A few years ago, I was part of a tight friend group that regularly planned weekend activities together. There was someone named Alex who wasn’t official

175 words each 

discussion post 1:

A few years ago, I was part of a tight friend group that regularly planned weekend activities together. There was someone named Alex who wasn’t officially in our group but often joined us. When we were organizing a hiking trip one weekend, the topic of whether to invite Alex came up. Most of the group decided not to include Alex, saying things like “the group is small” or “Alex tends to slow us down.” Even though I felt uncomfortable about leaving Alex out, I didn’t voice my concerns and just went along with the group.

At the time, I felt torn—part of me didn’t want to create conflict or be seen as different, but another part felt guilty for excluding Alex without a clear reason. I convinced myself it was just a one-time thing and that Alex would understand. But looking back, I realize I was avoiding the fact that we were intentionally excluding someone.

If I could do it again, I would handle it differently. I’d try to discuss the situation with the group and be more mindful of Alex’s feelings, or suggest doing a separate activity with them. I now understand that exclusion can hurt people and damage relationships, and that advocating for inclusion—even when it feels uncomfortable—is important.

discussion post 2:

An experience in my professional life where I did not take action was when I was working as a paraprofessional. A paraprofessional is someone that plays a huge role in helping students especially those with special needs. I remember a time when I was working with fifth graders and supporting a couple of students a once who had an IEP. This day the teacher had us working in groups solving math problems. We all had five math problems to solve and once we were done one person from the group had to go up to the projector and show everyone how they got the answer. Many of the students were very shy and did not want to participate at first but after a couple of students went up they eventually participated. When it came time to my group of students the teacher chose one of the most shy students of the group and once his name was called his face and demeanor changed. He began to stutter when he was explaining his work and his hands were shaking in the projector. As he was explaining his work I noticed there was a group of students whispering and smirking and pointing to where he was and I wanted to say something but the other teacher did not call any attention to them. I felt that if I said something then the teacher would be upset and everyone would be staring at my student. At the time I felt very upset and disappointed in myself for not speaking up for my student. Looking back now I would most definitely speak up for him and say something to those students that were making him feel uncomfortable. As a paraprofessional my responsibility is to support my students academically and emotionally which is why I would have done things differently.