{"id":1752,"date":"2021-04-19T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T20:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/student-writer-champions-the-bus-as-a-window-into-americas-soul\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T22:40:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T06:40:35","slug":"bus-as-a-window-into-americas-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/bus-as-a-window-into-americas-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Student writer champions the bus as a window into America\u2019s soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3458-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3458-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Student writer champions the bus as a window into America\u2019s soul\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Joseph Debaerien uses his frequent, colorful travels by bus as inspiration for research and writing projects that are part of his Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. (Photo: Courtesy of Joseph Debaerien.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=student\">Student<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Student writer champions the bus as a window into America\u2019s soul<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Recent Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship recipient and English major Joseph Debaerien gets inspiration for his writing from his fellow travelers. <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Margaret Crable<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">April 19, 2021<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Despite the 34 million boardings that occur in America each day, the bus remains a rather uncelebrated figure. You won\u2019t find much literature extolling the virtues of catching a bus in a rainstorm or sharing a seat with a stranger nodding off on your shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>Jack Kerouac, America\u2019s foremost literary itinerant who never turned his nose up at hitchhiking, saw little to appreciate: \u201cThe floors of\u00a0bus\u00a0stations are the same all over the country, always covered with butts and spit and they give a feeling of sadness that only\u00a0bus\u00a0stations have,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>But Joseph Debaerien sees a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>For Debaerien, an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\">English<\/a>\u00a0major at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, not only are buses an ideal setting for writing inspiration, they\u2019re an excellent way to experience social class in America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has its own culture that stems from the working\u00a0class. You see people with Target shopping bags carrying everything that they own. That\u2019s something that you never see on a plane or in a private car,\u201d says Debaerien.<\/p>\n<p>Recently awarded a prestigious\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/mmuf\">Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship<\/a>, Debaerien is now exploring the bus as a site of both creativity and class consciousness. He uses his own experiences as material, having ridden the bus to and from Las Vegas to USC\u2019s University Park campus numerous times, and having only recently overcome homelessness.<\/p>\n<h2>Like a rolling stone<\/h2>\n<p>Debaerien spent his childhood bouncing from one city to the next. Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, he moved to Goose Creek, South Carolina, then San Diego, Las Vegas, back to Goose Creek, then to Boaz, Alabama and, finally, back to Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>For part of these wanderings, he, his mother and two younger brothers slept on floors and couches. They\u2019d returned to Goose Creek to stay with friends after his mother separated from a partner, which had left their finances a mess. While there, Hurricane Matthew forced them to evacuate to Boaz, where they stayed with an aunt.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-image-landscape news-image-right\">\n<figure style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/migration-uploads\/Debaerian_Profile_InStoryA-3458.jpg\" alt=\"A Greyhound bus with Los Angeles on the sign.\" width=\"630\" height=\"380\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">During school breaks, Debaerien travels 300 miles from Los Angeles to his mother\u2019s house in Las Vegas via Greyhound bus. (Photo: WikiCommons\/Thomas Hawk.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>This arrangement didn\u2019t pan out, so the group returned to Las Vegas. Debaerien\u2019s mother got hired at a chocolate factory, which allowed them to finally get their own apartment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of all that instability, I ended up staying at my high school a lot. I basically got adopted by all the staff. I was like the\u00a0mascot,\u201d says Debaerien.<\/p>\n<p>A counselor recommended he apply for QuestBridge, which matches low-income teens with top universities. Since his mother had never gone to college, the counselor helped him make sense of the application process. Debaerien received an offer from USC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was largely because I had that huge support system that gave me so much from my high school [that I went],\u201d says Debaerien. He packed his bags and took a Greyhound bus from Vegas to Los Angeles, the 6th city in less than a decade that he would call home.<\/p>\n<h2>Finding home in Troy<\/h2>\n<p>Freshly arrived in L.A, Debaerien felt somewhat overwhelmed. He got lost on campus and struggled to make sense of the Metro. He also worried about finding students with a similar background. A work-study job at the USC Ticket Office made him feel more at home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so worried about finding people who were like me. Then, I found out that kids who were from working class backgrounds actually existed at USC,\u201d says Debaerien, who has formed close friendships with students and staff at the office. He\u2019s also conquered the Metro system, enjoying trips around L.A.\u2019s diverse neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>He enrolled as a psychology major but ultimately returned to his earliest enthusiasm, literature. Debaerien won first place at an undergraduate writing conference for \u201cBus Stop Poem,\u201d which details a memorable experience with a visually impaired man while on one of his treks via Greyhound back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw this guy with a [white] cane trying to figure out how to get on the bus. There\u2019s a semi-circle of people surrounding him, but no one is doing anything,\u201d says Debaerien. \u201cSo, I take him by the elbow to help him up. We sit together, and he just starts telling me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The man explained that he was in Vegas to gamble and he keeps a separate bank account so his wife won\u2019t find out. He and Debaerien split a ham and cheese sandwich, and Debaerien shows the man how to use apps on his smartphone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he got off the bus and I never saw him again, and that\u2019s kind of how it works,\u201d says Debaerien.<\/p>\n<h2>Rambling Joe<\/h2>\n<p>Writing about bus passengers as a vivid portrait of America\u2019s working class wasn\u2019t his first pitch when he applied for a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. He went in with a more traditional idea about the representation of scholars in literature, which the judges weren\u2019t so enthusiastic about. Then they asked him, \u201cIf money was no object, and you could focus on anything you wanted, what would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started waving my hands around and talking about how I had just won this conference, how I think bus culture is so interesting,\u201d says Debaerien. \u201cIt\u2019s a window into class. It really underscores any kind of oppression or inequality in society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the fellowship secured, Debaerien is now researching a paper to be presented at an upcoming Undergraduate Research Symposium. He\u2019s been consulting a wide array of literature from John Steinbeck to the lesser known, but compellingly titled, \u201cThe Bus: Cosmic Ejaculations of the Daily Mind in Transit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With one year left at USC Dornsife, he has his eyes set on graduate school, though he\u2019s still not sure where he wants to settle permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Despite living in six cities, \u201cI still haven\u2019t found a place that really feels like home,\u201d says Debaerien, who will keep on rambling until he does, likely helped by the sleek silver buses that flash down America\u2019s many highways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/jimmy-gauntt-memorial-awards-supported-by-family-endowment\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Gifted young authors get career boost through new endowment honoring fellow writer<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/ska-in-the-family-student-research-familys-favorite-music\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Ska in the family: Fellowship allows student to research her family\u2019s favorite music<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/5-favorite-love-stories-for-valentines-day\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >5 favorite love stories for Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship recipient and English major Joseph Debaerien gets inspiration for his writing from his fellow travelers. <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":1755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[150,74,233,214,136],"class_list":["post-1752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student","tag-dei-story","tag-english","tag-mellon-mays-undergraduate-fellowship","tag-undergraduate-spotlight","tag-writing-program"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Student writer champions the bus as a window into America\u2019s soul<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/bus-as-a-window-into-americas-soul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student writer champions the bus as a window into America\u2019s soul\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship recipient and English major Joseph Debaerien gets inspiration for his writing from his fellow travelers. 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