Biography of Ms. Diversity 2010

Hi everyone! My name is Danyah Zayed and this year I was crowned Ms. Diversity 2010 . I am extremely grateful to Spirit magazine for giving me the opportunity to fulfill a title that represents integrity and morality. I am enrolled as a junior, in the Honors program, at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, I am currently majoring in Biology and hope to one day fulfill my life long dream of going to Medical school and becoming a pediatric doctor. Some of the activities that I am involved in school include Diversity Chair of Student Activities Board, Member of The Diversity, Action and Reflection Team at SXU, Muslim Student Association, Vice President for Students for Justice in Palestine, Vice President of Tri-Beta Biological Honors Society and Service Club.
In addition to my activities at school ,I plan to become the coordinator of the new organization called College Students of Diversity (CSD) for Spirit Magazine. The goal of College Students of Diversity; (CSD) is to help to enrich students' lives as the exposure to diversity education will help them become more effective in their own futures. This is particularly important for graduates who will soon work in diverse workplaces that are so prevalent in North America and internationally today. Introducing the society with entertainment and discussions with this organization and the title of Ms. Diversity, could be one of the first steps taken to really fulfill the idea of empowering women and the promoting the lifestyle of diversity.
I plan to enhance the quality of life for others by allotting my time to help other people from tutoring, reading moral support, and most importantly listening people. One thing I have learned this year is that if a person really wants to improve himself or herself they must first become a selfless person. Service is one of the few virtues that shape a person into being someone’s that has general welfare in mind. Taking a leadership role is something that is highly reputable and tough to manage because, when making decisions you must keep all participants in mind.
As Ms. Diversity, this opportunity will allow me to share a title that represents respect, tolerance, and understanding. It will allow me to become a more selfless and humble person by opening up doors of other communities and learning how we can help them. Building trust with a title like this can take a community into a more pluralistic society. I feel like as Ms. Diversity, it is a kind of title that will be seen as a barrier breaker and a leader that is forthcoming, and ready to approach matters that need to be opened up and discussed. Something like pluralism is hard to achieve by one single person. Therefore, from my resources as the Leader of the College Students for Spirit Magazine, I would have college students help bring people together to talk about issues and ideologies that the youth and society are trying to understand today.
This title will give me the opportunity to bring more to the table. Not to be just a volunteer; but an empowered woman who is opening her arms to people all races to feel understood, loved and respected. Internationally, the role that Ms. Diversity would play could really inspire a lot of young women to take charge of their lives and find their passion. What better place to start than in your local community? Organizing forums, creating a Diversity Action team amongst women and inspirational leaders, or simply making a difference by spending time with those less fortunate can help make a difference within a community. With that said, reading to members of the National Federation of the Blind would be a good start to welcome diversity .The role of Diversity would not only allow me to uphold all these core values, but to uphold them in the highest standard in this civic community.