LMU First To Go Community discussion

Throughout A Hope in the Unseen, Ron Suskind describes the different types of racial and ethnic groups at Brown, which included groups for Hispanics/Latinos, Asians, African Americans, and just about any other ethnicity. The positive aspect about these groups is that it provides a group of students that may have similar backgrounds and experiences as anybody else in that group which makes it easier for them to connect. Personally, I find it easier and more comfortable to talk to other people of my race not because I do not like people of other races, but because I was raised in a community that was predominantly Hispanic.
However, there is a negative consequence in having all these racial and ethnic groups. The problem is that one may overuse these groups, in a way. By overuse, I mean that people may just stick with their racial group for a very long time and become isolated from the rest. In the future, the majority of the people are not going to be able to choose the people they would like to work with. In my case, I would like to be part of a major accounting firm. I am assuming that majority of my future co-workers are going to be white, which is a reason why I applied to universities such as Loyola Marymount University, that had a large white student population. I wanted to experience a different environment so that I may not feel the “culture shock” when I begin working in the business world. Overall, I believe that these racial groups are good for anyone to begin with, but should not be a permanent home. Instead, there should be a little mix of which groups we should all join.

Kevin, I appreciate how you tie the reading to the concept of culture shock. How have you dealt with this issue since you've been to college? What strategies do you think Cedric used?

Personally, I have tried to join clubs and organizations with students from the same background such as the Spanish Club, Latin Business Student Association, and Latino Student Union so that it may be easier to transition to a school with a large white population. On the other hand, I feel as if Cedric Jennings was trying to avoid his own racial and ethnic groups at Brown. This is shown when he is often declining Chiniqua's invitation to go with her to Harambee House, the African American dorm on campus. He was not giving anyone a chance, except for Zayd, who was the only person in his dorm who liked Cedric. Cedric was isolating himself from the world, but this was not stopping him from completing his undergraduate degree at Brown. In the epilogue, we are told that after his Freshman year, Cedric has managed to improve his relationship with his ex-roomate, Rob, and began visiting the Harambee House consistently. I think Ron Suskind did not include much about this "success" at Brown because he wanted to show that although Cedric had rough experiences, he was still determined to succeed.