As a Bangladeshi attending an international school with people from all over the world, I have inevitably been the target of stereotypes. Some are funny, some hurt, but very few are accurate. There have been too many instances in my life where I was expected to behave a certain way, do a certain thing, or be a certain type of person. Why? For my nationality and religion. First of all I am not a terrorist because I am Muslim. I am Bangladeshi, not Indian and no, we are not the same. I don't eat curry all day and I also don't always smell bad (maybe after PE). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I almost never get caught up in stereotypes, but every now and then someone says something you won't forget. One of those times occurred during ninth grade science class. Our teacher was handing our tests back after finishing grading them and we were all nervous but eager to see how we did. Being high school students we started comparing scores. I got one of the best grades in the class and was over the moon, but I limited my excitement to the fireworks in my head. Out of nowhere, someone managed to shut down my inner celebrations with just a few words. “Oh, you just got an A because you’re from Bangladesh.” No. that's not why I got an A. I got an A. Because I worked hard. I got an A because I paid attention during class and took notes. I got an A because I sacrificed sleep to stay awake and study. The person who said this was insinuating the stereotype that Bangladeshis are naturally intelligent. While this is certainly true for a small part of Bangladesh, it does not apply to most of us, and certainly not to me. This stereotype bothered me a lot because the credit for my successes was attributed to my nationality, or rather to a stereotype, instead of the hard work and commitment I put into it. I felt like my hard work was being compromised and I couldn't accept it. Obviously, this stereotype is not as serious as the others, but it shows that all stereotypes can impact a person. Although it is extremely difficult to change established views of society, we can follow in the footsteps of Alexie Sherman and do our best to break stereotypes and try to show people that these stereotypes and overgeneralizations are not true. I found the following quote very relevant to this topic. ''Stereotypes arise from the actions of the 1% and are applied to the rest of the 99% of people''. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay General I believe that stereotypes are an intense problem that happens every day. Even though this happens all the time, people are still harmed by what their stereotype is, even though it might be our own people like Sherman Alexie. We must learn not to judge individuals before meeting them and wait until after we have met them to form an opinion. Rather than stereotype someone, really find out what religions are or what they look like. So remember that next time you see someone very smart or with a preferable review, don't try to disappoint them rather belittle their diligent work. And if you see someone with a different confidence, don't expect them to not have aspirin. Everyone is different so it's not fair to stereotype anyone