Unjudged submissions are thoughts inspired by this year's prompt from writers who are not eligible to compete for the prize. All are invited to share something. The following comes from Susie Wang.
Preparing for my journey to high learning. Excited in anticipation I readied myself toward an adventure of a life time. Packed and ready to go my father called me aside.
He said, "When you get to the mainland you will experience many things; some will be positive and enlightening, others however will inflict hurt and shame. Let these be a lesson to you. Never forget who you are and where you came from. Hold your head high and be proud of who you are."
Shortly after I arrived and settled in. I ventured out and found myself in a restaurant. I was with three other classmates, two white, one black, and I.
While we waited we spoke of lighter things in anticipation of the meal to come. It was five minutes into the discussion that I noticed no one had come to wait on us. After a moment I replied, "this is like Hawaiian time. Slow and easy."
One of the white classmates looked at the other and exchanged the "look" They quietly said, "We have to leave" The feelings that hit me to my core was one of bewilderment, sadness and finally shame.
To this day I carry the hurt within me. It is partly this experience and my determination to enlighten and educate my community. I have since been teaching issues of diversity. I do this because of that one fateful day where my eyes experienced outright racism and discrimination.
Preparing for my journey to high learning. Excited in anticipation I readied myself toward an adventure of a life time. Packed and ready to go my father called me aside.
He said, "When you get to the mainland you will experience many things; some will be positive and enlightening, others however will inflict hurt and shame. Let these be a lesson to you. Never forget who you are and where you came from. Hold your head high and be proud of who you are."
Shortly after I arrived and settled in. I ventured out and found myself in a restaurant. I was with three other classmates, two white, one black, and I.
While we waited we spoke of lighter things in anticipation of the meal to come. It was five minutes into the discussion that I noticed no one had come to wait on us. After a moment I replied, "this is like Hawaiian time. Slow and easy."
One of the white classmates looked at the other and exchanged the "look" They quietly said, "We have to leave" The feelings that hit me to my core was one of bewilderment, sadness and finally shame.
To this day I carry the hurt within me. It is partly this experience and my determination to enlighten and educate my community. I have since been teaching issues of diversity. I do this because of that one fateful day where my eyes experienced outright racism and discrimination.