It's all in 1st person, but see if you like this any better:
At first I didn’t believe that I could relate to my classmates in any way: Each of us is unique in terms of backgrounds and social classes.
i want this to sound smooth
At first I didn’t believe that I could relate to my classmates in any way; we were all unique in terms of backgrounds and social classes.
2 answers
You could substitute "because" for the semi-colon.
1 answer