开元棋牌

开元棋牌聽students from a variety of academic disciplines shared their views on diversity during the college鈥檚 annual President鈥檚 Commitment to Diversity Scholastic Competition. College faculty and聽staff聽selected four winning submissions from among the poems, essays and artwork entered into the competition.

This year鈥檚 winners are Gemini Walter of Leominster, Monica Kwan of Fitchburg, Darr猫ge Bruny of Clinton and Eddie Vargas of Gardner. Each will receive a free, three-credit academic course for use during the spring or summer semesters.

Now in its fourth year, the competition was developed by 开元棋牌鈥檚 Diversity Committee to highlight the value diversity brings to the learning and working environment. Students are encouraged to submit papers, posters, essays, research work, art work or other original, creative work related to issues of diversity or identity, such as those involving disability, race, socio-economic status, veteran status, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and national origin.

Walter, a Human Services major, is the competition鈥檚 first two-time honoree, following up on his winning essay on race relations last year with a new essay on what it means to embrace diversity.

鈥淒iversity is looking into, not around your fellow human beings,鈥� he writes. 鈥淒iversity is knowing in your heart that every man is your brother and every woman is your sister.鈥�

Walter鈥檚 essay goes on to address gender, disability, illness, faith, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, and physical appearance. 鈥淒iversity is understanding that there are no absolutes when it comes to human beings鈥�Diversity is not black and white.鈥�

Kwan, a Dental Hygiene major, created a painting of a bee inching toward an abstract set of teeth through the unknown. The artwork represents her goal of gaining an education and becoming a successful healthcare professional in contrast to the discrimination against women in China.

鈥淏ees area symbol of perseverance, while simultaneously advocating a team-oriented approach. Their nature of persistence and maintaining equality runs parallel to why my grandparents relocated to the United States from Hong Kong. I wish to honor my grandparents鈥� beliefs that women deserve an education and have the ability to defy stereotypes by being successful.鈥�

Bruny, who recently transitioned from English as a Second Language student to an Interdisciplinary Studies major, wrote about the vast difference between how people with disabilities are treated in Haiti, where she was born, and in the U.S., where she now lives with her family. In her essay, the aspiring cardiologist shares the struggles her family experienced due to their physical and medical disabilities of her two young brothers.

鈥淗aiti has a system where disabled people are ostracized or rejected by society. It is a system that will not be over soon, although a great deal of citizens are fighting every day to change it.鈥�

Vargas, who is majoring in Media Arts and Technology with a concentration in photography, submitted a collection of photographs and a statement on the diverse, supportive community of skateboarders, a culture that does not discriminate. The submission stemmed from a year of photographing skateboarders of all ages and backgrounds through his volunteer work with the nonprofit organization he founded called Keep Kids Off the Streets, which strives to break stereotypes about skateboarders as trouble-makers.

鈥淚鈥檝e never seen a happier, more diverse or civilized group of people,鈥� he said.