Earlier in December three of my peers and I attended a student diversity leadership conference, put on by the National Association of Independent Schools. We drove from Ojai to San Diego, California. There, we met with 1400 diverse students from independent schools across the nation. In a hotel in sunny San Diego, we discussed the importance of core identifiers such as race, socio-economic status, age, gender, family make up, ability, and sexual orientation. The first two days were filled with fruitful discussion with many different, personal perspectives on large issues. The last two days were spent finding ways of empowerment to rid of -isms (*racism, sexism, heterosexism) that have and continue to create problems for this nation.

It was a life-changing experience to listen to other students’ experiences and find differences as well as similarities between their stories and my own. The four days flew by faster than I had wished, and we were only able to lightly scratch the surface of finding solutions. However, what mattered to us was that this hotel in San Diego had been a safe zone for people of all backgrounds and we were truly a big, loving family by the end of the conference. This conference served to inform as well as to connect. I left the conference with the awareness of many new perspectives, as well as having felt strong connections to people I had barely known for four days. I have no doubt that this conference was a highly beneficial and empowering experience for all 1400 students who attended.

The conference also challenged us to come back and share the experience with our schools. From the conference we came to the conclusion that the core identifiers (race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, family make-up, ability, age) do not necessarily define a person, but definitely play a profound part in shaping that person. I do not believe that Thacher oppresses any race, sexual orientation, gender, etc., and I am extremely thankful that my school is such an open and accepting place. Yet there is always room for improvement. For Thacher and many schools, I believe the answer is in awareness. From accepting people of different backgrounds and perspectives, our next step can be to embrace these differences instead of overlooking them. I strongly believe that embracing and celebrating each other will only strengthen the community.

It is impossible to share everything covered at the conference therefore I certainly wish more of my peers could have experienced it firsthand with me. I cannot emphasize enough how much this conference means to me. It is and will be a highlight of not only this year, but for the rest of my high school career.