When I was little, my mother gave me a simple lesson with a huge message that still sticks with me to this day. I loved M&Ms more than anything and she used them to teach me everything. I learned math, my colors, word association, you name it. The most important lesson that she taught me, however, was acceptance. I remember her clearly handing out all of the M&Ms from the package and mixing all of the colors up. She started out like my other lessons by having me separate them into color. She then looked at me and asked me to count each color but then extended the lesson. My mother then waited before allowing me to eat them as my reward and told me to look at them again. She then began to explain to me that people are like M&Ms. When I looked at her with confusion she explained further. She said even though we may be different on the outside that we were all the same on the inside.

This lesson has led me to be the person I am today. It has helped me learn to not judge someone by their outside but to really get to know the person within. However, as much as I think I am an accepting person, I have had to make note of my bias. Realizing your biases is the first step to making a difference in the world. Bias is the reason that our world is not evolving into a better, stronger, united nation. We must learn to understand one another for our actions before jumping to conclusions and judging the book by it's cover. Verña Myers discussed in her TED talk how in order to overcome these biases we need to challenge ourselves by surrounding ourselves with the uncomfortable. She says that by doing this, that is how we can better ourselves and make us stronger individuals. Verña's TED talk is very inspiring and thought provoking on how everyone can hold a bias, but it is up to ourselves in order to work towards weakening them.

So my conclusion for you is to challenge yourself like I have begun doing. Meet new people outside of your usual friend group, volunteer in places you normally wouldn't, or strike up a conversation with someone who you may not have before. Get to know and understand people who are different than you in order to realize just like those M&Ms that we are all the same. Realize that no matter what, we are all still human and deserve to be treated as such. I will conclude with one of my all time favorite proverbs. Live and let live. Understand your differences, dissolve your biases, and love one another.