Nine Middle School students embarked on a journey to Haverford for a diversity  conference. These students had great things to say about the conference. Coby Booker ’28 said, “I really enjoyed it and definitely would recommend the conference for anyone who has not gone to it yet.”

The theme of the conference was “The Masks We Wear.” The conference started with a speaker named Mykee Fowlin. Mr. Fowlin, who had spoken at many different conferences around the world, communicated to the attendees through different characters. Many students loved this interesting twist at the beginning of the conference. “I think the speaker portrayed different masks well while talking about his own life experiences. The topics he covered ranged from more fun things such as a little kid with tons of energy to college students struggling with mental illnesses,” said Coby Booker ’28. 

Students broke out into groups of about ten to discuss the speech as well as other topics. One major topic talked about was the masks we wear and why we wear them. Students learned that many people hide things about themselves for multiple reasons. One activity students participated in was making a mask and writing qualities they hide on the inside of the mask and qualities they show on the outside. 

Students and teachers reflected on this topic. Specifically, Coby Booker ’28, said “I think we show our masks by acting differently around different groups of people. We learned a term called code-switching, which demonstrates this idea well. Code-switching occurs when we try to blend in with different groups of people rather than being our true selves.” Mrs. Suber, the head of Inclusivity and Belonging at Malvern, said, “I think people wear masks daily because it’s not always a comfortable environment for people to show up as their authentic selves. We often judge, ridicule, or dismiss identities that we don’t understand or are not willing to accept.” She then added, “This rejection can be painful, so many people wear a mask that best matches the culture and identities of those around them.”

At this conference, students were given the opportunity to open up about themselves and learn more about what diversity means. “It didn’t change my views of diversity at all, but I appreciated the opportunity to support other students, especially middle school students in their journey of identity and self awareness. I think it made me think more about how I don’t know what someone is going through at any point and that I should treat them kindly because of it.” said Coby Booker ‘28.