Learning More in There There

 Katie West

March 8, 2021


    I did not know what to expect when I began my tutoring with Bridges, as an English and Secondary Education major I have had my fair share of working with students and schools in Baltimore. However, Bridges offers me an entirely new experience. All my work with my Secondary Education classes and schools in Baltimore I have only had direct, individual interaction with the teacher—never the student. Every school I walk into, whether it is for student teaching hours or volunteer-based, I mainly work with the teacher. In the field of education, we get so caught up in core curriculum, educational psychology, and lesson planning that I sometimes forget the root of it all—the students. Bridges have given me the chance to work with students individually. I appreciate the hour where I can chat and help a fellow student while reconnecting with my ‘teacher side’. My student, who is funny, brutally honest, and loves to distract herself to tell me what she is going to have for dessert today has reminded me of why I went into the field of English and Education.

           Another positive aspect I have gained from my time tutoring with Bridges is the idea of continual learning. And although I do not always perfectly recall 6th Grade Science, I think it’s important to go back and remember. I think it is essential to always learn, to constantly be in the mindset of a student—even if that means re-learning the 6th Grade science food chain (something I could’ve sworn I would never need to know again). This idea of always learning is part of why I love English so much. With every word, novel, story, and author there is a lesson, and something learned. Something learned that I would’ve never known if I had not read. There There by Tommy Orange also provides me with new knowledge and the text states that reading “makes you feel less alone”. There There introduces me into a new world, someone else’s world. And this book challenges what I think I know while also introducing me to stories, characters, and mainly a culture I knew little about.

           The multi-layered stories and narratives within There There make the reader feel that they either know more than the character and/or are learning along with the characters. We see the train of thoughts within these characters, particularly Tony Loneman’s story. There There highlights and shares urban Native American culture in an extremely personal way. Yet, the characters and overly blunt train of thought written in these stories allow this novel to maintain a level of humor. There There makes a larger statement about the pain Native communities have been forced to bear over the years. Orange suggests that Native communities increasingly turn to substance abuse and suicide to cope with the staggering weight of inherited pain, trauma, fear, isolation, and identity. As I read this story I feel I am constantly learning something new.  I have of course read stories on drugs, substance abuse, different cultures, and struggling to find one's identity. However, this mix of urbanization, Native Americans, violence, identity, and substance abuse offers a new and deeper level of understanding within reading itself and within this culture. 

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