New Rochelle High School prides itself on being the most diverse school in westchester, and although that might be true statistically, it’s anything but that in actuality. As a white jewish girl who grew up in the north end of New Rochelle, I didn’t experience racism. Some people will make comments about my religion, my weight, my aspirations or where I live but I never lived in fear that one day I will be killed or put in jail based on the color of my skin.

 

I started in the New Rochelle school system in 6th grade, before then I was at a small private school with a class of 60 kids, only 10 kids who were BIPOC’s. That transition in middle school was one of the biggest culture shocks of my life. I never knew people lived in a way that was different from me. Because of my learning disabilities, I was placed in special ed classes and to make my transition easier, I was placed in easier classes. This meant the classes I was in were mainly filled with black or Latinx students. 

 

I always felt like I lived a double life in middle and high school because I was white and my friends were white, but we never had the same classes. My friends were in advanced classes with the other white kids who I always thought were better than me because of their reading lists. And here I was, in regular classes with regular people. 

 

My freshman year of high school, I felt an immense amount of pressure from myself, my older sister who was in all AP classes with the other white people and on a competitive sports team, and my friends to get out of the ”average classes” and be in apart of a system that was deemed elite because it was mainly white rich kids. So I caught up. I took AP classes and struggled more than I ever had before because I thought I had to take these to fit in. After all, I’m white and this is what white people do at New Rochelle High School. We take AP classes and sit in the house 4 cafeteria. That's the law and the fact that it wasn’t was unthinkable.

 

New Rochelle High School is always going to have a special place in my heart. I always say, it’s almost impossible to describe New Rochelle to someone who is not from there. I graduated in  2018, which was a pivotal year for NRHS. It felt as if every day we were having another moment of silence for a different student who died. I would look around my classes of all white privileged people and be confused and scared that something so permanent can happen here. Issues like drugs, gangs, race, stabbings, cheating, and death we’re never something I thought would happen to people I know, from my town, who were my age. My whole life changed my senior year of high school.

 

Overall, New Rochelle High School has 100% gotten me to where I am today. Because of this school I understand the importance of diversity, and going out of your way to make a name for yourself. I made some of the most amazing connections, had teachers who changed my life and a solid support system even through some of the darkest days of my life. I know that part of this is because I’m white and privileged and there are people who can’t say the same things about their experiences, and that is just fucked up. I am not better than other people. And one day, I hope that my school district who gets off on being diverse can see that and give other BIPOC students a chance the same way I did. 

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Rachel Katz

NRHS Class of 2018

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