The theme of our first essay is displacement -- how different (or not) college life is compared to your pre-college days. Read Alice Walker's "The Place Where I Was Born" and post a response describing one thing that makes you feel displaced.
For instance:
I have lived here for three years, but I am still not used to the weather. The difference between Vermont and Georgia is most jarring in the mornings when I run (I took up jogging recently, and it does not show yet). I wake up pretty early. Lately, the temperature has been below 40 when I set out. I wear a sweatshirt and tuck my fists inside the sleeves until my hands warm up. The route is one mile out and one mile back. When I make the turn, I'm so warm I have to take off the sweatshirt. The air is still cold, so the sweat suddenly feels chilly. In Atlanta at this time of year, the morning temperatures are in the 60s or lower 70s. You have to run in the morning or risk heat stroke.
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To me displacement means to take someone from an environment where they were once comfortable and throw them into an environment where they are forced to fend for themselves. According to my own personal definition I am displaced. The people here at LSC are very nice, kind, friendly people. At the same time however, this does not seem to help me feel any less displaced. I feel that these people do not understand where I come from and what my life is like. Granted I could open up and share things about my life but I feel that if I did people would get the wrong impression. I feel I would be judged for my past and what happened. So I wander the halls with groups of friends still feeling more displaced than ever.
ReplyDeleteDisplacement can be a lot of things. Most people find themselves displaced when they are put into a new enviroment, get new challenges thrown at them, or when they are trying to find out who they are. This feeling "Dispaced", is common and everyone goes through some form of it in their life. Its too difficult to say that someone has never had this feeling either as a child, teen, or adult. Lifes hard and it thorws curve balls at you, its how you react and decide to get pack on track that helps you over come this term displacement. One day you will look back and see the pebble in the road that was suck a challenge one point in your life, just keep going everything works out.
ReplyDeleteI have not lived in Vermont my whole life. I actually moved here about 7 years ago from Germany. I did not want to move. I was comfortable where I was. But I was forced to move. To me displaced means taking a person from where they are comfortable and putting them into a situation that they don't want to be in. Well at least at first. When I came to SOAR, I was so nervous and at first I really didn't think I belonged. My peer-leader and my classmates made it different. The people here are very nice and supportive. I actually had gotten lost on my way to Bio and some random person that I didn't know helped me find my class. Not every place is the same, so I think I made a good choice when choosing colleges.
ReplyDeleteI feel like displacement can be looked at in so many different ways. Sometimes people feel displaced when they are with people in different age groups. Others can even feel displaced with different races, even though that seems crazy. For me, I feel displaced when i'm with a different group of people. I lived in Pennsylvania for the first 14 years of my life, then moved up to Massachusetts for the next 4 years. And now moving to college, it's like a whole other country. I have to say that I do not feel displaced here however. I have gotten to know a lot of people and I feel welcome. Before college, I met a lot of kids who were bad at meeting new people, or just didnt even want to try. But up here, everyone is in the same situation so people are comfortable talking to people they've never met.
ReplyDeleteIf i had ever felt displaced in my life it would most likely be now. I've spent 18 years in Guilford and Vermont is deffinetly a change for me. But even though it's a change i don't really feel out of place. I've noticed that the students here are very excepting of everyone and the differences that come along with them. The only difference i've really faced is the town and how quiet it is. It's deffinetly not as busy as Guilford but the change is kind of nice once you settle in.
ReplyDeleteTo make me feel displaced, I have to feel really awkward. Thee one thing that makes me feel like that is when I go to my boyfriends family functions. They are all his family and I feel like the outsider. Which I am. We have been together for almost a year, and still to this day, they will have secret keeping from mikaila. Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI deff. feel displaced more here in college than I do at home. I like having my own room and here I feel disorganized and crowded because im sharing my space with three people. The surroundings are all similar to the ones I see at home so I dont feel totally displaced.
ReplyDeleteI have never really felt displaced unitl now. As I enter college I am leaving behind all I have ever known. Most my friends, my family, my job, and the thing that is killing me the most: my girlfriend. I have never felt more out of place than I do here. I'm not sure what exactly makes me feel that way, but I just don't feel right here. I am ussually a very organized and calm person, yet this week had served to prove me wrong.
ReplyDeleteBeing displaced makes me feel awkward. I have lived in a small town all my life so the only different thing now is the location, and the people. Where I live most of my family members do to. So it isn't hard to meet new people especially if they are your family. I have also left my friends, one of them who is now going to college in Texas. I miss all of them a lot and with each of our schedules being different makes it hard to talk to them sometimes. Usually I can adapt to change but this past week I have found it very hard to adapt.
ReplyDeletethere are many ways that i may be a displaced person in college. As i walked across campus today i realized that collegte is so much differnt than anything i have ever experienced in my entire life. For the first time in my life i feel compleatly independent, not haveing to rely on someone else to get me up in the morning or making sure that i am eating healthy. This school is so much bigger than my school back home, but for some reason it feels just like home to me. I do not think that i am a displaced person in college
ReplyDeleteI dont believe that i will let myself ever feel displaced in really any situation. The most common way would be for someone to focus on you and make things up to laugh at you for, but those type of things won't get to me. I just ignore them. Last week i did feel i feeling of displacement but i didnt let it get to me.
ReplyDeletei have always felt a little displaced until now. Living in andover mass was awkward because i didnt fit in. everyone was a rich stuck up prick. I had my group of friends but still felt out of place. going to college in vermont makes me feel at home. i finally feel like i fit in.
ReplyDeleteI have never really felt displaced. I've lived in Bethel my whole life and know the majority of the people there. Most of the time Bethel is a friendly environment, therefore, I've never really felt out of place. Living here doesn't feel much different to me. Even though I don't know many people here, the few that I do know make sure that I feel comfortable and included.
ReplyDeleteThe only time that I have ever really felt displaced was when I switched schools from Barre City to Williamstown in 4th grade. I had already made a bunch of new friends at my old school and now I had to leave them and make a whole new set of friends. I got used to this very quicly and I no longer feel displaced, Williamstown is the school I graduated from and now that is where I have most of my friends.
ReplyDeletei dont remember a time where i ever felt displaced. i have always been really close to my friends and have always been with them. i moved when i was to young to have any feelings about it. ever since then i have lived where i do now and have loved it my whole life. even coming into lyndon i didnt feel displaced. i came here knowing a lot of kids and i have had no trouble making new ones. im very used to this kind of weather and lifestyle so that also makes me feel like i am not displaced.
ReplyDelete