Syracuse University values diversity. I see it every day, not just in the makeup of our student body, but in all of SU’s values and institutions.

To me, there is no better example of that diversity than the six guys who live in my Ostrom Avenue house. Between us, there are 3 1/2 Jews, a Buddhist, a Hawaiian, two Christians and a black guy. In other words, we’re like the cast of a Disney Channel movie gone horribly, horribly wrong.

As strange a combination as that is, it only scratches the surface of the vast differences between us. After all, Jews and Christians worship the same god, Hawaiians are still Americans, Buddhists can practice monotheistic religions and some black people watch ‘Friends.’ One time, I even met a white guy who likes Tyler Perry.

Rather, the biggest source of our in-house diversity comes from the mixture of academic majors among the six of us. I, along with two of my roommates, study broadcast journalism. Another one studies political science, and the other two study industrial design.

Now, as a native of Washington, D.C., who dabbles in political speechwriting, I could explain political science to the average bystander. It involves a combination of reading comprehension and a basic understanding of how the United States government works — public policy, bureaucracy, hookers, cocaine, et al.

Industrial design is a different story. Simply put, industrial design as a major teaches its students to use artistic principles to create functional products and concepts. In reality, it’s far more complicated than that, but I couldn’t go into detail about it if my life depended on it.

You see, unlike blacks and whites, Christians and Jews, or Hawaiians and real people, industrial design and broadcast journalism majors are fundamentally different. To willfully study and excel at our different areas, we each require a certain brain type that is completely foreign to the other.

They communicate with concepts and emotions. We communicate with words and gestures. They understand beauty and functionality. We understand structure and deadlines. They’ll work for some of the nation’s top design firms after they graduate. We’ll be unemployed.

For a broadcast journalism major, explaining industrial design is like teaching Mandarin Chinese to puppies. Its spatial, imaginative way of thinking is so far beyond me that when my roommates explain their work to me, my first instinct is to roll up a newspaper, hit them on the nose with it and tell them, ‘No!’

On the other hand, when I help these two design geniuses edit and structure simple writing assignments, they’re equally awed by my linguistic expertise. I try to explain grammatical structure to them as I go, but they just stare at me blankly. Then they go build a lawn mower out of Silly Putty and common household appliances.

Regardless, at the end of the day we’re one big, happy, multiracial, ethnically ambiguous, geographically diverse and religiously confused family. Every day we bridge the gap between our two majors to communicate effectively as a unit.

And, somehow, we all manage to tolerate the political science major, with his hookers, cocaine, et.al.

Danny Fersh is a senior broadcast journalism major, and his column appears every Wednesday. This piece goes out to Carson, Roarke and the 866ers. If you see any puppies speaking Mandarin on the Quad, please return them to their home at 866 Ostrom Ave. Email Danny at dafersh@syr.edu and follow him on Twitter via @fershprince #FershDays.