Diversity is Unity

What is our place in the career world?

This is a question that has been in the back of my mind during the month of January- the first half of the Social Entrepreneurship & You course. My class and I have been focusing on what our personality traits are, how our traits can affect our role in the classroom and relationships, and how we can better achieve SMART goals to build on our weaknesses. I had a lot of fun learning about my personality traits and consciously observing myself throughout my day-to-day life. In my Action Project for this half of the class, I had to pick an aspect of the school and start thinking like a consultant by composing a solution on how the school operates. I chose to focus on diversity and inclusion in GCE, and how it plays a part in student’s learning and behavior, and implement a plan to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in GCE.

Diversity is important in school environments for a number of reasons. A diverse school fosters a sense of empathy and awareness, welcomes open-mindedness, allows students to feel unique but also part of a group, and prepares students for a diverse workplace.

One of GCE’s great values is diversity. Among the 60 students and faculty members of GCE , we represent 43 of the 77 neighborhoods in Chicago. Although our neighborhoods are segregated, we convene as a community of different races, sexualities, economic backgrounds, and ideologies.

Just read this quote by KC, a faculty member at GCE for about 10 years.

“In terms of student body, it has been very diverse. We have from African Americans to Africans, from Latinas to Latinos, to various European students, and a lot of people of mixed heritage. We even have people from various sexual orientations. So, in terms of student body, I think we have been on it.”

Strengths of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
GCE’s admissions process is very inclusive for people from all different backgrounds. GCE provides nearly full-ride tuition for low-income students. The Director of Admissions at GCE, SB, pointed out GCE’s financial diversity when I interviewed her.

SB: “I want to make sure when we are curating a class, that we are being conscious of having students from many different financial backgrounds, because that in itself is a lesson for everyone. How do we understand and navigate economic class? It’s important for me to have a representation of that.

There certain different classifications. There’s need-blind and there’s need-aware. Need-blind means that I don’t care what your financial situation is, I will admit you based entirely on how you are as an individual person. That is how I go into the first review. And then, because we need to be conscious of that, so that we do maintain that financial diversity, so that we have students from all across the board, I don’t make my first decisions in a financial space. But, financials do inform my holistic decision.”

The Commons of this Financial Aid pool is first come, first serve. Full-ride packages are given to those students who qualify and finish their financial aid application by the deadline. The amount of financial aid that GCE offers varies every year, but they try their best to accommodate every student that is admitted.

GCE meets student’s physiological needs by not charging for lunch. This encourages diversity because everyone has a chance to eat, no matter what their economic background is. I am personally grateful for this program because I know there is something always to eat.

GCE provides self-actualization through their Field Experience program. By visiting companies with POC in charge, GCE sets dreams for their students because they see someone that looks like them on a higher pedestal. When my class talked to black judges from the south side, talked to a black CEO of his own company, visited an author off the 79th Red Line, and interviewed a Hispanic man running for alderman, it changed my class’ perception of what success looks like. Black and brown people have always been successful, but are not as displayed in mainstream society.

Weaknesses of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
The majority of GCE’s faculty consists of heterosexual, white people. There is only one African-American teacher and one Asian teacher on staff. Two sophomores at GCE, ES and DC, explained their thoughts on a more diverse staff.

ES: “The one person that makes me feel safe and welcomed at this school is Sharon, because she acts like my black mom. She reminds me of my mom all the time. Second, she’s open to my sexuality. Having more teachers of color would provide more different opinions about the reality of the world, instead of hearing the same generic opinions.”

DC: “Kim was the one who made me feel most welcome because she reminds me a lot of my Grandma. She makes me feel like I’m at home. People will get the same experience like I have with Kim and what ES has with Sharon, you’re gonna feel at home, you’re gonna feel like you recognize someone that looks like you, at least.”

Opportunity for GCE’s Growth of Support for Diverse Students:

GCE could promote this sense of safety by hiring more teachers of color so that students could let their guard down. As ES and DC stated, they feel more welcomed and safe with just seeing someone that looks like them and shares the same mannerisms.

Threats of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
Since GCE has been in the north side of Chicago for the past ten years, it isn’t accessible for people of color that live in the south and west sides of Chicago. GCE was presented with the opportunity last year to move downtown, where the school would be accessible to the other sides of the city. Once GCE opens its new doors downtown next school year, I am sure that they will recruit an abundance of qualified, diverse students because it will be more accessible. 

