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East Coast Culture Shock
"For the first time in my life, there were no black people in any of my courses. In one of those classes, students repeatedly used the word "Negro" to talk about the black population of the city. "
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By Nora Harrington
When I started to apply to colleges, I knew I had to get out of Berkeley, and out of the Bay Area - to see the world.
I decided to go to a small, traditional liberal arts college in the Northeast. When I arrived at school for the pre-orientation programs, I immediately noticed the monochromatic student body. The diversity of the student body at Berkeley High, I realized, was something I'd taken for granted.
My roommate arrived a few days later. She was from New York City but she had attended a small private school her entire life. She had fifty students in her grade; she'd known most of them since she was six. In my graduating class, there were over seven hundred and fifty students. When I told her that, she looked shocked.
On my wall, I put up photos of people from home. Some are black, some are Latino, some are mixed race like myself. When other kids walked into my room and looked at my pictures, it felt like they started to look at me in a different way.
For the first time in my life, there were no black people in any of my courses. In one of those classes, students repeatedly used the word "Negro" to talk about the black population of the city. I was too enraged to articulate exactly how that made me feel, so I just kept my mouth shut. I chose to sit in my desk fuming rather than speak up. I know, I know...how un-Berkeley of me.
Looking back on my first semester of college, I have realized what a wonderful place I come from. When I settle down and have kids, I want to raise them in the Bay Area, and nowhere else. I don't want them grow up sheltered like my peers at college. I want them to experience my liberal utopia and appreciate the diversity I took for granted.
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