Evolving Mindsets

Indianapolis, IN

Before traveling to Vietnam, my classmates and I created a rough plan of how we would record the reactions of the veterans traveling with us. Our project seemed narrowly focused on the veterans. During the trip, we began to realize that our book was shifting from an exclusive recording of the reactions of the veterans, to an integrated narrative focused on the differing reactions of the students and veterans in country. Before the trip I could not fully understand the direction my section of the project would take. I vastly underestimated my personal reactions to the sites and people we visited, and how they would affect my writing. I was astounded by the contradictory lenses through which the veterans and I viewed Vietnam. My section evolved into an ethnographic narrative interwoven with the differing reactions of veterans hardened by war and contemporary college students.