What rhymes with universally and creates a welcoming environment for all people? Diversity.

At the 2015 Diversity Dialogue Day at Old Dominion University, recently, juniors Catalina Perez and Sofia Schaff discovered different ways to enrich the student life at school and create a more inclusive environment.

“I was surprised with how similar our school was to others, but what really made me feel proud was how inclusive our school is compared with other schools.” Schaff said, “Even though there are no evident signs of any bullying, there are always ways we can improve as an entire school.”

The topic of the day was stereotypes and how students can work towards eliminating any preconceived ideas that live in the minds of others.

“Stereotypes, no matter how harmless they seem, still leave the person affected in a difficult situation because it is extremely difficult for them to break the barrier without being judged.” Schaff said.

Both students learned that there are subtle ways that they can change their school community and they look forward to incorporating more of these interpersonal mediator skills in the future with projects in the Diversity Club.