As freshmen enter high school, the experience can often be quite overwhelming. Amongst the mayhem of adjusting to difficult classes and a new environment, students also have to worry about making friends and meeting people outside of their predetermined social circle. The divisions out on the lunch tables are very clearly defined, so for a day Amador Student SEED asks freshman to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch. In an event called Mix It Up Day, the freshman class is encouraged to combat the subconscious stereotypes that students create about unknown people and ideas. What seems like a simple act often ends up having profound implications.
SEED, which stands for Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, is a student-led organization on campus that aims “to build the capacity for a more equitable curriculum, campus, and community.” It is responsible for organizing the annual diversity rally and Common Core Cohort meetings across different levels of education, among other things. Mix It Up Day is an event that takes place during lunch for the entire freshmen class. Students are randomly split up into groups of about ten that are different from the clearly marked social divisions generally seen. Each group is assigned two Mix It Up leaders that help facilitate discussions and organize engaging team-building activities, so students may move out of their established friend groups and talk to someone new. Through this experience, students are able to debunk any preconceived misconceptions that they may harbor.
Mix It Up Day is a great step towards fighting existing stereotypes and reducing prejudice. These stereotypes are purely a result of generalizations due to ignorance of the unknown. People tend to see a few examples and apply those to the entire population, but these hasty generalizations misconstrue reality and inherently hurt others. The more aware we become of the truth, the more capable we are of making informed decisions. Our unity in diversity is capable of bettering the world, one equitable experience at a time.