The last article I ever wrote for the newspaper at my high school, Bear Creek, involved interviewing our retiring principal. Among the many questions I asked him, I ended with; “What have you learned from working at Bear Creek?”
“I’ve learned that Bear Creek has the most diverse student body in the valley,” he said. “I think that is the school’s biggest strength. To have a culture that embraces and supports it [diversity] was eye-opening to me; it was heartwarming to see that.”
Out of everything he said during the interview, this was what resonated with me the most. It was less than a few weeks until graduation, and all I could think about at the time was what I had gained from the past four years.
I realized that my principal was right. Bear Creek’s diversity is its greatest strength. I was always aware that Bear Creek was diverse, but I didn’t realize how valuable that was until the end of my senior year, and especially when I started college.
I go to college right in my hometown, so I am still exposed to the same diversity I have been my entire life. But people from all over California— and even the country— go to my university. What I’ve learned is that the beautiful diverse community of my high school is a rarity.
I’ve met people who come from areas that are predominantly white, and are stunned at the diversity of Stockton. This was a giant culture shock for me (and even more for them, I imagine) because I forgot that there were some people who hadn’t had actual Filipino food before, or ever stepped foot in a taqueria. I’ve met a person who was shocked that I or my parents weren’t born outside of the country because I'm Mexican. I’ve come across people who have never actually met a Muslim person before.
I believe that what I gained most from my years at Bear Creek was an ability to accept people of all different races, religions, and sexualities. But I’m so accustomed to it that it doesn’t feel like an accomplishment— it feels like an expectation.
The greatest demonstration of Bear Creek’s diversity is the International Rally that the students put on every year. A myriad of different cultural clubs perform, such as BC Latinos, Kababayan (Filipino cultural club), TLC (Thai, Laos, Cambodian), Punjabi Junction, Polynesian Club, Vietnamese Club, Black Student Union, and even Swing Club. The rally is a colorful illustration of the different backgrounds of the students, as they perform cultural dances in their unique costumes. The rally attracts people from all around the Stockton area, even those who have no association to the school.
But the melting pot of cultures is an everyday thing at Bear Creek. You see people of different ethnicities in the same friend group. It’s common to meet people who speak and understand more than one language. People aren’t bullied for wearing a hijab, or having an accent, or loving someone of the same gender. This isn’t “political correctness.” This is what compassion and inclusion looks like.
That sense of compassion is what has stuck with me, and I think what has prepared me the best for life after high school. I would never make preconceived judgments about a person based off of their race or religion, and I’ll never understand how anyone else could. I believe that Bear Creek is an astounding example of what a diverse community looks like— a body of people of different backgrounds that get along harmoniously, and embrace their differences instead of being scared of them.
