Can someone please edit my essay on my experiences with living and working in diverse settings?

No matter where people live, work, or go to school, their is going to be diverse individuals in every community. For myself, diversity simply is living in a community where nothing is alike. We all want the same things for every individual. The dignity and worth of all human beings, treating all people with respect and equality, and people having the opportunity to full participate in being self-sufficient to make their own best possible choices. We would accept nothing less from each of us. We recognize the differences among us. We all recognize that each of us have different ways of looking at things, views, and perspectives when working together to solve problems. All individuals need to come together to learn from each other in appreciating our differences and understand where people come from and why they believe as they do. When people look at diversity, we must look beyond our own culture and background. People should take a broader view of things that make up the whole person and what makes us all unique. Overall, diversity celebrates what makes individuals’ unique, and it is important to me because people can never stop learning new things about it through other people.

For myself, I know that I was able to learn from other cultures and have an open mind when our views differed from one another. For example, I am an individual of mixed heritage. I am African American and Mexican American. My mother is Mexican American and my father is African American. I grew up in a small community in Southern Texas mostly the population was generally Spanish. I was raised by my mother who taught me how to speak Spanish. Eventually, I learned how to speak two languages, English and Spanish. This is a part of my heritage that is important to me because it has helped me to understand other cultures that also speak Spanish language.

I generally learned how to speak Spanish because while my mother would work, my grandmother would take care of us and the only language she spoke was Spanish and she was from Mexico. What I loved the most about my Mexican culture was our families’ close connectedness with one another. I also enjoyed the Mariachi music, and eating spicy foods such as tamales, burritos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. This has helped me to better relate to individuals from different cultures. Speaking Spanish has helped me to understand other cultures that also speak Spanish such as Latinos, Hispanics, and some Philippines as well.

Most of my friends that I went to school with in Southern Texas were biracial: Caucasian and Black and other of my friends were Black. But the rest of my friends were mostly Hispanic and Latino ethnic backgrounds. I learned about our cultures and ethnic backgrounds and was able to understand that people from different cultures learn to interact and function together with increased appreciation for their heritage. Sometimes, the experiences that I had in Texas were somewhat different. People in Texas just are not as friendly as people in California.

When I moved to California, my viewpoints were broadened by other cultures. I was more open to learning from individuals of other cultures. When I started working for a nonprofit organization when I first moved to California, I noticed the diversity there was among individuals of diverse backgrounds in the workplace. I came to appreciate and learned about how an individuals culture has influence on our behavior and views and perspectives. I also learned that while working with people of diverse ethnic backgrounds, people have different ways to look at things and often will solve problems differently. I liked being in an work environment when I am able to engage with different people who have different ideas and backgrounds. Sometimes, people need to take a step back from themselves, and look at how we view people who are unlike ourselves. Embracing diversity means committing to looking beyond those unlike ourselves. Most importantly, it is important to be open-minded and non-judgmental when interacting and communicating with people from diverse backgrounds. This makes our world a better place when we respect each other for who they are, regardless of our differences. We need to be open to change and learning from one another unlike ourselves.

My cultural background has provided me with the capacity to work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures. I am culturally competent to help individuals that are Spanish speaking who don’t speak English and English speakers who don’t speak Spanish. I also learned to better appreciate other cultures as well. I feel that I can assist these individuals in however they need help. Being able to learn from others is important for self-awareness and being able to being open to learning new things about other people. Embrace diversity for what it is- respecting each and every person for who they are, learning about our differences, and being open to those difference