Oh, the places you'll go!

 One of my favorite stories is "Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss.  In reflecting on my outside experience, several of the famous rhymes came to mind. It is in the courage to explore and the opportunity to explore other places that I have learned about myself, my culture and how I make meaning of the world. I happened upon my "outside experience" which I think made it even more impactful and meaningful for me in assessing my own culture and how I understand, learn about and interpret the other.

  “You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go! 

In November, I chose to travel to New Orleans, LA for a 5-day stint in the Big Easy.  The trip started out as a vacation with my husband, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law with the intention to explore Bourbon Street and attend the New Orleans Saints NFL Football game (as one of our family members coaches for the opposing team, the Tennessee Titans.)


Within the first 2 hours of arriving, I knew I was in a completely different environment than "home" and would be learning a LOT about the people, food, culture of this town.  First, we drove in over a huge bridge that crossed the Mississippi River into the city and the first thing we saw upon entering was a series of tall buildings.  Some reminded me of the skyscrapers in Cincinnati and seemed to bustle with business of the day. Others, however, were water-stained, windowless, graffiti-ridden and gated off as hazardous locations. It was immediate that I realized the affects of Katrina - over 10 years ago - remain central to the culture of this historic city.

 “Out there things can happen, and frequently do,
To people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew.
Just go right along, you'll start happening too!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

This place was intriguing and I wanted to become completely immersed in the culture. I wanted to eat all the seafood, listen to all the blues and jazz music, drink a hurricane on Bourbon Street, go on all the tours of the 9th Ward to see what Katrina left behind. I thought to myself "Damn, why didn't I use this trip as my 'outside experience.'"  So,  I moved forward and ate and drank and toured and saw. But, this tourist approach was not immersion so much as it was speculation. I came to each event with my own perspective and understanding that it was temporary and not reality.  Until, out of nowhere, it hit me: this isn't my reality, but this is someone's reality. I started to consider what I would do for work if I lived here? Where would I live? How would I feel about tourism? How would I feel about Katrina? Would I be on Bourbon Street every day? Would I go to a football game in the seemingly undamaged Superdome?  What would be my reality?

“Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind maker-upper to make up his mind”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go! 

I was grappling with these comparisons of self versus other and trying to understand what would happen if our experiences were flopped. I couldn't decide how to move forward - I knew I wanted to learn more about their experience, but also didn't know how to remove myself from the tourist mindset. I stood in Bourbon Street watching a street show of three local men dancing in the street; one man had just removed his shirt to do the worm with 2 foot intervals, when another local man approached my neighboring tourist.  The local man was dressed in a pair of muddy boots, a stained tank top underneath a holey jean jacket.  He held a leash with a sandy, shaggy dog and a cup. He asked the tourist - dressed in khaki shorts and a pressed blue collared shirt - to spare any change.  The tourist just looked passed them, not acknowledging the request and seemingly interested in giving 100% attention to the street show. The local man, disgusted and hurt, yelled "I'm a person! Can't you see me?!"

It hit me that I was like the tourist in this interaction - I have no idea what culture he would identify with, but I shared more in common with him in terms of why I was in NOLA and where my focus was directed. But, I felt empathy for the local man and snapped out of the tourist fog.

  

“You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

As a planner, I had previously made every tour and meal reservation and had carefully tailored every minute of our trip. On our last day, my husband and I cancelled our plans and just drove to another section of town called the Garden District.  We parked on a side street outside someone's home, took a picture of the cross-street signs and started walking.  This part of town mirrored the city and the various local people we had encountered through the whole vacation.  One house was grand, pristine and picturesque while it's neighbor was in shambles and not prepared even after the 10-year anniversary of tragedy. We walked through sidewalks that were completely uprooted due to water damage and meandered around the "main street" which included a string of local delicacies.  We sat at a diner that had a freshly printed menu in comic sans articulated the 3 breakfast options of the day. Nothing like the Pancakes or Eggs Benedict like I was familiar with - instead, the options were crayfish and grits or jambalaya.  The waiter didn't say a word to any patrons at the 4-table establishment - just passed out the paper and dishes and cleaned them up again.  After our meal, we walked back through the town through one last look at the juxtaposition of privilege and poverty with only assumptions about how folks live in this culture day in and day out. 

Although it was scary for me - in the sense that I had not researched or planned any part of this adventure - it was an opportunity to be intentional about learning through immersion and "winning" a new perspective, as Dr. Seuss might suggest.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go! 

