What Can Virtual Reality Do That Books Can't?

Upon watching “Crossing the Line: Untold Stories of Refugees”, I was particularly drawn to the story of two women who had come to America to seek asylum from the rampant gang violence in Mexico; but when night fell at the border, they told by a border agent to go to Mexican immigration that night and come back the next day. After fruitless pleading, they returned to Mexican immigration. The people there called the two women a taxi which, they discovered upon boarding, was affiliated with The Gulf Cartel. That same night the two women were kidnapped. One recalls being held hostage for 18 days. She has been held in an immigration detention for over a year and her case is still pending.

Something I have heard this year more than ever is students claiming they don’t enjoy reading because they can’t form pictures in their heads. That the words aren’t enough. I think virtual reality is a sufficient response to this growing mentality. Especially in “Crossing the Line”, hearing a story directly from the source’s mouth and seeing it illustrated all around you eliminates the need for excess imagination or brain power. It is a somewhat sad ideation, but if someone truly can’t enjoy literature due to the inability to imagine, then virtual reality might be a feasible solution.

Virtual Reality is Reality

During my virtual reality experience, I chose to watch “Crossing the Line: Untold Stories of Refugees Stuck At The Border”. This video personally touched me because it included a story about refugees from Honduras. Over the last four years of my life, I’ve traveled to Honduras on a mission trip where we volunteer at a variety of orphanages and build relationships with the kids. Because I have this tie to Honduras, I felt a personal connection to these refugees because I have seen and heard about the poverty and injustice of their country.

The most striking aspect is how unwilling the United States is to welcome in the refugees who are coming from nothing, with hopes of a better life. Through my mission trip program, some children from the orphanages, once they turn 18, are given the opportunity to come to the United States and stay with a volunteer family while they attend college. I’ve always felt that this was an amazing opportunity that anyone should be able to receive, so I’m deeply saddened when I see that these refugees will not even be given citizenship, let alone an education and the means to excel in the country.