But you aren't white?... No, just Katie.

I am privileged.


I always have been privileged, and I imagine as a result of the privileges I have received over the course of the first twenty-one years of my life I will continue to be privileged until the day I die. I have duly noted the fact that yes, I am privileged. 


However, I am not admitting to the fact that I have never faced hardships. Everyone has faced their certain amount of hardships in life. everyone. 


So in conclusion, I see myself as Katie, a girl who has seen her far share of privileges and hardships. 


So keeping in mind that I am privileged and have faced certain hardships/setbacks is key when "going into" communities or engaging with people within a community to volunteer. 


I imagine when I go into a community to volunteer, people see me first as a female, second as brown. What kind of brown is always up for debate... I could be Indian, Mexican, Egyptian,  Argentinean, Middle Eastern, Malaysian, etc. The list is endless for what kind of "brown" I am. Being biracial helps people identify with you better (i.e. an Indian will always think I'm 100% Indian; whereas, someone of Latin decedent will feel fully comfortable starting up a conversation in Spanish with me). After I open my mouth, people think of me as "white." White meaning I have no accent, and it sounds like I am educated. This puts me in an interesting place, I may look like the people I am serving, but I don't necessarily sound like them. 


Despite the fact talking about race is probably one of my least favorite things, I know race is the big colorful elephant in the room that everyone notices, but no one wants to talk about because they're too scared to address the topic or they feel if the topic isn't addressed it doesn't really exist. Yes, it does exist. I realize it does exist just like everyone else in the world does. For example, I went out to Abel's on the lake to watch the game on Saturday. While sitting up at the bar I did a scan of the outside patio, there was about 75+ people out there and my boyfriend and I were the only two people who were not white. cool. It took me until the second half of the game to realize that. So yes, race does exist, and yes, race is one of those things that is almost completely visible to the naked eye.


When a group of University of Texas students goes into a community that is predominately black or Hispanic, the community is going to notice that we don't necessarily relate to them right off the bat. For one, the majority of our group with a few exceptions are white females. Secondly, we are all college educated women who have all experienced some sort of privilege higher than the communities we are serving. It's almost painfully obvious. 


I think it's important for us to overcome this barrier and see each other all as individuals, yes note the fact that we all have our unique backgrounds whether it be an Indian Mexican college student or an African American student at Mart High School. After we note the fact that we are all special and different in our own unique ways and that these certain traits have resulted in privileges and hardships in our lives, we can move on from that and work together to accomplish whatever goal we set out to accomplish for their community together. 


Yes, I realized I represented 100% of the Asian and Hispanic population at Abel's on the Lake and my boyfriend represented 100% of the African American population at Abel's, but at the end of the day who gives a ****. We were all there for a common purpose, we united together because we were cheering on the Longhorns (despite that dismal lost), and although it took me about two hours to realize we were the huge minority at the bar, it took me less than thirty seconds to forget it because it didn't matter. We were all fans.


Just like going into a community different than your own, yes. acknowledge the fact that you are different and embrace your uniqueness.  But leave with a higher understanding that people are just people, all with their own uniqueness intact. 


So I'd hope at the end of the day the people I'd encounter in the community would see me as just Katie.