Search
Search
News
Multimedia
Sports
Arts & Culture
Opinion
Subscribe
Life & Times
Fine Arts
Features
Send a News Tip
100 Years
Archive
Advertise
Donate

Subscribeto The Echo

The Echo

Thursday, May 26, 2022 Print Edition

Donate

  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Arts & Culture
  • Life & Times
  • Features
  • Fine Arts
  • Multimedia
  • Archive
  • 100 Years
  • Advertise
  • Send a Tip
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Arts & Culture
  • Life & Times
  • Features
  • Fine Arts
  • Multimedia
  • Archive
  • 100 Years
  • Advertise
  • Send a News Tip
Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to The Echo

The Echo aims to represent the views of diverse voices on Taylor University's campus fairly and without bias and to be a vehicle of accurate and pertinent information to the student body. The Echo also aims to be a forum that fosters healthy discussion about relevant issues, acting as a catalyst for change on our campus.

Fill out my online form.

9/18/2015, 11:00am

Stop talking to yourself

By Julia Camara
Stop talking to yourself
Elizabeth Syson
It’s natural to befriend people who look like us, but diversity is essential to growth.

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print

By Julia Camara | Contributor

It's the third week of school and life is finally settling into a routine. So now that we're all comfortable, let's glance up from our phones and take a look around. Whether you are a freshman, still wet behind the ears, or a super senior with enough Taylor gear to open a thrift shop, you may have noticed by now that people generally look like their friends. Am I right? Or is it just coincidental that you probably share the same physical appearance as your bestie?

The truth is you don't have to tell someone to make friends with a look-alike. It just happens. And this social pattern is not easy to miss: Tall people next to tall people, blondes offering their hair ties to other blondes, besties with matching tattoos. It's only human to be attracted to people visually similar to yourself. With such friends we feel more comfortable and accepted.

But something can be lost if we only spend time with other versions of ourselves. Segregating ourselves prevents us from growing. Life has more zest and color when you move to a new table in the DC, or actually talk to the people in class you judged by their outward appearance.

So you are probably thinking, "Yes, I've heard the intentional community speech about a hundred times." Instead of intentional community, think about it as a way to study yourself, improve your social skills and address segregation. Spending time with people who think differently than you can actually help you understand how you as an individual process life.

You may ask, "But, if it's natural to segregate ourselves in order to feel comfortable, why diversify our friend groups?"

As Jay Kesler once noted in a chapel address, "If you're not awkward, you're not growing." Yes, routine is crucial to getting through life, but if you want change, improvement and growth, you've got to be uncomfortable sometimes.

Engaging with new people challenges you to be open-minded and accept different ways of living. It also allows you to appreciate the gifts of people unlike you. Not everyone on campus has the baking skills of English girls, or the gumption to wear a toga and sing about fruit, like Penthouse guys, or the wisdom to wow a student body a quarter his age, like Jay Kesler. Humor aside, it's important and healthy to extend your friend groups beyond what's comfortable. The small decisions you make today may solve the racial, religious, and cultural issues of tomorrow.

Share



Related Stories

A number of people work behind the scenes to put together the Commencement ceremony.

Commencement: Before crossing the stage

By Marissa Muljat

The Oct. 26, 1990 edition of The Echo printed a photo of the infamous Trojan Horse used during the ICC competition.

Faded tradition revisited by Taylor alumnus

By Will Riddell

Students celebrating I Love TU Week. (Photo by Madelynn Palmer)

Our View: School spirit has value

By The Echo Editorial Board


Most Popular


5/9/2022, 11:00am

New gas station fills vacant spot

By Payne Moses

Owners hope to bring new offerings


4/28/2022, 6:10pm

U.S. Supreme Court decides to not hear Gordon lawsuit for now


5/16/2022, 1:00pm

Taylor University prepares for 2022 commencement


5/16/2022, 1:00pm

Faded tradition revisited by Taylor alumnus


The Echo To Homepage
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Covers
  • Awards
  • Get Involved

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2022 The Echo

Powered by
Solutions by The State News.

Taylor University