Personal Narrative: The Influence Of Diversity

I have been sitting at my home-made desk all day, just wondering how to stand out to someone who will read hundreds of cookie-cutter essays preaching diversity and inclusiveness. Looking at me, you would think I am just like everyone else. After all, I am a white, heterosexual male with no grand experiences or adventures to tell. Growing up in a diminutive, unpretentious town in Western Kentucky where everybody knows everybody, one would think I am just like everybody. On the surface, there is nothing different about me. When I was very young, my father was disabled permanently from a disease he derived from his father. To be candid - I witnessed my dad turn from a fun loving, energetic individual into a shell of his former self. Depression soon hit, and it hit unrelenting on my family. Financially, we crashed. Spiritually, we plummeted even deeper into a pit of despondency which led to my parents ' separation. In this pit, I had to learn at a young age that nothing in life is guaranteed while I did everything I could to nurse my dad back to health, to no avail. Looking at college brochures, one would think I am just like the students printed perfectly on them. I love to laugh and I go out of my way to make someone smile. Nothing

People hear of my situation and roll their eyes. They think, "So what your dad is disabled? Why does that make you different?" I learned to include. I learned that having to sit down every five minutes when I 'm out somewhere is okay if that means my dad will feel better. It taught me that everyone has something to contribute, even if they can 't walk very well. I do not discriminate or judge people off of their physical condition or appearance. All of these attributes I possess seem to be lacking in society today. Having a disabled parent has taught me innumerable life lessons, and for that, I wouldn 't change anything. I 've learned that everything happens for a reason, and God doesn 't make