Why Cultural Diversity is a Good Thing

Let’s start with first telling what is Cultural Diversity. It means the gathering or mixing of people of many different colors, races, nationalities, religions, genders, languages and customs in one culture. There is not much diversity found in countries such as Pakistan other than their own native cultures because of the negative global image enemies have created. However, in many developed countries you will find a lot of foreigners living and working like natives. Countries that are ranked better as Study Abroad Destinations are particularly more colorful as students from all over the world come there for education.

Some students are often confused with the question whether they would like the diversity of culture in their study abroad destination or not so they can either select a study abroad destination where there are not many foreigners or a country overflowing with different colors. This article answers that question.

It is believed that cultural diversity is a very good thing. Instead of avoiding it, we should become a part of it. This will have many advantages and also fun. For students who are going abroad for knowledge, I assure that you will learn a lot just by spending time in a diverse culture. Here I have made all the points and explained them on why cultural diversity is a good thing.

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1 -   Understand the World Better

Imagine that you are living in place where there are people from all over the world of different colors, languages and cultures. You have some friends of whom one is Chinese, one is Indian, one is African, one is English and one is European. By spending time with them, you will get to understand their countries, beliefs and cultures. It is like a worlds tour without even leaving the place. You have a representative of each part of the world. If a Pakistani and Indian are to spend time together, they will understand each other better and the curtains of hatred and arrogance will be lifted.

2 -   Opens Your Mind

By living with different mentalities, your mind opens up to new possibilities. Our minds are limited to the society we live in. We consider many things bad that are deemed good in other cultures and we like many things that are considered bad in other cultures. If you agree to that much, understand that our definition of Good and Bad is defined by the society. When you go out of the box, you will understand how big the world is. By spending time in a diverse culture, you will understand their views and definitions which will help you break the boundaries of your own thoughts. And this is what the Education is all about to break the barriers.

3 -   You Learn New Things

“Knowledge is Power.”

Knowledge helps you get stronger. Not physically but mentally and intellectually. Whole purpose of studying abroad is education which is getting knowledge and understanding. By living in a diverse culture, you learn many new things that increases your knowledge. You learn many new concepts, beliefs, hacks and languages. This will also really help you in professional life where you will shine brighter than others because of your knowledge to things that others don’t have access to. It makes you look smart. People follow smart people making you a leader.

4 -   Builds Great Network

A good network is one of the biggest asset of a professional. Imagine having a network that is not limited to just your country but all around the world. You can have it if you keep good relation with people but before that you must live in a culture where you have people from all around the world. Studying abroad is the best opportunity to do that. In your classroom, you are not doing business. You are just making friends and these friends will be helpful for you and you will be helpful for them in future. It would be nice to say in  family members and office,” oh we are going to China, well, I have a friend there who will pick us from the airport and arrange things before our arrival.” Not necessarily China though.

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5 -   It Inspires Innovation

As I said above that living in a diverse culture opens your mind to new possibilities, it has many perks. It also inspires innovation in you. When you live with different people, your mind is no longer limited and you think differently in a more open way. Thinking out of the box makes you innovative and creative. Schools and universities can’t make you creative but your company can.

6 -    Improves Communication Skills

Living in a diverse culture also makes your communication skill a lot stronger than others. This is so because you have experienced living in different type of people with different styles and languages and you know how to deal with them. With the knowledge of different languages and gestures, your communication skills get even better. Nothing can surprise or confuse you anymore. Today’s business world is no longer bounded to just one country as even the tiniest of companies deal globally. It means they have to deal and have meetings with people from different countries. Who can communicate with them better than the one who has experience in this area. These kind of skills are called Soft Skills and they are almost as important as Technical Skills. 

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Usama Ahmed Awan The Editor of StudyAbroad.pk, Usama is a BZU studied Software Engineer, now  a Teacher, Article Writer, Educational Counselor and Journalist. He has been  writing to assist students selecting the right career path.