Hodo Ahmed Senior Exhibition / AVID

How My Community Influenced Me

I come from an interesting neighborhood.  It helped shape me into the kind of person I

am today. I grew up in a neighborhood called San Diego City Heights Community.  In our

neighborhood we call our area Diversity Heights. Diversity is about all of us, and about us

having to figure out how to walk through this world together.

I think it's one of the most diverse neighborhoods in San Diego because people who live

here come from all around the world.  If you walk and listen, you hear all kinds of languages

being spoken.  If you look, you see people dressed in clothes from the countries they are from. 

We are so lucky to have so much diversity, especially with the culinary food choices. 

I've grown to appreciate the diversity as it allows me to see different mindsets and

approaches to many issues. It helped me to be more open minded and realize all the possibilities,

attitudes and personalities that can occur through different cultures. Everyone has distinct

approaches to everyday problems due to the various environments they were raised in. 

I was lucky enough to also grow with people of the same ethnicities and thanks to that, I

learned more about my culture. The way my people lived and learned my native tongue. There

was so much to learn and experience such as a variety of traditional dishes, clothes, and

activities. When I look back, I’ve learned how big an impact my environment has on what I’ve

become.

Growing up in such a diverse and unique environment with many kinds of people, led me

to be more open minded and understanding. As well as having an interest in travelling to

numerous countries to experience unique heritages. I’m happy to come from a community of

diversity which is the art of thinking independently together.