College diversity and disability?

Question

I'm applying to a Masters program for Occupational Therapy. One of the questions on the application says, "Describe the ways you will contribute to Diversity (according to the school's Diversity Statement). Some of the things mentioned in the statement include overcoming personal, family and/or economic disadvantage. OK, I CAN RELATE TO THIS.

I also have bipolar disorder that totally messed up my life at one time, and I am medication dependant. BUT I am responsible and have been balanced and successful for the past 10 years up until recently, when I was laid off from my job.

I think all this Diversity cr*p is BS, and I hate to have to answer this question at all, but if I have to answer it, I figure I might as well lay the whole load on them.

My question is: Should I disclose the bipolar? It really set me back quite a bit years ago, I overcame it, and I want to help others get their life back on track, so that's why I want to go into this field.

What do you guys think?

Sorry J, I didn't mean that diversity is cr*p, but I think including diversity as a criterion for admission is c**p. My bad!

Answer 1

Well I don't think that think that diversity is cr*p. But here is my opinion. Having a disability is a form of diversity therefore I think you can disclose that you have a disability but not exactly what it is. Telling your personal story will help you stand out among all the applications the selection committee is reading. Your personal story may also help you connect with your patients that have a disability.

Answer 2

I recentally was accepted into grad school for Mental Health Counseling ( a similar occupation).

You can disclose your bipolar. You might not want to say you are medication dependant but can refer to how psychiatry helped you. They will find out anyhow and in Grad. school there are many people who have real life experience with such issues.

You must also consider that to pass grad. school you will have to be educated in cultural comptency. This means that diversity is not crap and understanding diversity is not crap.
You will have to work with diverse clients and with this mentallity you will not be good at it. It is necessary for anyone who is going to work in such a field to be more sensitive to such issues.

Also diversity can many several things:
ethncity, disability, mental health differences, learning differences, being a hippy, being an activist, being lesbian or gay, being a nontraditional student (parent), being from a low income family etc....

Answer 3

I notably doubt it. in reality, I truthfully have examine that some accurate tier colleges will truthfully count number it adversarial to you once you've psychological well being themes because they concern that you does no longer have the capacity to handle the common pressure aspect of their scholars. you would might want to study that more suitable to verify even if that's valid, that's only what I heard and that i'm truly no longer the authority on the remember. i visit claim that I truthfully have GAD, OCD, upload, dyscalculia, and HNPP and no man or woman provides a crap about it yet me, I promise you. i could not even get the ACT to provide me lodging, Ivies are unlikely to provide a rattling about me. and that i'd discourage you from attempting to take unfair benefit of your incapacity status. in case your disabilities are extremely why your grades are what they're, by all potential write an essay explaining that to high schools-- I did about my dyscalculia, yet to positioned a unethical emphasis on your disabled status reflects badly on everybody.