Does Southern Adventist University adequately reflect its diverse student body? Statistically speaking, the university has the highest number of foreign students and students of an international background. Southern also has several different cultural clubs such as Latin American Club (LAC), Asian Club, Black Christian Union (BCU) and many more. My experience at Southern has been a really amazing one.
As a person with two ethnic backgrounds and three cultures, I’ve always found it hard to adapt to a certain culture. My parents were missionaries, so we’ve lived in Brazil, Peru, Rwanda and most recently, South Sudan. With my father being from Brazil and my mother Peru, you could probably imagine the struggles I’ve had to face. When I lived in Brazil, I didn’t fit in, and when I lived in Peru, I didn’t fit in either.
I was always the one guy who was the outsider. I eventually grew to accept that about myself and saw the positive sides in it, such as the fact that I was trilingual whereas my peers only spoke one language. Although I thought it was really cool that I was different, I always wondered what it would be like to not stick out.
Then I came to Southern. To say my experience at Southern isn’t amazing would be a complete and utter lie. Ever since I came to Southern, I’ve found myself welcomed by a community of people who all have different ethnic backgrounds and who are so diverse in culture that I strangely felt very comfortable. I noticed that there is so much representation and that the university makes an effort to make the students feel represented and welcomed.
Southern also hosts one of the greatest events of the year: LAC Night. This event showcases the spirit of the various Latin cultures and the unity of the students. Other cultural events that Southern hosts include Asian Night, which is also a really awesome event, and BCU Night, which also focuses on student representation.
Southern is an amazing university, and I do believe that students are represented amazingly. Even though I am aware that some students might not share the same feelings as I do, that’s okay. After all, we are all a huge community, and whatever we can do to improve any issue that Southern may face, let’s work on it together as one family.
Written by: Jeff Kern