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On the video last week we followed the story of a girl who left her small hometown in pursuit of a career. She went away to college and ended up in Washington D.C. working as a writer. She shared how it was a struggle to go back and forth because she had changed and people at home felt abandoned. People accused her of changing who she was. My question is, what actually determines who you are, what does it mean to change who you are, and is it ok to change, and what does it say about you if you do? It seems to be portrayed as a bad thing in the movie, as forgetting your family and where you came from, but does it have to be a bad thing? Can you change and still keep your heritage? Isn't that part of you, regardless of where you go or what you do?

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Elizabeth McPhail Dawson


Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:53 am
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I think that in theory, change is a good thing. We each determine our own person and grow to fit our own ideas of who we are and where we should journey in life. Breaking the mold of a society that you grew up in (like a small town) doesn't mean that you necessarily can't fit in when you return.

However, I think making radical changes in your lifestyle, from rural to highly urban does draw some limitations of fittng in. After a period of time, you lose things in common. You don't know the same people, you don't shop in the same places, current events are different and your lifestyle isn't the same. In that respect, I think becoming a social outcast from your family is a real option. I have changed my thinking in regards to education since I left my house and it has really isolated me from some of my peers in the classroom. I am happy with my change, but I can really identify with a feeling of ostracism.

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Lesley Paige de Paoli


Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:11 pm
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Everyone in college wants to know exactly who they are but few of us actually do. We have an idea about what we want to be, but that doesn't always work out. I faced a similar situation as the girl from "People like Us." I am from a small town down east and I have always spoken slow and with my "southern" accent. I went away to Governor's School the summer of my junior year of high school. When I came home, my father apprehended me for changing the way I talked. Unknowingly, I lost part of my accent when I began interacting with people who weren't from my area. It was not something I could control, but my father repeatedly said that I should not change myself for others, but the truth was I did change and it was not for others but just a natural process that I am sure happens to many people. What do you do when you change without knowing it? Do you make apologies? Do you try to force yourself to be who you used to be?


Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:20 pm
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When we watched the section of the video where the girl moved to Washington DC it reminded me in a small way of my own family and my father. He was raised on a farm in Taylorsville, NC (rural foothills) and paid his own way through college and became very successful. Yet, when I look at my father, I don't see a city man, I see a country man. I don't believe that moving and working for what you want has to change you or make anything less important to you. I believe that it is possible to keep your own morals, values, and ideas while adapting to a new life as well. I don't think that change has to be a bad thing and I think in fact it has the ability to make you a better and more well-rounded person (I hate that phrase... but it fits) because you are able to see things from so many different perspectives.

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Sara G Marshall


Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:27 pm
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I agree with Sara. I think it is possible to keep your own morals and values while adapting to a new lifestyle. My mom was the first one to go to college in our family. She grew up in a very rural area and worked on a tobacco farm in the summer. However, she was still able to adapt to the college life at UNC-CH and get her undgrad. in Biology. Even though she has a really good job now and is more educated that my grandparents, she still has their same values. I still see her as a "country girl." It is definitely a good thing that she went to college. I feel like this was a good change and even though she went to college, she is not a different person at heart. She'll always know where she came from and carry those ideals and beliefs in her heart.


Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:13 pm
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I hope we have time in class today to really talk about this:

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My question is, what actually determines who you are, what does it mean to change who you are, and is it ok to change, and what does it say about you if you do? It seems to be portrayed as a bad thing in the movie, as forgetting your family and where you came from, but does it have to be a bad thing? Can you change and still keep your heritage? Isn't that part of you, regardless of where you go or what you do?

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Gayle Turner


Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:12 pm
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