As a student in the GCE community, I believe that I can use my strengths to an advantage by making our community more inclusive of our diverse students.

According to the Myer’s-Brigg’s personality test, I am an ENFJ personality type, meaning that I encapsulate:

Extroversion: I am energized by socializing, solving problems through discussion, open and willing to share about my thoughts, and often described as friendly and approachable.

Intuition: I notice the big picture first, and then try to see how everything connects. I imagine the possibilities of how things could be, instead of focusing on the reality of how things are.

Feeling: I make decisions based on what my heart feels, more than what my brain thinks.

Judgement: I like to express my opinions, need to feel in control, and undertake one job at a time before moving onto another.

I also took the DiSC Personality Test. The test results stated that “You (I) have a strong self-motivation to get to know people in all walks of life and to nurture those relationships. You (I) have a natural enthusiasm for all types of ideas and projects- your own and other people’s. People are likely to describe you (me) as gregarious, persuasive, and optimistic. “

Overall, the results of my personality tests say that I am a natural leader, because I am outgoing, optimistic, and motivated. However, my weaknesses are that I depend on social interaction to keep my positive energy going. My feelings and emotions control me more than I control them. I become eager to please others, instead of focusing on my own goals and personal happiness.

As a South Chicagoan, Mexican, queer, low-income student at GCE, I find that I should make a safe space for POC. To promote and focus on Esteem and Love/Belonging, I can create socialization spaces for new students in my Gamer Club and for Hispanic Spanish-speaking students at lunch.

Last year, Gamer Club only had 2 people. I decided at my school’s camping trip orientation to especially welcome new students this year, as a rising senior. When talking to the new students during the first couple weeks of school, I noticed that they all liked something in common: gaming and memes. I decided to reboot Gamer Club this year, with crossed fingers that these new students would join. At the first meeting, all of the new students played Super Smash Bros together, creating the biggest club at GCE.

Gamer Club has become a bigger thing than just playing video games. It’s a place for people of color to act like their true selves, without the worry of being judged. There are people of different nationalities, sexualities , genders, and they are from all over the city. It is really cool seeing all of the new students bond with each other. We respect each other’s levels of gaming and praise each other’s wins and tough loses.

As part of this formed friend group through Gamer Club, I have noticed that we are still on the first layer of friendship, which is getting to know each other. Because our minds are not focused on getting to know one another but instead on current memes and jokes, I want to make a space in gaming club for everyone to get to know each other further than the first layer.

I will start each club meeting with a Rose and Thorn activity, providing a space for club members to talk about good, tough, or funny moments they have experienced currently. Other club members can start to be more conscious of their interaction with each other, while also getting to know each other. After a couple club meetings with this activity, it will become a routine to build a safer and belonging space. I will serve as a participant of the activity, a motivator for members to participate, and as a coach to cheer people on or empathize with what they say, and inspire people to be as accepting as I am. Hopefully, by the end of the year, everyone will feel closer to one another and keep doing the activity next year for Gamer Club.

AM, Gamer Club, (2019)

As a Mexican student, I have wanted to make a space for students to talk in Spanish so that they can practice their language and help others learn the language.

On Tuesdays, I will have a designated spot in the OC lunch room for Spanish speaking and Spanish-learning students to speak Spanish to one another. Spanish speaking students can teach Spanish-learning students how to speak the language, which also helps the teacher become more fluent. Just hearing the language instead of being in a traditional Spanish class teaches in a unique way. Hopefully, by the end of the year, students will become comfortable with their Spanish tongue and make friends with those who share a common language with each other. We can measure this by speaking a bit more Spanish every time we meet. My role in this plan is to create the space for this activity by presenting the idea at the school Soapbox. It is nerve-wracking to start a whole new idea in a space that hasn’t had this sort of get-together before, but I think I can handle it with practicing my proposal in English and Spanish.

In conclusion, this project was tough to make a start on, but once I started, it has been one of the most thought-provoking projects I have completed. I am super proud of the organization and connectivity of all of my points. I hope that my SMART goals will help the student body and me.

Citations

DC, Personal Interview, (2019)

“DiSC Profile - What Is DiSC®? The DiSC Personality Test and Profile Explained.” DiSCProfile.com, www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/.

ES, Personal Interview, (2019)

"Free Personality Test, Type Descriptions, Relationship and Career Relationships" https://www.16personalities.com

KC, Personal Interview, (2019)

SB, Personal Interview, (2019)