Where Do You Stand?

Yesterday marked the end of week one for MEPN. We celebrated with team-building activities in Golden Gate Park. One of the more fascinating exercises was that in which an imaginary world map was drawn on the surface of the field -- with China stage left, Europe stage right*. The leader of the group from UCSF's own outdoor program represented Alaska, as a point of reference. The idea was for each student to place him/herself in his or her hometown/city of birth.

I stood alone up in Montana with two Oregonians, and a lone Iowan. No Washington, Idaho or Dakotas. No Wyoming. The middle of the United States was completely unrepresented. The south was sparse. We had a sort of sad international representation, still better than what was going on in the middle. But the coasts -- the coasts. I won't say too much here about my interpretation - talk to some of your sociologist and anthropologist friends for criticality - but it was an interesting exercise in the reality of American education and social (im)mobility.

* You may be asking yourself, "Where was Russia?" No Russians, no Russia, apparently.