When I look around at my group of friends, I am always amazed at how different everyone is. We all come from unique backgrounds, but that doesn't stop us from being friends. Sometimes, the individuality of each one of us helps pull us closer together.
We don't have to be exactly the same to spend time together, in fact those friendships are usually the hardest. I have friends who enjoy different sports than I do, come from different countries, speak different languages, or want to be something totally different than I do in life. That doesn't mean we aren't great friends that just means we have a lot we can teach each other.
I love going to a school that has a good amount of cultural diversity, because I never fail to learn something from my peers. When politics or current events come up we have great discussions, because none of us see the situation from the same point of view. We help teach each other to accept a difference of opinion and learn from what others have to say. We can be having a friendly argument, and I'm so sure that I'm right, but when I hear their point of view I'm think "Wow, I never would have thought of it like that." I love those moments, because I get to hear someone else's perspective on a topic that was close to all of us.
Having people over and seeing that your friend group represents over five countries and you all get to sit together and share stories and memories that no one else has gotten to experience or even imagine is a unique experience. There is something beautiful about being exposed to other cultures like that. I learn things from my friends from India, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico and Egypt I might never experience.
Even if I go there or have been there, my experience will never be the same as the one someone else had, because of perspective, but by listening to them I can learn to see it the way that maybe they did. My best friend is from France and we see eye to eye on lots of things, but many things we don't agree on at all. We have learned to accept that and respect each other's opinions instead of thinking that our opinion is the only one that can be right, because with my background I might be right, but she could be right at the same time due to what she has experienced in life. We are blessed to be in a culturally diverse society and we should really be thankful for that and accept each other instead of limiting yourself to a certain type of friend.
