I am an African-American female. I have grown up exposed to people of many ethnicities and have been taught to accept all. I have had the amazing opportunity of attending a high school that is diverse ethnically and socio-economically.

Despite the fact that my school is diverse, this is not represented in my advanced classes. This racial divide has not affected me academically; I maintained a challenging course load and high honor roll status during my four years. However, I was affected socially by the underrepresentation of students of color in my AP classes.

Some minority students thought that my achievements meant I betrayed my ethnic identity. They had a skewed opinion of what it means to be black and could not imagine that a black student could speak properly and be in “smart” classes without “acting white.” I was constantly confronted with the statement that I acted white. I could not understand why they considered hard work and determination to succeed as white traits. It was hard, at times, to ignore the hurtful comments of peers. I was merely being myself and trying to achieve my goals. I loved my identity and was proud of my ethnicity. It was extremely hurtful for people to judge me without even knowing me.

Many of these students grew up in households where educational excellence was not stressed in the same manner as it was in mine. Additionally, the media often portray people of color as gangsters, entertainers, and athletes, not as intelligent people or scholars. Beverly Tatum in her book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria, writes, “Blacks have historically been characterized as less intelligent than whites … The dominant group assigns roles to the subordinates that reflect the latter’s devalued status … To the extent that the targeted group internalizes the images that the dominant group reflects back to them, they may find it difficult to believe in their own ability.” This realization made me want to work even harder in my classes.

As my course work became more challenging, I always thought of the offensive stereotype that African-American students could not be as smart as white students. It made me work harder. I wanted to show my fellow students of color that they too could challenge themselves intellectually and prove to themselves (and others) that these negative stereotypes are false.

I learned not to change my values because of others’ influence. I know now that it is important never to lose sight of your goals, even if others disapprove of them. If I had taken the hurtful remarks to heart, I might not have continued to work hard and achieve academically.

I have tried to be a leader. I have assisted other students in the classroom when they needed help. I have been co-captain of the girls’ soccer team. I have been a voice for the student body as its president. Now I want to become an advocate to help minority students achieve in the classroom. Everyone should have the same opportunity to succeed academically, no matter who they are.