 

I spent the ENTIRE 9 hour drive home reading and researching the history of the City of New Orleans and the horrific tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Although I "lived" the experience - safely from my dorm room in Madison, WI in 2005 - I never understood it, thought about it critically, or concerned how those that actually lived it were feeling, let alone 10 years later. My research makes me want to return and consider how my experience compares and contrasts those of the local NOLA people. My visit affected my outlook on national tragedy and how I can/will/should make a difference using my own culture to enhance the movement. Learning about the other undoubtedly allows for a larger worldview to better inform change for the better.

“And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl."

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!  

 

Start Small and build over Time & Repetition

In our conversation surrounding "activities", I found it interesting that many folks used the text Building Cultural Competence as a springboard for new ideas that fit the specific needs of their programs and our college. This is significant to me in that the answer to building cultural competence probably doesn't live in one book waiting to be discovered. I believe the answer requires continuous thought that considers the existing culture and responds to where students/professionals are in that moment. The themes that resonated with me were:

Start Small

Time & Repetition

I agree that one workshop or one requirement or one  activity will probably not be the end all be all in terms of shifting our paradigm and becoming more confident and comfortable in engaging in dialogue around diversity, power, and difference. That being said, I have considered how I might start small - or more appropriately, start where my students are developmentally. And then be intentional to integrate opportunity for dialogue and growth over time.

PHASE 1: Student Orientation Leader (SOL) Training
As adapted from Activity 23 "Cultural Artifact" (Building  Cultural Competence, pg. 155-157):

Our SOLs have training weekly for 4 weeks in the spring semester. At each session, I will ask SOLs to introduce themselves using a cultural artifact. Each week, the level of challenge will increase a bit to help students ease into conversation about themselves and each other. We will spend time sharing either as a large group or in breakout session (based on time available).

• Week 1: Choose something that you have with you or are wearing that you think describes your culture.
• Week 2: Select an artifact from provided bin that you think describes your cultural heritage.
• Week 3: Bring in a picture/article from the internet that you think describes your cultural background.
• Week 4: Bring in a personal cultural artifact or family story that describes your personal heritage.

PURPOSE/GOALS:
--To help members of the group better understand each other
--To get comfortable talking about themselves as related to culture
--Build comfort level for SOLs to facilitate similar conversations with their new student small groups
--Introduce dialogue prior to 2-hour Diversity Training facilitated by Multicultural Affairs later in training curriculum.


PHASE 2: New Student Orientation
As adapted from Activity 41 "Inside Circle, Outside Circle" (Building  Cultural Competence, pg. 265-267):

During New Student Orientation, new students have the opportunity to spend about 40 minutes with their peers in small groups led by our SOLs. The purposed of this session is: 1] introduce students to peers that are also new and in related majors, 2] opportunity for new students to ask questions and share excitements/nerves about transitioning to UCBA and 3] SOLs to introduce the culture of UCBA to new students based on the student perspective.

We have formerly used an activity similar to this as an icebreaker during this time. SOLs use statements like "I love Skyline Chili", "I am from Cincinnati", "I have been to a Cincinnati Reds game" to help introduce the group and establish some commonalities and differences amongst participants. I imagine we could eventually transition to some more culturally specific questions in this activity to introduce comfort in dialogue around difference. Ex. "I can speak more than one language", "I have family that lives outside the US", "I am the first in my family to go to college." This could transition to the dialogue component with some reflective questions and debriefing with participants.

PURPOSE/GOALS:
--Students learn similarity and differences about self and others.
--Students have opportunity to respond to emotional reactions to "in-group" and "out-group" status.
--New students are introduced to a culture of dialogue about difference from their first activity on campus.
--New students can learn about the culture of UC Blue Ash and their peers.
 

Cultural Facilitator

Culture informs decision-making, feelings, ideas, and perspectives. Culture informs self and "other" identities. Culture is created within classrooms and programs, but also permeates them. I personally believe that culture can be created and adapted based on the players, and that a cultural facilitator provides context for old guidelines whilst adapting new ideas that can be integrated into new culture.  A cultural facilitator then, in my opinion, is responsible to:

1. Recognize that culture exists and may be experienced/perceived/influential in a variety of ways. To be self-aware of cultural interpretation and understanding.
2. Create intentional and safe space to explore and understand similarities and differences, as well as to provide context for existing culture.
3. Challenge "Truth" (with a capital T) to help in exploration of multiple truthS.
4. Balance the challenge with exuberant support of the learning process and attempts to make meaning of immediate surroundings.

At UC Blue Ash specifically, I see my role as a cultural facilitator most prominently as the facilitator of orientation. I am tasked with introducing the culture of our campus to new students that have varying truths of understanding and to help them in being comfortable to participate and contribute to the culture of our community. As a cultural facilitator, I expect open and authentic personal truths be brought to the table, as well as open minds. I hope to be part of the conversation and development of the culture.