Diversity in Alice

OEverybody touts diversity as one of the main take-aways of this university, but it wasn't until I came and saw for myself what all there was that I understood what they meant. In the month and a half that I've been a student at UT, I've met exchange students from England, Korea, and France. I've had a study group with an American Plan II student who went to high school in China. Heading back to my dorm yesterday, I walked by conversations in at least four different languages. There are so many different student organizations that cater to so many different demographics and interests (religious, cultural, social, athletic, political, etc.) that it's hard not to be smacked in the face with diversity.

It's definitely a form of culture clash, where there are simply so many different kinds of people meeting together that's it's a little hard to get used to. It's certainly hard for Alice in the beginning, and she makes a lot of snap judgements and decisions without taking into account that she may be entirely off the mark. This is especially evident when she meets the talking flowers; she brushes them off until they speak up and rebuke her for her attitude. "We can talk when there's anybody worth talking to," they say, and she has to re-evaluate her notions. The goal of diversity anywhere is the same; to make people re-evaluate their opinions, preferably with new experiences and information. If we can all go down the rabbit hole in the same way that Alice did, we'd be looking at the world with much wider eyes,

What's down here?