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PwC Summer Leadership Event 2
July 28, 2002

This week was the second event of PwC's Summer Leadership, or extern, program. The event was a dinner followed by a presentation on diversity in the workplace lead by an outside consulting firm. 

We all arrived in the late afternoon hours to find a casual, buffet style dinner laid out for us. Although it was a buffet, the menu featured food from some of the finest restaurants in the Philadelphia area. The dinner was another chance to socialize with externs I had already met, as well as the chance to meet others. After the dinner, we all headed to a large conference room for the presentation, in which we were joined by many employees of the firm, including several partners. 

The topic of the presentation was diversity in the workplace. The diversity spoken of was not only racial diversity, but also differences in viewpoints and personal styles. The presentation was lead by one person from the firm, who began by asking us our definition of diversity. 

After a brief discussion, he lead us in an exercise in which we examined our personal lives to see how diverse it was. This exercise was completed by placing different colored beads into a clear box, showing our "world". We then discussed why our "world" looks the way it does, due to environment, or personal preferences. 

After the exercise, we shared some interesting personal stories of prejudgment, be it from shopping clerks or car salesman. The event concluded shortly thereafter with some final thoughts. The presenter emphasized to us that we need to be open to other viewpoints, because in a global workplace, we will encounter countless other outlooks as well as those of different backgrounds.

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Next entry, "PwC Leadership Event 3"