University Transfer Application

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University Transfer Essay

I was a member of a fun loving, broad minded family. My parents were well educated and had a huge social circle that consisted of Americans from various backgrounds. I grew up feeling open towards new ideas and concepts. But things were little different at my Grandparent’s house. I remember visiting them in San Diego during my vacations and getting exposed to ideas like "Never hire a Muslim," or don't be their friends, they are not nice people. Once he entered home feeling extremely proud that he didn't hire a qualified Muslim in his construction company and that Muslim was unable to make him stupid with a nice interview.

I never understood his perception as a child, as he never gave me any logical explanation for his beliefs. But sadly his ideas got stuck in my mind; unintentionally I started to avoid all the Muslim kids in my school. I began to feel strange repulsion towards them. I even used to avoid looking at a woman in eastern clothing and headscarf.

In the coming years, the Islamophobia on media fueled my emotions. I was in my ignorance afraid of Muslims until the day I met one. I was going back home from my evening job, and some guys attacked me, they took my wallet and started to beat me. My friends who belonged to similar ethnicity watched me getting hurt in silence. I remember a woman saying something in a strange language and then a guy coming forward and stopping those robbers. The long-bearded guy who stopped them was wearing a typical eastern Muslim clothing and I was looking at him in shock. It was the day when I realized that unknowingly, I was a racist.

It never occurred to me that my attitude and feelings towards Muslims are purely based on racism. I never heard my parents saying anything against them, but the views of my grandfather were rooted inside my brain. That guy took me back home. He was living a few blocks away from my home. He even came to visit me afterwards. I used to feel extremely ashamed of myself every time he used to meet me.

Now we are friends and he helped me understand Muslims and Islam better. This one incident changed my life and beliefs. Now, not in my illusion but in reality, I can say that I am a broad-minded person, who actually believes in diversity of cultures, religions, ideas and people. Three of my close friends are from other ethnicities and religions. One is Chinese, one is Pakistani Muslim, and other is almost atheist. We all get along really well.

I believe that basic human emotions are based on kindness and understanding but its society and foreign elements that teach us to hate and feel afraid. Stamping any community or race is based on pure lack of logic and fear of the unknown. Racism and stamping are the products of not promoting open dialogues. It is okay to be different. Ones who don't have similar beliefs should not be considered a threat. Our plant is diverse regarding its species and variety of every substance that it has, which is the real beauty of it. New experiences come from new ideas, and we need difference to progress further as a human community.

I want to be a part of an institution that has similar believes like mine, based on acceptance and love for the community. The University of South California offers the experience that I won’t receive at another place. I want to experience new people, and learn from their uniqueness. There is a place for everyone to coexist and I want to be a part of this coexistence.

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