I don�t know how I got to this place. Before I came to college, I felt like I knew who I was. I was an all A student, Catholic, soccer playing, fun loving, Central Texas girl. That�s how I always defined myself; until I came to college, that is. My first year at Southwestern was already deconstructing the image I had built of myself. I no longer made all A�s, I began to lose faith, I quit playing soccer, and I was in such a state of depression the whole year that I even managed to stop having fun. I applied for the Fleming in the hope that it would bring change in my life. I was expecting to meet some new people and gain some knowledge in the process. My expectations, however, were blown out of the water. I did meet some amazing people and gained a lot of knowledge, but I feel that the Fleming led me onto a new path for my life. I know that the Fleming alone was not what made the change. There were many things in my life that led up to it, especially in my senior year of high school and freshman year at SU. In my AP US History class in high school, I learned more about the slave trade, colonization of the Americas, and the civil rights movement. I think that my teacher did a good job of showing all sides of history. She was the first to point out to me that history books are biased. She taught me about Japanese internment camps and pointed out (very graphically) all of the horrible things that were done to Native Americans. I think that didn�t change come about at this point for a couple of reasons. I was still in my comfort zone, and everything I learned about was (supposedly) in the past. I learned more about colonialism my first year at college when I signed up for Colonial/Post-Colonial Worlds with McClendon. He helped me learn about dominant cultures and governments, among other things. I believe change didn�t happen here because I associated everything that happened with Africa or India. I didn�t consider that it could take place without the label of colonialism or right in my own backyard. The next semester I took Sherry�s Survey of Exceptionalities course and learned a little about the experiences of people with disabilities. I had never thought about people with disabilities being oppressed in any way, I never thought about them at all in fact. This class opened my eyes to a world that is incredibly difficult for many people, and to a people that are unwilling to even slightly change their privileged lives for the well being of others. At the end of that semester, I applied for the Fleming. Sherry told my Survey class about the opportunity. All I remember hearing was �free trip to Washington DC (where we were going to go originally)� and �a group of students.� I was interested in the white identity development, but had no idea what it was all about. The main thing I cared about was getting away from Southwestern and meeting new people. So, my motives were not perfect going into the project, but my ideas about that month soon changed. |
| Fleming Growth Paper: One Year Later |
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