Sydney Fitzgerald,
Annville, PA
Growing up, I went to a private/catholic school that was predominantly white. Along with that, I was raised by two white parents and no knowledge of any other race. My neighborhood had maybe two black families and I only had friends who were white. Because I grew up this way, I was completely oblivious to my white privilege and the racial world around me. When I transferred to a public high school during freshman year, my eyes were open to the amount of diversity that occurred in other areas of the community. From what I heard from my parents and teachers, racism was a prevalent topic; however, I never experienced that. Because I never experienced that, it shows how much privilege I actually have. Now that I have been exposed to racism in public school, I am much more open-minded about the topic in college and around others.
