DESCRIMINATION

When pondering over a time I was discriminated against, height came to mind. In my adolescent years volleyball was extremely important to me and earning a spot on a highly competitive club team had caught my eye. As one of the stars of my junior high team I felt completely confident in my abilities and fairly sure that I had what it would take to earn my place. Well aware of my height deficiency, I knew that I had to be on top of my game. My friend who was well over six inches taller than me was also trying out. She did not have as much experience, nor did she prove to be consistent on our school team. The day of the try outs came and we had to fill out a sheet asking us for our age, height, position desired, and experience on other teams. Immediately I knew once they had my height in writing that it would be very difficult for me to get noticed. Try outs began and the coaches with clip boards began to circulate and gather stats as we ran through drills. During one of the best passing drills of my career I noticed that none of the coaches with clip boards were coming my way. That was one of the first times I remember feeling discriminated against.
A time where I discriminated against someone else stemmed from junior high. There was a boy who had an odor that did not make it easy for him to make friends. Our last names were close together in the alphabet and put us close together in locker order starting in junior high and lasting all through out high school. His smell deterred me from conversing with him and actually led me to believe he must be a grotesque boy that came from a family that did not care about cleanliness. Finally during my senior year we began to chat during passing periods because of a class we had together, despite his odor, and I got to know him better. His friends also gave off a similar vibe and I would group them together as an awkward group with questionable hygiene skills. By the end of senior year that group of boys became some of my favorites around school. This experienced taught me not to judge people based on their appearance and even their smell.
During one of our Human Relations activities we had to judge students from their pictures and there was a student who looked just like one of the boys I discriminated against. Looking at that picture I smiled and knew what other kids may be writing about his goofy hair and dark make up. To me he was the exact opposite of what others may have thought of him because of the lesson I learned in high school. I will carry this lesson with me through out life and especially in the classroom.