A team can accomplish a lot or a little, depending on many factors. Our student organizations can make a big impact and create positive change through initiatives and events or just fizzle out. But how do we accomplish a lot? We surround ourselves with people who challenge us, who have different strengths than us, who question our ideas and motives and who make us better. Diversity in perspective creates new conversations and thorough discussion.

I talk to students about the student organizations they are involved in and care about, so that I can attain to a degree the proper representation of their passions. I love working on projects in my engineering classes with mostly male students because I respect how their problem-solving thought process works differently from my own. I seek input on ideas from students I know will question me and give honest feedback. I ask students about the issues they are facing, because we don’t all face the same problems. As a student leader, I see the strength in a viewpoint different than my own.

Throughout the last several months during my time as vice president of the Government of the Student Body, I’ve met passionate student leaders across campus who are making an impact in a different way than I ever could. Students who care about creating positive transitions into Iowa State culture for international students. Students who care about getting the details correct in a story so that their peers can be informed. Students who care about supporting fellow fraternity members of any sexual orientation. Students who care about doing the right thing to help other students.

I value diversity because I am a white, female, Christian, American, and I don’t have all the answers. I can only see things the way I already know. I can try to put myself in someone else’s shoes, but I still only have what I have already experienced. Someone of a different religion, ethnicity, background, or interest will teach me about how the world is different.

Diversity helps us grow as a people. It helps us question our beliefs and values, so we can develop a sound reasoning for the things that we do. Meeting people different from you is part of the college experience. The challenge is to open yourself up and question who you are and what you care about. It’s the never-ending challenge of finding yourself.

At Iowa State, your experience will be unique to you. Your major, activities, relationships, values and decisions will paint the story of your time here. You will challenge others, and they will challenge you. Together, we will continue to make Iowa State an adventure worth having, because we are diverse.