The Grapes Of Wrath Reflective Essay

When you look into the mirror every day to see a brown face reflected back at you, you learn to stay away from small towns. Because you know that, small town “hospitality” and small town, “togetherness”, is not extended to certain ‘strangers’. Why wander into cold stares and laced words when you’re perfectly fine in your bustling urban metropolis? Where you know that a cold stare, is the cold stare reserved for every stranger. Where every building held a face that looks just like the one reflected back at you every morning. Where every color of the world, learned to accept the fact that every color is beautiful, that every tongue is just another way of saying something familiar, that every flavor is a unique interpretation of grandma’s recipe, …show more content…
It was AP English Literature, with one of the best teachers I’ve had to date, when discussing something in the news in relation to “The Grapes of Wrath” that I made a comment about how easy it was to live when you just erased you identity. And she said something that I will never forget:

Sacrificing what makes you, you, just so you can fit in is a waste of time. Half of every prejudiced moment in the History of the world was caused by people who forgot their identity, don’t make the same mistake, and embrace your culture and the cultures of others, if you truly want to change your world.

I took that advice to heart as I began my college search, and determined that college would be different than High School. This time I would attend an educational institution that offered a picture of diversity, not just racial diversity, but a diversity of home towns, religions, backgrounds and abilities. I remember a teacher suggesting that I look into Edinboro, but knowing that, Edinboro was located in a small town, immediately deterred me from even glancing at the brochure that my teacher had handed me. Because of course a small town college could never express any of the qualities I was looking