My Experience With Diversity Abroad

Despite being from the not-so-diverse state of Oklahoma, I have always found myself in diverse spaces. Growing up (in Oklahoma City, specifically), my classrooms were always filled with people from different backgrounds, and going to college only allowed me to meet even more people with backgrounds unlike mine. I always made sure to value that, which is why I chose Pomona College in the first place (one of the most diverse colleges in the U.S., shoutout!). Thankfully, I never take that for granted, and I try to embrace that diversity whenever I can.

As you can imagine, coming to Germany was a massive shift for me. Ignoring the fact that it would be my first time leaving the States, I knew I wouldn’t be surrounded by the same diversity that I was familiar with. Funny enough, my friends and family were actually more worried about this than I was, but I assured them that I would be fine…

Spoiler alert, I am, in fact, fine! Within my first week here, some things stood out to me. First, yes, it was a lot less diverse than what I was used to, but I expected that, of course. Second, though, was a very surprising fact: there are a lot more black people here than I thought there would be. Like, a lot more. For some reason, everyone back home tried to give me the impression that there are literally zero black people in all of Germany, and while the actual numbers are obviously a lot lower than back home, I was surprised to see a lot of people who looked similar to me. That, alone, actually did a lot to make me feel more at ease. Like I mentioned before, I have always really valued diverse spaces, but I had never felt this sudden sense of comfort from seeing someone who looked like me because my expectations were completely subverted. Even when traveling outside of Germany, I get to see people from all over gathering in one place. In Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, etc., I was constantly surrounded by people from all over the world. Obviously, this is due to these cities being tourist destinations, but it was still nice to see more diversity abroad.

However, unfortunately, in terms of my study abroad program specifically, I do not see a lot of that same diversity. Across all three IES Abroad programs in Freiburg, there is only one other African American (from what I have observed), and I am the only one in the EU Program. IES Abroad commits itself to diversity, and I appreciate that, but there is unfortunately still a lack of people of color, especially black people, studying abroad. Here is a little story that helped me really think more about this issue: When traveling by plane with about half of the Freiburg EU program, my afro hair pick (which I apparently should have placed in my checked bag…) was confiscated. This was extremely odd to me, considering that I had flown at this same airport before and never had any issues. Another friend told me that her “sharp” hair product was also confiscated the week before, so I guess Basel airport has some new weird policy… Anyway, the problem here was that I couldn’t ask anyone else in the program to borrow their hair tools because none of them had hair even remotely close to mine. So, with the fear of yet another hair tool being confiscated, I had nothing to upkeep my hair for about a week. Thankfully, I have blessed genes, so my hair ever-so-naturally stayed mostly intact (😹), but the situation made me realize just how different my experiences were compared to those around me, even if it was over something "small" like a hair tool being taken from me at the airport.

Thankfully, IES Abroad is good at selecting students who are well educated (and overall just decent people lol), so I have not had any bad experiences among my peers. They’ve been nothing but welcoming, and I love being around them, but it can feel a bit isolating when I look around in my classes/group trips and I am the only black person in the room. Again, I’m used to being in diverse spaces, so being here has been a bit of a challenge in terms of feeling completely at home among my peers.

My connection with race and identity while abroad has definitely gone through some changes. I was thrust into an environment that I was completely unfamiliar with, and I had to navigate it while coming from a completely different background than everyone around me. Thankfully, I haven’t had any bad experiences related to my race (at least not explicitly…), so I am not completely pessimistic. I truly do encourage everyone, especially people of color, to study abroad in places that are vastly different from where they are originally from. Your presence there is so important for the locals, your study abroad peers, and future students who want to study abroad. It won’t always be easy, but your time abroad will change the lives of both you and others around you.