Heritage: Celebrating Diversity

    "Know where you come from, be who you are, and find the strength to change the world", words of wisdom that my old principal of Columbus North International said to us every day. These are words that keep me going and drive my hunger for learning about and experiencing other cultures. I grew up in an African American home but I went to a predominately Hispanic elementary school, so I was constantly surrounded by the culture. 95% of the teachers were from Latin countries so their culture automatically spilled into their lesson plans. We would have an event called the Culture Show where each class performed a song, dance or poem from a specific Latin country and following that we would have a Cultural Fiesta where the teachers would bring in food from their home country and we would dance and play games. 

     Going into 8th grade, the school board of Columbus decided to do a feeder system where three elementary schools (Eco Kenwood, 5th Avenue and Spanish Immersion) fed into one high school: Columbus North International (CNI). CNI offered over 30 different language courses to take and represented cultures from Morocco all the way to Korea. We hosted many cultural events and shows that showed me that the world is beautiful and unique because all of the different people that exist. I started to think that the Tower Of Babel incident wasn't so bad. 

       I have left every culture with a better sense of how the world works and why people are the way that they are. I had the opportunity to travel to Israel over the summer and it was a different experience than what I had at my old schools because this time, I was IN the country, not just surrounded by the people. I was able to go to places, eat authentic food and experience the land that truly represented the culture. I had an first hand experience with another culture and I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to see part of what Jesus saw and experienced when he was here. All I want to do now is travel and see the rest of the world first hand!

       I believe that humans were not meant to stay in one place forever. God has created too much beauty, too much life to stay in the city line of Columbus or wherever you come from. There are Indians that are waiting to meet you, Africans who can't wait to hear about your God, Spaniards who want to hear about who you are and where you come from. There is still beauty to be seen and the great part is, that beauty is only one person away. Look to your neighbors, your coworkers, your classmates and experience who they are and where they come from. I encourage you to look at your heritage, your ancestors and see what makes you, you! Let  the atlas come alive and I promise your experiences will give you "strength to change the world". 

~Jalauna Phillips