The freshman class attended a LIFE assembly held by teachers Mark Janda, Lola Muldrew and Pilar Aguero-Esparza regarding privilege, diversity and identity in the Nichols atrium from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. today.

Topics included the idea of identity positively or negatively affecting the perception of an individual and accepting diversity in our community.

“We have this incredibly diverse place, but we don’t talk about diversity very much,” Janda said. “So a few of us talked a few years ago about the need to have our students engage in this kind of dialogue because you’re not all going to be at Harker forever, and you’re eventually going to go out to the rest of the world where these issues come up often.”

When students and teachers first walked in, a slideshow projected various students at private schools holding whiteboards with statements portraying the widespread stereotypes of their individual race, gender or identity.

“I was caught off guard by the slideshow when it said that these were all students from private schools,” Freshman advisor Byron Stevens said. “When I looked at that, I thought ‘Well, that looks like Harker,’ but you always think of Harker as a very unique private school, so it’s nice to be reminded that there are other private schools like Harker that have the similar kinds of diversity.”

Students first got a number line and a penny. Janda read questions that specifically targeted issues related to aspects of one’s lifestyle that may have been perceived differently by others due to identity; students moved the penny up or down the number line based on a “yes” or “no” answer they had obtained. The purpose of this activity was to demonstrate the prevalence of privilege seen in students at Harker.

“Harker students come from the Silicon valley so our student body isn’t like a lot of other student bodies,” Neha Tallapragada (9) said. “It’s important to realize that we do live in a bubble, and that issues like privilege and class affect people outside of Harker and probably at Harker as well.”

After talking within advisory groups, Janda initiated a group conversation to compile the takeaways from discussions.

“I feel like the LIFE assembly we had today was really inspiring, and I really can see the difference in things that I hadn’t really thought about before,” Enya Lu (9) said.

Others felt as if the ideas that were explored during the assembly negatively impacted them.

“They kept asking about economic situation and they asked the question ‘Do you feel like you’re wanted in your house?’” Jay Menon (9) said. “So, I think that made people feel bad.”

Students who are interested to learn more can talk to the Janda, Muldrew or Aguero-Esparza about the opportunity to attend the Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Atlanta in December.