I came from an all-white high school in Alabama, and no I wasn’t born in the 1950s.

Legal segregation went out in the ’60s, but de facto segregation – which is not mandated by law but a conscious choice by many involved – still exists in my country community.

In my high school days, I hated my boring, monochromatic existence. Outside of school and community I could meet new and interesting people, but I almost always ended up surrounded by the same cookie-cutter, white, conservative community.

UGA was a whole new world in my eyes. No, UGA is not the definition of diversity, but I had a black roommate, and the girls on my hall represented many different ethnicities. It was wonderful: new cultures, new music, new everything.

Now, four years later, within my circle of closest friends, I can count over 15 countries represented. I have friends of all races, sexual orientations and have been in a long-term relationship with a wonderful Indian man raised in Dubai.

I’ve gained new language skills, a taste for food like the Indian dish chicken Jailfraize and Eastern European pierogis. I’ve seen movies in dozens of languages and heard music in twice as many.

But too few of us are taking advantage of opportunities to branch out and learn more. De facto segregation still exists at UGA. We stick to our cliques and our high school friends. I seldom see branching out.

We’ve all driven down Milledge Avenue and noticed that 40 years after desegregation, most sororities and fraternities are all white, except those explicitly set out as historically black or Asian.

But I’m not only pointing at the white, Christian-raised, born-in-America set. I’m pointing at everyone – the blacks, the Asians, the Indians – as well as the white majority.

My boyfriend often jokes that anytime he meets another Indian student on campus, they are surprised they don’t know him. They assume he must be a freshman.

Really, he just happens not to hang out in that tight Indian circle.

When I expressed interest in us going to India Night, he said he wouldn’t feel comfortable putting me in a position to be ostracized.

Similarly, his black roommate, a close friend of mine who introduced us, catches hell from his family because he has so far failed to, “find any black girls,” to bring home.

Now, celebrating our separate cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds is wonderful. Something like India Night is a great for a small group to come together to enjoy a shared culture of food, music and fashion. We never should stop appreciating our shared ties. But exclusion is not a cause for celebration.

Instead, celebrate your heritage by sharing it with others. Get out of your comfort zone to teach others – and to learn from them. Take advantage of the diversity UGA does offer, and demand that we get offered more in the future.

My former roommate, a first-generation, Chinese-American woman, perfectly balanced her culture and her mingling. She was heavily involved in Alpha Delta Rho, an Asian sorority, but engaged to her long-term white boyfriend. She loved cooking the food her parents always made her, but never shied away when I wanted to make cheese-heavy pasta for her.

Celebrate yourself by sharing everything you have to offer with someone who never before experienced it.

- Stephanie Jackson is a senior from Birmingham, Ala., majoring in newspapers and English