One of my favorite ways to clear my head is to go on walks. One of my favorite places to walk is a park about a mile from campus. It is a small park with one pond, a loop circling it, and a playground in the corner. Nonetheless, this park teems with life. People picnicking in the grass, kids running freely, bikers circling the pond, and families coming together. It's here that I realized how strikingly similar we all are. We may eat different food or celebrate different holidays or wear different clothes. But -we are also all so similar- and that is beautiful. Everyone came to that park for a slightly different reason, yet we are all at this park, enjoying the chaos of coexisting and sharing the same fresh air.
Our differences only divide us as much as we let them. Being the Director of Inclusion for our chapter means so many different things to me. It is about learning about and celebrating our differences; but it is also about realizing people are not all as difference as one may think. Just like in the park, we are a conglomeration of differences. We all come from different places, we may eat different foods or celebrate different holidays, yet, despite all these differences, we all gather under the same principles. We gather in the dining room for meals, sharing laughter before or after class. We gather in the diamond room during the last preferential ceremony, sharing hugs, tears and the outpouring love we have for each other. My role as Director of Inclusion is about recognizing that our differences only divide us as much as we let them. It's about recognizing the space we hold in our community; it is about learning how to
use the platform we have to connect with others who historically do not share the same platforms and resources. It is about support; it is about uplifting others with curiosity and openness.
I think our open motto, we live for each other, perfectly coincides with what DE&I and this role means to me. To live for each other is to uplift each other, is to be kind to each other, is to learn about each other and to love each other, fully and openly. To live for each other means doing your part to listen to others and their differences and make every person feel the kind of acceptance and support you felt that made you choose Alpha Delta Pi.