My Grub Box

When Vivian Johnson decided to pursue a college education, it was not beca use her parents didnt examine college, it was because she wanted to be in a position of control. She k juvenile that college was her ticket to acquire the qualifications needed for the career she envisioned. In My Grub Box, Vivian Johnson recalls her college experience moving from Emmonak, Alaska to the einsteinium Coast Ivy League School Dartm come out of the closeth. Taken completely out of her native environment of the Yupik Eskimos, she details a certain adaptation to murder understanding of her perspective.Vivian Johnsons chuck turning point created a signpost for her style of flavour through the realization that nuance is inseparable from being native. The of import aspect that set Vivian Johnson a vocalisation from other students at Dartmouth is her experiences as a member of a native Eskimo family. Johnson begins her memoir with a description of the purpose of a grub box and what it has mean t for members of her family. On hunting and camping trips she would use her grub box to pack feed and supplies to survive, except her grub box that helped her through college contained much more than physical items.She employ intangible things that were passed on from her parents, like a sense of identity and how to survive in contrasting surroundings. (Johnson, 201) Another reason that Johnson didnt fit into the normal student universe at Dartmouth, was the fact that she didnt come from a socially advantaged family compared to more of the other students. She could not relate to many an(prenominal) of the other students experiences simply because her family didnt take exotic trips or have fancy clothing, jewels, and cars.Not only was Johnson antithetic from other students because of her possessions and experiences, provided she also had a different perspective and was used to a different way of thinking. She found it difficult to understand her presidential term professor because she had not been exposed to that way of thinking before. Also, she at eldest had trouble discussing certain topics with her classmates such as the concepts of land, substinence hunting, and fishing. Eventually, she had began to anticipate questions about(predicate) wherefore she didnt fit in so she formulated answers to better calculate her way of life. Johnson, 207) Upon her arrival at Dartmouth, Vivian Johnson realized that she was completely out of her environment. Her grub box helped her transition allowing her to adapt to college life and enabled her to slowly orient herself on her new landscape. She was outside her environment both physically and intellectually. Everything was foreign to her, from the notion and type of trees, wildlife on campus, and formation of the stars, to riding in a literary hack for the first time, Vivian needed to adapt to her surroundings in order to survive.The pabulum she received from her grandpa helped her physically because she was nt used to the type of food served at Dartmouth, but the intangible qualities served a greater purpose. Those qualities formed a type of support system for Vivian that connected her to her roots as a way to remind her of her culture and heritage in order to fight the overwhelming pressures she faced in this cultural submersion. While Johnson described many of the hardships she had during her time at Dartmouth, she did manage to find a place where she was sure for who she was and where she came from.When she joined Native American at Dartmouth, Vivian was helped not only academically, but also with small tasks that made her life easier, such as mail, food, and housing. She became part of a social network that appreciated her and considered her to be one in their group, even though she wasnt Native American. By finding similarities among herself and the other members of Native Americans at Dartmouth, Johnson was able to connect with them because they had similar life experiences. Sh e valued this support group of friends so much, that she credits them for her graduation exercise from Dartmouth. (Johnson, 209)Upon graduation from Dartmouth, Johnson describes her exit just as perplexing as her entrance. (Johnson, 209) Adaptation plays a huge role in Johnsons survival attending college with different cultures. In the end, Vivian Johnsons experiences she gained at Dartmouth from adapting further adds to her grub box change her to branch out to individuals in her adult life. The adaptation in Vivian Johnsons memoir made it easy for me to relate to her story of going out-of-door to college. When I arrived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison there was a sudden sense of culture shock. Also, being on our own when your parents were the ones to feed you, take you places, and lend you bills when needed, definitely leaves you to fend for yourself. Adapting to my new environment was no fun but is definitely an experience of having to adapt in order to accomplish new g oals and fit in. I realized that everyone has a different set of tools in their grub box from adapting to new experiences and when exchanged, form a more worldwide perspective of race in the Unites States. Therefore, Vivian Johnsons adaptation to reality serves as a launching pad for individuals to engage in difficult conversations about race.