LJ's blog

As I was writing my education autobiography I realized how many different types of education I have received. Some parts of my education have been “normal” in the classroom learning and other parts have been less traditional. I discovered that I appreciated both equally because they both helped me become the person I am today. It was also the first time I sat down and thought about the reasons it was harder for me to make friends in Dubai. It made me wonder why I consider parts of my education abnormal. I am curious to know if others perceive parts of my education as normal and if share some of the same experiences.

Hello! My name is Laura James. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia but for the past four years I have been living in Dubai. Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates which borders Saudi Arabia and Oman.  I moved there because my dad is a pilot with Emirates. Living in Dubai was the best experience I have had. When I am finished with school I might move back to Dubai or another part of the Middle East or Africa. From this seminar I am looking strengthen my writing skills and learn more about the struggles that different classes have. I am especially interested in the disparities between schools across classes. The issues I noticed in our first class discussion that most of us were nervous about giving ourselves categories that we had no control over. Absolutely no one categorized themselves in an economic class or race and very few people categorized themselves by gender or size. Though, it was good that as individuals we cared more about what was “on the inside” it nonetheless displayed our fear of that type of classification.