"How an Intro Class Shaped my Perspective" by Anneliese

"How an Intro Class Shaped my Perspective" by Anneliese - July 2026 Scholarship Essay

The first day I walked into my Intro to Ethnic Studies classroom was a culture shock to say the least. My professor was an older Iranian man who was so cutthroat and passionate about his curriculum that many students couldn’t handle the material we went over the first day. Little did I know that this would be the first academic topic that challenged me in more ways than one. I made the assumption that this would be a regular history class that prioritized memorization of terms and historical events. However, the class pushed me out of every bit of comfort I have felt in an academic setting. We talked about the history behind America and how Ethnic Studies came to be. Nothing inside of a high school textbook could have prepared me for the topics in our lectures. The removal of Native Americans, the dehumanization of African Americans and Chicanos inside of the America’s, how universities to this day profits off stolen Indigenous land to name a few. The material made me confront the uncomfortable feeling past literacy and history class installed me to have. It shocked me to my core, but I have never left that classroom believing that I hadn’t learned something that day. I have always been an advocate for the foundational principles of freedom written in our constitution but finding out many minority groups continue to live in a system built to disregard their heritage and contributions to America, gives my activism a meaning. I approach conversations in a new light provided by the knowledge of the multiple century-long struggle that shaped our country. I know how privileged I am to hold a seat in these classrooms at a top University as a first generation Hispanic student due to the history I’ve been exposed to through this class. With my privilege comes new responsibility.