Over Christmas break the class read a book titled, In the Middle of Everywhere. Our first Monday night back together we gathered at the "round table" and discussed the various chapters of Mary Pipher's book. This time of discussion opened up into much more than just the content of the book itself. Most of us in the class had many stories to share and relate. I was surprised and pleased at how willingly we opened up ourselves. The many hours spent together have really given way to great bonding as a class. The discussion, as always, was very lively.
This is my second year in Honors and I have already completed my internship. That being said, I still have the opportunity to grow as I relate back to my project. I looked at racism (in my project) and how racism marginalizes both those with prejudices and those they are against. We as a culture have so much to learn from other cultures which becomes obvious in Pipher's book. I saw and experienced this during my internship as well. She also helps to dispel some misconceptions about immigrants as I worked to do the same about Native Americans. The parallels between In the Middle of Everywhere and my project really made reading the book and the discussion about it exciting.
Pipher's book opened up an entirely different perspective that I had not looked at during my project. I was focused on the Native American population in and around the Metro area. Those who are immigrants have entirely different issues they must deal with on top of the racism they face. I found respect and understanding about the Native American culture through first-hand experience, and through Pipher's book, I have a new understanding of the struggles and hardship immigrants faced and continue to face, although new and different, in the US.
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