Prejudice and Pride

A Whole New World

Maisie Evans put the car in park and stared out the driver side window. She bit her lip and couldn't help but force a small smile. Her heart raced, beating so fast inside her chest, she swore she could hear it growing louder, beat by beat. Looking ahead at the large buildings, the grassy landscape, and the tons of people, it felt like she had stepped onto a whole new planet. In fact, she had only driven a mere 25 miles. But 25 miles was the distance literally between two completely different dimensions.

She had grown up not far away in a town so small, it only had a post office, a gas station, and a church. Her father happened to be the pastor at that church, and it had been a staple in her 20 years on earth. In that world, she had lived with her parents and younger sister, Hattie. The girls, along with the oldest sister, Lottie, had spent their formative years homeschooled by their stay at home mother. The teachings of the gospel had been the centerpiece of every aspect of their lives.

Grabbing her purse, Maisie stepped out of the family Volvo station wagon and suddenly felt more out of place than ever. For the first time in her life, she felt plain. No one around looked like her. The friends and associates in her life were direct members of a large, extended church family that stretched across three states. It was a close-knit community where everyone dressed, thought, and behaved alike. The women adhered to a strict, modest dress code. No sleeveless or low-cut shirts that brought even a hint of attention to the breasts. No pants were allowed, and all skirts and dresses had to come below the knee. Focus on hair and makeup was considered prideful, which was a sin. Now Maisie was surrounded by all kinds of students. Different races, different hair colors, different clothes...different everything.

"Um, ex...excuse me. Can you please tell me how to get to Flagler Hall?"

It felt like she was screaming at the top of her lungs but in reality, the words only squeaked out. No one answered her and the other students, immersed in their own issues and schedules continued about, mulling around as if she didn't even exist. Suddenly Maisie felt very small. It was something her mother had warned her about. College had been a dream as long as she could remember but higher education, especially for the girls had been frowned upon. As soon as they turned 18, expectations turned to finding a good husband and starting a family. Courtships were usually, arranged, if not always approved by the girl's father.

Maisie had always been a dutiful conformist. She loved and feared God, as she did her parents. Rules were law and everyone around them abided by the unwritten guidelines. Everyone except Lottie. Lottie had always been considered the rebel of the family, the community even. She had questioned everything from women's roles in the home to the Bible. Many a whipping and Christian camps later, when she had turned 18, she had run away. Ex-communicated from everything she had ever known and loved, she had gone to the city and was taken in by some kind strangers. She had eventually gone to nursing school and met and married a man. A man not approved by the family, a man with no ties to the church. From the day she had left, it was as if Lottie had never existed in the first place. Her name was never spoken of again, except when the reverend and his wife had commanded their younger daughters to never talk to their older sister again. She was "lost" to them, it had been explained. The Devil had gotten ahold of her. And that was that.

Once Lottie had defected, the idea of college had been even more terrifying to bring up to her parents. But Maisie was different. She was obedient. More importantly she feared the hold of a Devil, that Lottie had doubted even existed. Her parents trusted her and after two years of pleading, her father had reluctantly allowed her to attend classes. She had wanted nothing more than to be an elementary school teacher. It was a noble profession, certainly one that would make her parents happy. But Maisie was of courting age and once she found her husband, the babies would come and formal work would be put on the inevitable back burner. She would be able to homeschool her own children and perhaps teach the children at church. It wasn't the career path, or lack thereof that Maisie had wanted but she would take what she could get. Just the opportunity for formal education was both a shock and a blessing. She had successfully avoided the dreaded courtship for two whole years but it was only a matter of time before a potential husband would be chosen for her.