening is a
necessary tool in life! In A job interview someone who listens to instructions
and questions is able to radiate confidence to that employer. If politicians
learned to listen to the people they are serving, maybe politics wouldn’t be so
divisive. And that is just one life example out of hundreds. I invite you to try to listen today. Come
on, “the world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was
when you first came in.”
