Many Students Expand Their View of the World During Their Time in College. Such Growth Often Results from Encounters Between Students Who Have Lived Different Cultural, Economic, or Academic Experiences. with Your Future Growth in Mind, Describe a Potenti
Essay Preview: Many Students Expand Their View of the World During Their Time in College. Such Growth Often Results from Encounters Between Students Who Have Lived Different Cultural, Economic, or Academic Experiences. with Your Future Growth in Mind, Describe a Potenti
Report this essayThe prompt:Many students expand their view of the world during their time in college. Such growth often results from encounters between students who have lived different cultural, economic, or academic experiences. With your future growth in mind, describe a potential classmate that you believe you could learn from either within or outside a formal classroom environment.
The Essay:I remember a writing prompt one of my classes was given in elementary school. ÐÐŽÐoImagine you are choosing one thing to bury in a time capsule so that when it is rediscovered centuries from now it can give the people of the future insight into our civilization and culture, what would that object be and why?ÐЎб The students in my class each gave excited, thoughtful responses: a radio, a history book, some sort of modern day ÐÐŽÐoRosetta stone.ÐЎб We all wanted to put something in our time capsule that showed our progress, something that epitomized modern life. We all declared in our childish arrogance exactly what the people who opened our time capsules would learn from what we gave them. We assumed that the secrets of the future were ripe and ours for the picking. We were never slowed by the thought that if centuries from now people discovered a history book, say, it is altogether possible that they would be more interested in the paper itself than in the content of the book. I can imagine that paper would eventually be phased out of use, or that it would be made differently, reinvented centuries from now as it was centuries ago. I can imagine all sorts of things, none of them with any real validity. If I knew the progression of time well enough to know what, in the future, would give me insight into the present, then I wouldnÐÐŽÐЇt have any use for the insight I gained from it. Omniscience and learning are not very compatible.
As a senior in high school I chose my future college with the same childish arrogance I used to write my elementary school essay. I wanted so badly to expand my horizons that I chose my college because the culture of it seemed particularly different from the town I grew up in, and the way I was raised. Having lived most of my life in one of the most liberal communities in Massachusetts, and perhaps in the United States, I was ready to watch all of my beliefs tested against what I saw as the hard, southern conservatism of Williamson County. I wanted to prove to myself the strength of my convictions by living in a place where they were not standard. I wanted to discuss the world with intelligent people of differing opinions, and expose myself to diverse views. Somehow I had convinced myself that if I did not actively seek out persons of different
and in what manner, I should have found them? In a way, I had found a good way to escape the constant struggle that gripped me. For some time now, since the year 2000, I have struggled with the concept of “common humanity.” It was in my head, when I got to work that I was reminded of those values. As a woman of color in an immigrant community, these values made sense. Yet when I was brought up with them, I found myself dispirited: I felt sorry for, and fearful for, white people and the working class. This meant that I was not fully educated and in some ways, did not have the experience to develop a full understanding of their culture.
When I was finally able to understand all of these values, my whole life, I decided to do something about it. In 2011, I decided to create the website (www.the.dontknow.co.uk) that will allow for a more comprehensive look at some of the topics that are being raised here. It has a focus on the issues of identity and the oppression facing a population of immigrants from over 40 countries and territories. The main goal of the website is to connect with a community that is deeply rooted in a deep and complicated relationship rooted in a long history of injustice against white people and their communities. It will also include a discussion of cultural values, ways to relate to immigrants, and how these can be translated into a political philosophy that focuses on social justice and a wider history of injustice. I hope that this website encourages other participants to learn about how these ideas were taught prior to this event by looking into the many topics that are discussed here.
The website is being designed as a free-to-use application (see below for details) but the concept of the site is one where you can put up your own websites. You can take your own photos or share them to their own blog pages. Please be aware that the material on this website is still completely up to date. This doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate the ideas expressed and the resources that could be available for use. All of this does not mean that I don’t want you to be able to write about the issues of this day and age. I am glad I have a place to spend my time and energy going about my day.