Experiencing Diversity: The Difference in Race or Ethnicity

Experiencing Diversity
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Name/Number
Instructor’s Name
Due Date
 
1. Describe the event, meeting, activity, or organization you visited.
A few days ago, I attended a seminar held by the American Management Association. The purpose of the seminar was to join hundreds of leaders, managers, and professionals who come to the American Management Association each year to stay ahead of evolving trends and enhance core skills through in-depth training on business management and workforce development. The seminar was held at a hotel meeting space on a Wednesday evening and lasted for three hours. The main speaker was a representative of the organization. She provided us with tips that are required to refine the skills needed to manage people more effectively such as team development, performance management, time management skills, supervisory skills training, interpersonal and communication skills, and motivation – everything that is needed to manage people effectively. The seminar was fascinating and very informative because it covered a wide scope of issues related to management.
2. How were you different from others in attendance? Describe what it was like to be different from everyone else.
In a room of fifty people, I was the only Chinese student in attendance. I was different in terms of race/ethnicity I immediately felt different from my peers because I stood out from the crowd. I noticed a couple of stares from a few of the students in attendance, but I managed to brush it off. At a certain point in the seminar, the main speaker was making a point about business opportunities in China. To verify if her assertions were true, the main speaker singled me out and asked if I could verify her assertions since I was from China. It was almost as if she was looking to me to articulate the “Chinese perspective.”
During the seminar, we had a thirty-minute tea break whereby everyone in attendance was given the opportunity to socialize. During that period, I felt different from everyone else because I had to answer questions about all aspects of my appearance. Skin: “Is your skin usually this white?” Hair: “Is your hair naturally straight or do you have a perm?” Eyes: “Are you able to see well? You look like you are squinting!” Nothing was off limits; some people even tried to touch my hair. At certain points during the tea break, some attendees went as far as making stereotypical assumptions about me. Being Chinese at a business seminar filled with predominantly white people, some people I interacted with automatically assumed that I had a scholarship or that I was on financial aid. I felt different and to some extent uncomfortable because they were making assumptions about me based on false information and stereotypes.
The lack of diversity in the room made me feel uncomfortable. One of the hardest things I had to deal with during the seminar was trying not to become a stereotype. I did not want to raise my voice, get too loud, or argue too much despite the false cla...