Out of all the competencies, I think socio-cultural awareness is probably the “easiest” to develop in college. Now, I put easy in quotation marks because it is not easy to actually develop this skill–in fact, this skill, more that others, requires you to put yourself in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations in order to develop it. However, that’s exactly what college is filled with–unfamiliar situations, where you are surrounded by and grow with all different kinds of people.
One example I can think of regarding these unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations comes from within my own friend group this semester. My friends and I all come from very different economic backgrounds, which is a stark difference from what I experienced in high school, where most people came from (at least relatively) similar backgrounds to me. These differences have led us to have some sometimes uncomfortable but always eye-opening conversations about money, especially with regard to paying for college. It definitely has put into perspective the amount of privilege that I come from and taught me the importance of just listening/not always trying to add to the conversation when navigating such situations.
I also had a similar experience this semester when I chose to host a pre-frosh for an overnight at Wesleyan. The pre-frosh I hosted is a first generation, low income student, and thus I was really glad to be able to help provide them with an introduction to our community. As I was asking them about their high school experience and what they were considering with regard to where they wanted to go to school next year, I noticed how different their life experience has been from mine so far. Even just with consideration of where to go to school, even though she like Wesleyan, she chose to ED to another school that she knew she could get a full ride from, because that was the most important factor for her and her family. I was once again reminded of both my privilege and also how important providing equal access to resources like education is. This student was so smart, and though I would love to see them here next year, I admire their maturity in their decision-making.
