I met Adrienne during my first
years of high school. When I first met her, she did not leave a lasting
impression on me. Adrienne Carter looked like any other rich white girl living
in suburban Orange County. Slowly but surely, we became acquainted during our
five years of choir together.
The first
time we truly got to know each other was when we debated each other on
politics. I found out Adrienne identified as one of the dirtiest words in human
vocabulary, Republican. Not only that, she was a staunch conservative and Ted
Cruz supporter. Being a naïve, inexperienced seventeen-year old, I was a
starry-eyed liberal who demonized everything Republicans stood for. That is not
to say that I am a mature adult now but I have learned something quintessential
from Adrienne, the world is not black and white.
In my
narrow-minded brain, I had categorized all conservatives as entitled wealthy
bigots. I could not have been more wrong about Adrienne. She is one of the most
compassionate individuals I have ever met. As a foster child passed around
multiple families, she was literally able to survive her bouts of depression
due to her devotion to Christianity and conservative values. I was even wrong
about her race as she was actually Hispanic. Who was I to disregard any of her deeply
meaningful beliefs.
From
this point on, I never have prejudged anyone for their labels. Adrienne pushed
me to research complex ideology that I was so vehemently against simply due to
the political party associated to it. As a lumper, I found that having splitter
tendencies is also very important to becoming an intelligent adult. This actually helped me the next times I
would respectfully argue with Adrienne as my responses would focus more on
logos rather than pathos. Adrienne taught me how to be respectful and understanding
of all arrays of views despite my own personal perspective. In the words of our
next president, we are “stronger together.”
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