New Year, New Opportunities

How open to diversity are you?

With a new year comes new realizations.   But this isn’t only a new year, this year is the beginning of a new decade.  So how do we start off on the right foot?  Instead of making resolutions like 1. lose weight, 2. eat less, 3. spend less– why don’t we focus on something that has a greater overall meaning to society.  Not that our personal goals and endeavors mean less, but what about our morals?  What about our values?  What are changes we can make today, that can help shape and change our new decade?

We have the power, now we just need the will.

And it all needs to start with our capacity to change our attitudes towards diversity.  You’d think that with the first African- American President, there would be some form of unity.  And although some progress was made, there still lyes a thick line that divides our conscious from our behavior.  We want to change, yes we do.  But how bad do we want it?  How much are we willing to sacrifice, and for how long?

The road to diversity is a never ending journey, but the time to start is now.  Today.

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Naly Yang is a senior at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke majoring in Communications.  She is the Founder of the Asian Student Association and a student worker in the Office of Multicultural and Minority Affairs.  She played an integral roll in the Diversity Council of Presidents and continues to speak out about diversity, change and higher education.  She is reachable by e-mail at yang.naly@gmail.com.