When I joined my dietetics course BSc Hons Dietetics in the UK I was stunned to be 1 of 3 females from a south Asian background. The rest of the induction class consisted of white middle class girls who had their preppy water bottles and overpriced notepads and pens. Automatically felt like I didn’t belong there. And when I became friends with other BAME dietetic students, it was so nice to share to load and pressure of standing as a woman of colour in a white room.
Although our friendship group became almost unapproachable from the class dynamic. When I went on placement in a nursing home, the dementia patients (mostly white again) were fixated on talking about my roots and background instead of discussing nutrition. It was always “my father fought as part of the British army in India” “you must be a curry muncher” or some other insensitive colonised comment. I’ve had racists remarks on placement too being shouted racial slurs to and from work. I love what I do, but having to constantly fight for diversity is exhausting. Why do we always have to push for our voices to be heard. Why can’t we be seen equal to our white counterparts? I’m so happy to be able to have this opportunity and platform to speak anonymously about how I feel.
Nutrition Diversified 