University community meaning and contributions to institutional culture

¶ … community is a group of interacting people for some common objective. A university community is a community established for the purpose of learning. A university community is enriched by the talent and diversity of its members who bring their own unique experiences and outlooks to the learning process. I am interested in UMass Boston because of its commitment to diversity in order to offer its students the very best possible education. I believe my own distinctive background would be a great asset for enhancing UMass Boston's diversity and I also believe that I would benefit from the diversity of its student population

I was born in Thailand; my dad in Austrian and my mother is Thai. I grew up fluent in three different languages, Thai, English and German. As a child, I traveled throughout the world visiting countries on every continent. However, I did not fully understand that learning a different culture is often a process and not simply an event until I had actually lived in a different country. After moving to the United States when I was a teenager, I quickly discovered that I would need to do far more than communicate in the same language to adequately convey my experiences. I also came to understand that the nuances between different cultures are not easily absorbed through reading and watching movies. In fact, sometimes books and movies can create misperceptions that are more difficult to over come than having no knowledge at all. With all of these challenges in mind, I have enjoyed socializing and taking the time and effort necessary to share my culture with others in a meaningful way.