If you know me personally, you know that I did not grow up in a very cosmopolitan city.

Suburban Ohio does not do the best job of exposing people to diversity, whether that be diversity in race, religion, or ideas. It was not until I came to Ohio State where I finally felt like I was in a diverse environment, and it was as if I finally was not the only person who possessed extra melanin in my biological makeup.

Here, I am surrounded by people from all over the world- literally. I walk to class and hear a beautiful combination of different languages, from Mandarin to Arabic, the blend of the linguistics has become normal to me. I pass Muslim students that wear the hijab, Jewish students who wear the yarmulke, and people of all races and ethnicities.

All of a sudden, it was as if I had found a place that I finally feel at home in terms of being comfortable with my identity.

On one of my first days as a student here, I was challenged to question my own thought process and image of myself. As I was getting to know the people that lived in my hall, they asked me what my ethnicity was and where my family was from. Before I answered that question, one of them bluntly asked me "Well, are you black?"

And I paused.

I realized in this moment that I had never actually answered yes before. In my mind, "black" was synonymous with African American rather than African, and I did not think people would understand the distinction.

I was forced to ask myself why I thought that way, and where this idea had come from. With some further introspection, I realized that my previous environment had cultivated this idea that being black was negative, and the worst part of that was that I did not even know that thought process was occurring internally and damaging my own view of myself.

Subconsciously, I feel like I distanced myself from them. I subconsciously chose not to identify with them. Additionally, there was a true lack of black role models in my life, and I believe I felt as though I never had a reason to be proud of my identity or heritage.

Before I came to college, I had a few glimpses of what it felt like to be in an environment with other black students my age.

A year ago, I attended a diversity conference at another university in Ohio, where I met a group of girls who I immediately clicked with; we bonded over our similar life experiences as identifying as People of Color and talked about the injustices that they face in this country. I realized that I had never actually talked to people who I felt actually understood my views on that.

Another time was this past summer, as a counselor for a camp, there was a noticeable number of students who were blackand seemed to gravitate towards me. I felt a connection to them that I could not even understand myself. But now I know, and now I understand.

In the short time that I have attended Ohio State, I feel like I have learned so much about my identity and challenged my own thoughts in more ways than I could have ever anticipated. Now, I finally feel like I am one of them. And I am proud of that.