[Note: this is part of our annual Guest Writer Series. Meet guest writer #3.]
I’d like to think the most uninteresting thing about me is the color of my skin. At first glance, this is somewhat of a jarring statement, but nonetheless the truth. With that being said, I think the heritage I come from, which is reflected by the color of my skin, is one of the most interesting things about me.
Isn’t that a funny paradox.
Being an Indian-Dominican girl growing up in a predominantly white, suburban neighborhood is the sort of thing that makes you realize from a young age that you are totally different from everyone around you. Not only do you find yourself facing the age old struggle of accepting your individuality, realizing that not all the other kids think your hobbies and passions are the coolest things in the world (in my case, musical theatre and writing), but you also are faced with the realities that come with the stereotypes people place on you because of the pigment of your skin. Understanding yourself at 10 years old is already not an easy thing, but when everyone is expecting you to grow up to be Dr. Singh and all you want to do is direct Broadway shows, it doesn’t make matters much clearer. And maybe you’re not even expected to accomplish anything that grand at all, because your parents were not raised in this country and didn’t attend school here either, so what is to become of you?
As you get older and reach the age of college applications, which you do in fact plan to attend, there is a new problem to be faced: now everyone expects that you’re going to get into any college of your choosing because of the color of your skin.
Solely because of that.
You seriously would not believe the amount of times I got told I was only offered an interview from Columbia University because they are looking to “increase their diversity quota.” While in the end I may not have been accepted, I can assure you the reason for me being offered an interview was not because of any amount of melanin my skin may have. In high school, I made sure to be involved in a number of extra curricular activities and worked hard to obtain leadership positions within them. That is what drew an admissions officer to want to speak to me. I committed a lot of service within my community and had impressive letters of recommendations from more than a few of my teachers that I formed genuine connections with. Those are the qualities that got me an acceptance into my university. Now, this is not to brag, while I am extremely proud of all that I have accomplished. This is all to say that I believe the qualities I’ve listed about myself are far more interesting than my ability to “increase a diversity quota.”
At the time, I used to think the whole “diversity quota” thing was an annoying joke adults would make when the topic of college applications came up at social gatherings. I would just politely laugh and brush it off. Now, I realize that they were actually right, but not in the way they thought they were. My ethnicity is not the sole reason I was accepted into college or have acquired any sort of opportunity for that matter. It is, however, extremely important that I am a woman of color in these settings. It is important because my lived experience as a woman of color and a first generation student contributes a necessary perspective to any institution or job or anything I may find myself part of.
I am currently completing an internship on an editorial team for a book that is being written by a Broadway director and artistic director at Columbia (how full circle, right?). Another opportunity that provides an opportunity for the adults aforementioned to reduce my qualifications to my skin tone. I have never been more confident in the fact that I received a position solely based on my own merit, especially seeing as I provided no mention or insight as to my race or ethnicity before being chosen as a finalist for the internship. The comments unfortunately get to your head, especially at my young age, and sometimes you truly begin to believe that maybe the only interesting thing about you is that you contribute physical diversity.
Being selected for this internship was the first time in my life I felt completely confident in my own talent and qualifications.
I believe that it is so important that women of color understand how vital it is to believe in their own merit. Because it is true what they say, that institutions have diversity quotas to fulfill, but that is not the end all be all of a person’s qualifications. And when given the opportunity, it is important that as a woman of color I infuse my ideas and perspectives into my work, because they are interesting and deserve to be heard, which has nothing to do with my skin tone. It is because as someone who identifies with a foreign culture, I have so much to offer along with those around me.
Because while my cultural background is quite intriguing, the pigment of my skin is not at all.
Respectfully…
PS