Growing up, I always knew there were differences between white and black people. I knew there was a racial divide; however, I never saw it or understood why things were that way.

I always saw everyone as the same no matter what their skin color was, what they looked like, etc. I tried to keep an open mind about everything and race mattered so little. To me, it just mattered what kind of person you were.

Any social prejudices towards a certain race were always very upsetting to me. I longed to be a part of a different community and go somewhere where I could understand what it was like to be on the other side and see the difference from a minority's perspective.

So, that is just what I did.

I chose to attend Tompkins Cortland Community College, located in Dryden, New York. A college where 85% of the students who lived at the school were black.

Leading up to leaving for school in August 2016, my parents would ask me if this was what I really wanted, telling me that it would be different and that I wouldn't fit in with everyone else.

However, I thought an experience like this would be perfect for me.

When I first got to the school I thought it was amazing. It felt so cool to be on my own and do my own things whenever I wanted. It wasn't long though until I began to feel out of place.

I didn't dress like all of the other girls there, I didn't talk like them or look like them. They were all black and glamorous while I just wore leggings and felt so plain. I would constantly get funny looks from people because I didn't look or act the same as everyone else.

The experience was completely different, to say the least. It wasn't that I had a problem with these people; to be honest, I actually envied them a little bit because they seemed so content with their lives.

But, being around them was not what I was used to, and they always looked at and treated me differently.

Being someone with an anxiety disorder makes it hard to make friends in college. I made a few friends, and they were great.

But most of the time, I felt I didn't really fit in with "the crowd."

People looked down on me all the time, saying things I did were “so white” or that I didn't know anything because I was “white.”

I was often the only white girl in a huge circle of black people and would often get funny looks from numerous amounts of people.

Why did people have to face social prejudices?

Why should I have to get looks because of who I hung out with?

Why do people have to be classified as different?

Why do black people act a certain way?

And why do white people act a certain way?

Black people and white people have been segregated for as long as I can remember. But is that really the way things should be?

Why do white people and black people have so many differences?

The only real difference is skin color.

But the difference in skin color has caused a divide in the people and have caused each group to have norms they are accustomed to and to step out of these norms is unnatural.

I thought going to a school where I was the minority would be good for me, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

I had always felt like an outsider looking into this world, and now I feel like an outsider more than ever.

I had no one I could be completely myself with because I knew I would get ridiculed.

When people face social prejudices it takes a toll on them.

Being a minority at a college where I thought my life would turn around has definitely been an eye-opening experience.

Although at times I did not feel confident about myself I have definitely learned what it feels like to be a minority. And it’s sad people go through their whole lives feeling this way.

But no one should have to.

Just because someone is different from another person shouldn't make them a minority.

Inside we are human beings who think and feel the same things. Just because two people don't have the same skin color, or someone is gay or someone has a disorder does not give people the right to make another person feel as though they are less than another person.

I always thought social prejudices were stupid and that people should not use them to define who they are and how they act.

If people stopped thinking about how different we all are they would see that there are a lot more similarities between everyone than differences.