This past summer, 11th grader Erica Brown reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in leading a club with her. I was hesitant at first. I had never been in that sort of leadership position prior, and I had not considered integrating exploration of my own cultural identity into life at Montrose. Shouldn’t I focus on traditional scholarly pursuits in an academic environment? On top of that, to my knowledge, there had not been many clubs similar to ours in the past, and I wondered if participation would be a concern. What if we started the club and students didn’t attend? With sports and other extracurricular activities, I worried I wouldn’t have had the time at all! However, despite all of my worries, I decided to take the plunge. If anything, I would gain invaluable experience from such a position, and I just couldn’t pass it up.

Once I had agreed to co-lead this club, we began coming up with discussion ideas, eventually sending out a survey to gauge interest. We were able to host our first couple of meetings over zoom this past summer and began discussing the book Just Mercy. In these past six months, we were able to cover a broad range of topics, from individual cultural identity to Martin Luther King Jr., and hearing from such a wide variety of girls has fundamentally shifted how I approach everyday life. As we expand our horizons and consider outreach opportunities beyond the Montrose community, I look forward to continuing this journey of cultural exploration. 

For further information about the Multicultural Club, please find me at 23diffih@montroseschool.org and Erica Brown at 22ebrown@montroseschool.org

Dani Iffih ‘23, Contributing Writer

23diffih@montroseschool.org