Tolerance.  It's a word we often equate with race, gender, religion or sexual orientation.  We often forget that tolerance should also be synonymous with personality variations.  GW has one of the largest student bodies in the country comprised of students not only from different countries and cultural backgrounds, but students who also represent diverse interests and personalities.  There are type As, resume "whores", musicians, thespians, political activists, military men and women and probably even a few surfer dudes.  But in such a widely diverse student body do we find ourselves embracing the diversity or are we so wrapped up in law school life that we shut out those who don't conform to our expectations?

As law students, it is easy to get in over our heads and stressed out.  There's always something that we can be doing, something that we should be focusing on and in the midst of our stress we may find that the people who act differently from us or don't meet our expectations are the ones we write off because we just don't get them.  We spend a lot of time in class learning about how discrimination is wrong or that the immigration laws should change or that gay marriage should be allowed.  We fight for the "big" issues and fancy ourselves to be the great advocates.  But in fighting the big fight we often forget about the daily issues that impact our lives.  Particularly, our fellow classmates.

While commenting on social awareness a friend and fellow law student mentioned that "law students are so wrapped up in their books that they don't see what's going on around them."  We get stuck in our groups, with like-minded individuals; those that don't necessarily challenge us to improve on ourselves or push the boundaries of our beliefs.  But there is something to be said for social awareness.  By being socially aware you can see what is really going on around you and find out what some of the other 1400 students at GW are about.  Each one of our classmates has something unique about him or her that can add to who we are or how we view the world.  We should be cautious about viewing someone different as two dimensional or letting first impressions or misguided beliefs control who we interact with because in fact that person may be much more interesting than you originally perceive.  That gunner in your 1L section may actually have been a classically trained pianist or world traveler, or the person who you find to be mildly outrageous and a bit of a ham might just "get it" when nobody else does.

Not every classmate will be your best friend but, it has been my experience that being more tolerant and open to the differences in our classmates can bring great people into your life and experiences that you didn't think you would have.  Sometimes you risk losing more by trying to make people fit into your box than by accepting them exactly as they are. So take a break from the big issues, look up from your textbooks and branch out of your everyday crowd; you never know what you might find.  Sometimes, there is a diamond in the rough.