“What’s beautiful about my neighborhood? The crackheads on the street, the dope dealers on the corner, CJ in front of the BP selling cigarettes two-for-a-dollar?” It was a Wednesday night. Bible study was wrapping up, and I stared as the kids around me burst into laughter at Jaelan’s description of the neighborhood. Statements like this haven’t been uncommon during my time living and serving in Chicago, and I so desperately wanted to unpack his weighty response in the moment. Why were those the first things that came to mind about the place he lived? How has he been impacted from witnessing those things before even beginning his teenage years? Does he ever see himself leaving West Garfield? Hearing this from a child was a sobering reminder …show more content…
Multicultural proficiency is an individual or an intuition’s ability to interact, communicate, and relate to people groups that they do not belong to. Culturally, my upbringing has been very different than that of the students who I work with. The issues that impact them are far more institutional than the ones that impacted me growing up in South Carolina. While I was blatantly being called the n-word, they are subject to a system that thrives from them and their families remaining in poverty. Seeing the direct effects of generational poverty, lack of educational resources, and limited interaction with cultures aside from their own, among other issues, has furthered my understanding of social justice. The desire for equal opportunities fuels my ambitions to be a school counselor. Despite all of our differences as people in America, what we all have in common is the fact that schooling of some sort is a requirement. Working as a school counselor will provide me with the opportunity to be an ally to students, while on the frontlines to combating issues that adversely impact