Carie Chen

What Acceptance Looks Like

by Foothills Middle School Student Carie Chen

Acceptance is a word that everyone has a different opinion on. Every person has a different concept, theory, and experience with this word. The process or act of allowing and making someone feel comfortable and making sure they fit in is the definition of acceptance. Acceptance can play a really important role in our lives. 

Scientists at UC Berkeley did these theories on acceptance, and it has been proven that acceptance is a major part of life. It can improve or worsen your life, depending on your situation. Psychologists at UC Berkeley have found that people that don’t feel accepted are usually agitated, anxious, and have a hard time falling asleep. According to a research program called Insight by Diversity, seventy percent of middle school, high school, and college students do not feel accepted at their school. Most of them don’t feel respected and supported by their peers and teachers. This is horrible for their mental health, which can lead to worse outcomes. 

Here at AUSD, the teachers and students manage to accept and help make everyone feel comfortable. An accepting school is a place where everyone should be comfortable asking questions and communicating with their peers. Every year, there are always a few new students from a variety of places. People transfer from different countries, cities, and states. For example, some students in my class have come from Texas and Arizona. No matter what, the teachers and students here always help and accept these students into our school.  

New students always have a hard time adjusting to schools, especially since these are all a bunch of students that they have never met before and they are most likely to feel lonely. For example, if a student doesn’t know what a word means or how to do the assignment, the teacher will always guide them through it even if it means taking up their lunch or break time. This shows how a teacher is so devoted to teaching and to making the student feel comfortable. Students who are new, never feel alone at our school. If there is anyone sitting alone at the bench during lunch or break, there is always someone who will come over to sit and talk with them. Students will always go out of their way even if not asked to do so. Other things that make students feel accepted at our school are all the school assemblies and fun activities we do. Sometimes we play games to help us learn. One time, we did a vocab bingo. This helped us learn some new words while we were all having fun. Sometimes when you are learning something, and you don’t feel like you are getting it, you will most likely feel frustrated and not accepted due to everyone's different way of learning. Playing activities while learning really helped people feel accepted at our school.