Students at Wichita State will benefit significantly from the diversity on campus.

Aside from the freedom you get when you venture off to college, nothing could prove to be more beneficial in aiding students into adulthood than being exposed to individuals of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Being a part of something that’s different from yourself allows you to break out of comfort zones that often leave us stagnant.

My freshman year of college, I hadn’t seen or known anyone from outside of the country until I went to Iowa Central Community College. Almost 65 percent of my track team was foreigners. My teammates were from the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Africa and Papua New Guinea, among other places in the world.

In fact, five of my six roommates at the time were of different ethnic backgrounds. The guy I shared a room with was from Papua New Guinea, and he taught me a lot about his culture throughout the school year.

Not only have I benefited tremendously from cultural diversity in college — all students can benefit from it.

The University of Maryland conducted a study and had this to say on the topic of cultural diversity and its benefits:

“We believe that our students benefit significantly from education that takes place within a diverse setting. In the course of their university education, our students encounter and learn from others who have backgrounds and characteristics very different from their own. As we seek to prepare students for life in the twenty-first century, the educational value of such encounters will become more important, not less, than in the past.

“A very substantial portion of our curriculum is enhanced by the discourse made possible by the heterogeneous backgrounds of our students. Equally, a significant part of education in our institutions takes place outside the classroom, in extracurricular activities where students learn how to work together, as well as to compete; how to exercise leadership, as well as to build consensus.”

Not only do students learn and challenge each other in all areas, we also grow as individuals. A person is generally limited to only what they know and have been exposed to. Understanding cannot be borrowed. Meaning: until we are exposed to new things and different kinds of people, we will only have an idea of these things and people.

Perception is never permanent, so once we are exposed to new people and we get to know them on a personal or working level, we change. We ultimately grow as people, because we bring a new perspective to the table.

I’ll never know what life is like in Papua New Guinea, but because of my roommate, I have an inside perspective on what it’s like instead of giving an opinion on something I have no knowledge of.

It is also worth noting that according to an article published on americanprogress.org, “studies consistently show that diversity drives innovation and fosters creativity.

In a Forbes survey, 85 percent of respondents said diversity is crucial for their businesses, and approximately 75 percent indicated that their companies will put more focus during the next three years to leverage diversity to achieve their business goals.”

That said, let’s continue to embrace the diversity here in Wichita and aid in the growth of society.