Page 342 - Keys to College Success

Differences within people refer to the set of factors defining your
personal diversity, such as personality traits, learning style, strengths and
weaknesses, and natural talents and interests. No one else has been or
ever will be exactly like you.
Taking the risk to embrace diversity carries significant rewards.
Recent research indicates that college freshmen who befriend people
from other races and are exposed to different ideas (religious or political,
for example) actually demonstrate larger gains in critical thinking skills.
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Major life transitions, such as the first year of college, bring an uncer-
tainty that spurs brain development. Basically, when you encounter the
unfamiliar, your brain needs to make sense of it, and actively looks for
information. Combine this with the fact that the years from 18 to 25 are
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a time when the brain is most primed to form personal and social iden-
tity, and you have a recipe for enormous congnitive development. 5
Because the majority of college students grow up in segregated com-
munities, almost every student enters a more diverse environment in the
first year of college, along with the unfamiliar cultures and ideas that go
with it. If you give in to the human tendency to avoid the risk of expo-
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sure to differences, you can actually lose out on brain development, not
to mention a connection with people who could change your life. You
can choose what to believe and how to live. Risk opening your mind to
people and ideas without fearing that your autonomy will be under-
mined. In fact, when you explore other ways of being, any beliefs you
retain may be enriched and strengthened from the challenge.

Cultural Competence
Along with the general population, U.S. colleges have grown more diverse
in recent years. Even if your student body seems more homogenous on
first glance, it is still a group of unfamiliar people, with all kinds of diverse characteris-
tics that lie beneath what’s immediately visible.
Interacting successfully with all kinds of people is the goal of cultural competence—
the ability to understand and appreciate differences among people and adjust your
behavior in ways that enhance relationships and communication. According to the
National Center for Cultural Competence, developing cultural competence requires
five actions (see Key 12.1). These actions help you develop practical skills that connect
you to others, bridging the gap between who you are and who they are. 7
An important note: Developing cultural competence is about more than just passively
being tolerant of the world around you. It moves further than that, toward acceptance—
the practice of actively working toward teamwork and friendship—not just recognizing
the differences between cultures but celebrating them as an enriching part of life. 8

Action #1: Value diversity
Every time you encounter someone new, you choose how to interact. You won’t like
everyone you meet, but if you value diversity, you will choose to treat people with
respect, avoiding assumptions about them and granting them the right to think and
believe without being judged. This attitude helps you to take emotionally intelligent
actions, as shown in Key 12.2.

Action #2: Identify and evaluate personal perceptions and attitudes Thriving in a Diverse Global Community
Bringing emotional intelligence into play, you identify perceptions and attitudes by first
noticing your feelings about others, and then evaluating these attitudes by looking at
the effect they have on you and others. Many who value the concept of diversity expe-
rience negative feelings about the reality of diversity in their own lives. This disconnect
reveals prejudices and stereotypes.

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