Summary: After experiencing her first semester away at college, Youth Radio’s Nora Harrington realized that the hometown she was so happy to leave behind was not so bad after all.
Diversity is a wonderful thing. I come from a small suburban town where there isn't too much of that. Its too bad that it took Nora until she went to college to realize that its not everywhere. This piece gets right to the point and supplies multiple examples of her frustration and shock. But I'm curious to know how much research Nora did on the school before attending, there are websites that allow you to narrow down school choices by selecting the type of diversity. I'm also curious to know weather or not Nora regrets attending Berkeley, she doesn't mention anything about the college being the wrong choice. I wish this piece was longer.
Being a resident of a multicultural city like Cambridge, I can understand how the narrator feels shocked when she is in a "monochromatic" racial setting. It is very clear that the narrator was feeling powerful emotions throughout her experience. That being said, I wish I had seen more of these emotions come out through her feature. The ideas are very powerful, but the entire story is told in a monotonous voice. The personality of the narrator comes out only at the end of the piece when she says, "I know, I know, how un-Berkeley of me." This piece could use more periodic bursts of sarcastic commentary like the above example. It's a good feature for generating discussion about diversity in schools, but it is not a piece that can hold a listener’s attention, due to its blandness.
As a senior in high school, compiling my list of potential colleges was one of the most stressful things that I did. There were a couple of requirements, of course, that shaved the thousands of colleges and universities down to a nice neat Excel document with a total of 19 schools. One of the requirements, was that I get out of the Bay Area. I'm from San Francisco, the liberal-minded, the diversity; you name it, we got it. I want out as well. Nora's voice is powerful; it's clear that she's a very strong-willed and minded person. I definitely feel for her as she describes her roommate's tiny high school experience and the judging looks from her peers because of her wall of pictures. But I wanted to hear more. The experience from one roommate and stares from passerbys seem a bit weak for such a strong statement. I don't know very much about Berkeley High School. Maybe a brief description of the school would make it easier to see the huge contrast that she's talking about.
I really enjoyed this peice. It was very intresting to hear that some people live such sheltered lives. The way everything flowed was great. It all seemed to go together. I felt as though I was really seeing this for myself. This made me think "Is this going to be the same for me when I go to college?" I like it very much.
THIS SHORT YET INFORMITIVE STORY IS ABOUT how going from a multi cultural high school to a very "monochromatic" college. The story, though it could be expanded upon, was pretty good. The only area that needed a lot of work was editing. She could definitely use some music and sound effects, but that is the only part I could see needed work. So good job.
Comments for East Coast Culture Shock
Produced by Youth Radio
Other pieces by Youth Radio
Rating Summary
5 comments
rachel snow
Posted on August 30, 2012 at 04:41 PM | Permalink
Review of East Coast Culture Shock
Diversity is a wonderful thing. I come from a small suburban town where there isn't too much of that. Its too bad that it took Nora until she went to college to realize that its not everywhere. This piece gets right to the point and supplies multiple examples of her frustration and shock. But I'm curious to know how much research Nora did on the school before attending, there are websites that allow you to narrow down school choices by selecting the type of diversity. I'm also curious to know weather or not Nora regrets attending Berkeley, she doesn't mention anything about the college being the wrong choice. I wish this piece was longer.
Alexandros Zervos
Posted on April 27, 2010 at 08:31 PM | Permalink
Review of East Coast Culture Shock
Being a resident of a multicultural city like Cambridge, I can understand how the narrator feels shocked when she is in a "monochromatic" racial setting. It is very clear that the narrator was feeling powerful emotions throughout her experience. That being said, I wish I had seen more of these emotions come out through her feature. The ideas are very powerful, but the entire story is told in a monotonous voice. The personality of the narrator comes out only at the end of the piece when she says, "I know, I know, how un-Berkeley of me." This piece could use more periodic bursts of sarcastic commentary like the above example. It's a good feature for generating discussion about diversity in schools, but it is not a piece that can hold a listener’s attention, due to its blandness.
Sandra Chen
Posted on October 25, 2009 at 06:13 PM | Permalink
YEB Review of East Coast Culture Shock
As a senior in high school, compiling my list of potential colleges was one of the most stressful things that I did. There were a couple of requirements, of course, that shaved the thousands of colleges and universities down to a nice neat Excel document with a total of 19 schools. One of the requirements, was that I get out of the Bay Area. I'm from San Francisco, the liberal-minded, the diversity; you name it, we got it. I want out as well. Nora's voice is powerful; it's clear that she's a very strong-willed and minded person. I definitely feel for her as she describes her roommate's tiny high school experience and the judging looks from her peers because of her wall of pictures. But I wanted to hear more. The experience from one roommate and stares from passerbys seem a bit weak for such a strong statement. I don't know very much about Berkeley High School. Maybe a brief description of the school would make it easier to see the huge contrast that she's talking about.
Natalie Marquez
Posted on January 10, 2008 at 06:11 AM | Permalink
Review of East Coast Culture Shock
I really enjoyed this peice. It was very intresting to hear that some people live such sheltered lives. The way everything flowed was great. It all seemed to go together. I felt as though I was really seeing this for myself. This made me think "Is this going to be the same for me when I go to college?" I like it very much.
Michael Eddy
Posted on November 21, 2005 at 05:13 AM | Permalink
Review of East Coast Culture Shock
THIS SHORT YET INFORMITIVE STORY IS ABOUT how going from a multi cultural high school to a very "monochromatic" college. The story, though it could be expanded upon, was pretty good. The only area that needed a lot of work was editing. She could definitely use some music and sound effects, but that is the only part I could see needed work. So good job.