Wellness Corner 22: Cultural Awareness

This week’s Wellness Corner is all about how cultural education can help us grow in our wellbeing. Sep 15 marked the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. To celebrate, faculty and staff enjoyed a "desayuno" celebration on Friday, and Viva La Raza's movie night to celebrate the festive month is coming up on Sep 21. Kinkaid is beautifully diverse and has done a great job over the past years of celebrating traditions/festivals from different cultures, like the Diwali and Holi celebrations led by South Asian Heritage Club, and the Jewish Heritage celebration led by the Jewish Heritage Affinity Group. 

It’s important for us to celebrate other cultures and educate ourselves to become global citizens and better understand the world we are stepping into — or perhaps, already in. Mr. Behr’s presentation at assembly resonates here: using principles of civil discourse to respect and appreciate differences, whatever they might be, is crucial. Being open-minded while also not making other cultures seem “exotic” in a demeaning or pejorative manner is an important balance to strike. Let’s do our best to consistently respect each other, have discussions about our favorite traditions from our cultures, ensure everyone has a voice in our conversations, and above all… be Kinkaid kind. 

Stay well,

Eshaan