Description: Lessons learned along the way.
“You never really know a [wo]man until you understand things from his [her] point of view, until you climb into his [her] skin and walk around in it.”—Harper Lee
When a person seeks to learn and ultimately comes to understand another’s viewpoint, that person gains greater understanding and insight into their own worldview. Harper Lee succeeded in opening the eyes of her readers into the injustices suffered by African Americans through the obviously falsely accused character of Tom Robinson in her famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird . Similarly, Amy Tan opened the curtains on the world of the Asian-American experience through the publication of her novel The Joy Luck
I sat in the darkened theater and was mesmerized by the unfolding of the story that takes place in settings so foreign to me that they may as well be happening on another planet. Having the opportunity to see into a culture that is so unfamiliar to me was fascinating, but it became even more fascinating when I saw myself in one of the characters. I sat up in my seat and thought, “My goodness, that’s me!” Then suddenly, the story was not only about first and second-generation Chinese immigrants making a new