While various aspects of public schooling are often criticized for a number of reasons, the experiences that 12 years of public schooling provided me with have surely enlightened me in some way or another, broadening the perspectives I have and cherish. Diversity in personalities, cultures represented and identities were reflected in interactions all throughout my education. Public schooling welcomed me into such a range of beliefs and ideas, teaching me to challenge the norms that I’ve always so quickly accepted before.

Through the years, I’ve been brutally humbled for a range of reasons, including losing the district cross country championship by one point, failing an IB exam and pulling off my bumper on the curb in the school parking lot! However, perhaps my most humbling moments have involved circumstances in which I was confident in a close-minded opinion, only to be proven wrong and enlightened in a subject that – as it turns out – I was very uneducated in. I have lived through this scenario countless times, each time forced to reflect upon how what I’d always known to be true and righteous may stem from a short-sighted way of thinking, leaving me wondering why I had never questioned these ideas in the past. Public schooling shed light on my ignorance of the circumstances and needs of other people, teaching me to be someone who makes an effort to look out for underrepresented people and groups.

I appreciated being introduced to people of all genders, sexual orientations and ethnitcities. The diverse student body in the schools has allowed all these different people to co-exist in this environment with no choice but to accept each other. Similarly, through my years in public education, I have witnessed the intentions and actions taken by administration to recognize the contributions of many cultural backgrounds that have established our community. These schools not only put effort into developing students into adults without stripping parts of their heritage, but I felt as if everyone was truly celebrated for their individuality. 

Although having many stubborn opinions on controversial or political topics in a classroom often proved to be difficult, I am thankful for the emphasis from public schools on the importance of discussion, openness and inclusivity. Having support and respect from people on both ends of the political spectrum is meaningful when a person is trying to make sense of their beliefs and how they fit into the world. Many classes in public school offered a safe place to explore these topics while listening to and understanding the voices of my peers. 

The exposure to many different people with varying life perspectives and experiences created such a healthy, diverse environment. We must all have witnessed our own personal capability of empathy become much stronger and more active after having the opportunity to grow up alongside people with lives so vastly different from our own. Although public high school did prove to be a shock at times and was character-building to say the least, we can only be thankful for the way it encouraged us to be ourselves.