Leadership Converse Day 2

Today we woke up around 7:30 in the morning and headed to breakfast at 8:00. I got to meet many awesome, and different people at breakfast. After breakfast, we headed into another building for a workshop. This workshop was called "Privilege Walk". I wasn't quite sure what to expect. They told us to line up in a straight line and lock hands with the people next to us. They then instructed us to close our eyes. They then proceed to say " take one step forward if you were born in the US. Take one step back if your parents did not attend college. If English is your first language, take one step forward. If you ever were made fun of or bullied beyond your control, take one step back" These questions continued for a few more minutes. As they were being asked, I noticed that it began to grow more difficult to hold on to the hand I first held on to. They started slipping away. They moved to their own direction. I had to let them go. Once they told us to open our eyes and look around, my jaw dropped. I was shocked. I was blessed. I was amazed. Many people with certain privileges never notice them, because they are so woven into the mainstream that those who have them cannot see them. For youth, understanding and acknowledging privileges is key to understanding why and how they react and perceive their surroundings. The capacity for youth to objectively reflect on their interactions with the world will be invaluable. The focus on in this practice will allowed us to understand that having one privilege does not make up for another marginalization and that every privilege or marginalization exists on a different but intersecting plane from another. We are all different, and that makes us remarkable. We all come from different background, but that doesn't stop our success. It was an eye opening activity and I'm so blessed that they brought it to our attention.