How might your vision of your future be expanded by your peers' insights about their changing awareness of diversity?

Hello Professor and fellow classmates! I can't believe it is our final week. I hope everyone is still hanging in there. Congratulations to every one of you!

The definitions I have of diversity and social identity have not changed. Diversity still means variety to me. A mosaic of races, religions, classes, sexual identities, genders, ages, and ethnicities. I must, however, admit that I have expanded my understanding of social identity as a result of this course. I found it enlightening to learn how individual identity can be shaped by the group to which they belong. Each of the four general education lenses offers a unique perspective for studying the world. With their help, we can analyze diversity from four different angles: social sciences, natural sciences, history, and humanities. In this way, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the individual and society. The future of this country is profoundly affected by diversity. As a multicultural society, the United States continues to attract great minds and great ideas from around the world. I have been able to broaden my understanding and embrace diversity at work through this course. In discussion one, I mentioned that I see a wide variety of patients as a nurse. In my opinion, we should look beyond our differences as a society and strive to become better human beings. When we accept and appreciate people just the way they are, without judgment or prejudice, society will become a nicer, more tolerant place. Diversity opens our minds to a world of improvement and advancement.

In some respects, I came into this course with a solid understanding of what Diversity was and what role i5 played in building a more inclusive and equitable society. 

However, my eyes were opened to the idea of looking at issues through the idea of the four lenses. This concept was so impactful to me. I understood where many biases and issues with diversity came from, but looking at them through each lens really helps to deepen that understanding. Understanding that not all people are using all the lenses may help to explain why so many different views may exist for the same topic.

In the future, I will attempt to implement the idea of the four lenses to understand not just the topic I am tackling, but the people that may have a different opinion than mine. We may both be right, but we are just coming at the issue from different angles. Getting people to understand this distinction may be the first step to a more peaceful society.