I am Guilty!!!

So last Friday I walked into my skills class thinking it was going to be the easiest class yet. The focus was on being culturally aware of our surroundings, one of the key component of GCU’s common good attribute (Global Citizenship). In a class of multinationals, I assumed I was culturally aware but I was so wrong. The lecture exposed us to the many different views and identities and how sometimes we directly or indirectly offend others. This was particularly personal to me because I believed  I was deliberately  profiled all the time and at some point in my life I just didn’t care what the world thought of my “kind”. I remember feeling so hurt when I was asked to prove how I got a 1000 pound in my pocket while walking through security at Dubai international airport. Worse part is he asked me thinking it’s funny if we had electricity in my home country. I share this story because I am not only a victim but an ignorant culprit. Week two of uni a new student from Indonesia joined the class and in an attempt to make him comfortable I offered to show him the best Chinese restaurant in town thinking he is Chinese. I went so far as to ask him to teach me Chinese and even planned on asking if he knows kun fu before the tutor walked in. All this time he was smiling just like I did at Dubai International. I was completely unaware my subconscious had racially profiled him using my image from social media. During the lecture I couldn’t help but feel guilty for profiling him and though it wasn’t my intention, I had to apologise. Fast forward 24hrs later, we spoke and I did offend him but am glad I know better now. If there is one thing I took back home last Friday, is to be considerate of other cultures, believes and feelings…Thank you GCU!!!