Initial Reactions to Eli's Story

I appreciated the way Eli Clare used the mountain as a metaphor of the different struggles people face depending on their abilities. She declared that we are taught to assume that people at the bottom of the mountain did not work hard enough, but she explains that they were presented with different opportunities and therefore reached different heights. I appreciated what she said about it being difficult for newcomers to climb the mountain, because all that lies ahead is scary, new, and different from all previous experiences.