Chapter Three

My eighth grade summer I hung out with friends people call "hicks." When this guy asked another boy in my grade if he should go for me or my friend (I know, what a player), the boy said don't go for Kaylene, she hangs out with "hicks." Well, he didn't listen to him, but I feel like my school was really bad when it came to stereotyping people and being prejudice. It occurred especially within the high school girls. If you were older, then you got to boss the younger girls around. Girls in sports would only hang out with other girls in sports. When I was a freshman, I heard rumors that the older girls didn’t like me because I was going out with "their sophomore." I think I was a prejudice person when I was in high school, but I think that going to college has allowed me be on my own and grow into a better person. It has changed how I feel and think about everything. Now, I am more accepting of people that are culturally different. I feel like this will help me be more open-minded and understanding of the different ways people live and act. Being able to be sincere and curious about different cultures will help me be more relatable and I really am more curious about other cultures than I have ever been.

One sentence from this chapter that stood out to me was, "We are all vulnerable and we all make mistakes." I expect from myself perfection and it is hard for me to accept that I am not, but I have been working on telling myself that what happens, happens and nobody is perfect and it is impossible to be perfect. I don't expect anyone to be like me or have the same opinions as me. I don't expect anyone to be perfect. I don’t expect anyone to be smart and understand everything they are taught. Those are important traits a peer mentor has and I think I have them pretty well figured out. One of the tips at the end of the chapter was concentration. Being "in the moment." I have been working on that when I go to my classes, just thinking about the moment right now and not worrying about the past because you cannot change it, and not worrying about the future. This is what a peer mentor should be able to do in order to fully understand people that are culturally different. I thought the book did a great job at describing how almost everyone feels at some point in his or her lifetime and I felt like I was able to relate to the text very easily. It also gave great instructions on how to try to help change the way you look at people that are different.