If anyone wished to take a crash course in diversity and responding to people different than themselves, Wonderland would be the place to start. Imagine Alice, a seven year old girl who has just fallen down a rabbit hole, encountering strange creatures she’s never seen before, animals that can talk and rules that are completely foreign. She clearly has a lot she needs to do in order to learn about the new people and creatures she’s encountering and how to deal with people and situations different from what she’s used to. 
The world Alice encounters in Wonderland is unlike anything she--or any of us--would be used to.
Alice initially has difficulty responding to the creatures she’s met in Wonderland. The classic example is when she meets the mouse in the pool of tears. While people who respond well to diversity would take into account the sensitivities of certain people and be careful not to offend them, Alice continually talks about cats to the mouse, who is understandably very afraid of them. Alice is not rude but insensitive and not understanding. She even tries to convince the mouse that he would like her cat, which is a naïve but insensitive thing to say. If you were a mouse who had been nearly traumatized by the mentioning of a cat, would you still want to hear, “’ And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah. I think you’d take a fancy to cats, if you could only see her” (Wonderland, 26)? Alice continues to make faux pas throughout her adventures in Wonderland, insulting numerous creatures and making mistakes that we can hardly blame her for. Gradually, however, Alice’s responses to the bizarre situations she encounters beyond the looking glass become less awkward and she makes fewer mistakes. She begins to treat the animals and people of wonderland like we would expect her to treat her friends and acquaintances back home, caring for the white king and the white knight and responding to situations with careful attention to what the consequences of her speech will be. When Alice hears the gnat in her ear for example on the train, she treats her words with caution: “’What kind of insect?’ Alice inquired, a little anxiously. What she really wanted to know was, whether it could sting or not, but she thought this wouldn’t be quite a civil question to ask.” (Looking Glass, 172) By this point, Alice has learned to carefully weigh the impact her speech will have on others. While she is concerned for her safety, she knows that inquiring about the intentions of the insect would be a rude thing to do, and she refrains from asking. The Alice who had first arrived in Wonderland probably wouldn’t have been as concerned about the feelings of the insect: in fact, she probably wouldn’t have taken them into account, just as she hadn’t thought about what would and wouldn’t be alright to discuss with the mouse in the pool of tears. Alice’s response to diversity is appropriate and natural. We cannot expect her to immediately be able to understand—or even feel comfortable with—the creatures in Wonderland because they are so very different from what she is used to. But Alice is able to react appropriately to the creatures in time and learns to follow the rather nonsensical proceedings in the world of Wonderland.
This picture was tagged as "happy diverse young aduct college people." I guess that works for describing our college population!
Like Alice, we have all been put into situations where there are many different types of people, and at times we don’t know how to react. College is a perfect example. There are so many different types of people here. People with different interests, different opinions, backgrounds, religions....the list can go on and on. I’m sure we are all learning to adjust to the types of people we meet here. And I think looking to Alice as an example is a good start. Alice shows us that it’s ok to make mistakes. She hurts feelings at times and even gets herself into trouble, but she comes out better for it in the end and learns from her mistakes. Similarly, we are going to make mistakes when we try to respond to people differently than ourselves. I know that I can learn from Alice’s example by trying to talk in the first place! Whenever I encounter new people I tend to stay quiet. I don’t really know how they would want me to respond, I guess. By looking at Alice’s example, I should begin to see that it is better to strike up a conversation even if it is difficult. And in the long run, I will be able to learn so much more from people that I am not used to than people who I am very similar to. Just look at our class and my wonderful group of friends! We are all so different, but we get along so well. I remember the first few days of class when we awkwardly sat around and attempted to strike up conversation. I remember having a very hard time finding something to say and thinking that many of us had nothing in common. I have come so far, however, in getting to know everyone by being able to spend time and talk to every one of you. My journey into Wonderland has only begun, but I am now excited to encounter people that have something entirely different to show me.
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