He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Doesn't have a point of view Knows not where he's going to Isn't he a bit like you and me? Nowhere man please listen You don't know what you're missing Nowhere man, the world is at your command --Nowhere Man, Beatles
Our POP preschoolers learned the song Nowhere Man by the Beatles this fall. It’s one of our music teacher’s favorite selections but was ever more significant during this time of virtual everything. How often have we felt like our screens, Zoom calls, even our homes have become vast lands of “Nowhere.” How often during the pandemic have we felt like we were making nowhere plans, not knowing where we’re going to.
One group of preschoolers was greeted every Thursday by Tyler Voes who joined our Zoom classes. Tyler is a U of Iowa student and peer mentor for a course called Life Designs taught by Dave Gould. Every Thursday, we took a break from our regular programming to visit magical lands with Tyler—Mermaid Land, Cloud Land, Fairy Land, Rainbow Land, Sky Land...we met the Cloud Princess, Sky King, Moon Dog, Fairies, Unicorns, and many other magical creatures along the way. While I have enjoyed each of these magical lands, my favorite is the one we created together. A small group of preschool children, some college students, and a couple of middle-aged teachers together created Somewhere Land.
Here is Tyler’s description: This semester I have been spending my Thursday mornings (virtually) with a preschool class from here in Iowa City. We started working with the song “Nowhere Man” by the Beatles and I started thinking of ways that it can apply to our own lives. I believe that both preschoolers and college students are at a precipice in our lives–college students about to embark on their next step into real adulthood, preschoolers just entering life itself. So I like to think of Nowhere Land as our futures. An uncertain land filled with any possibility that we can imagine.
I think the most important thing to remember is that we are the ones that shape our future. Our rainbows of hope come from within our own imagination, a lesson from the kids that we all need to be reminded of as we grow older. We can take Nowhere Land and turn it into Somewhere Land. My rainbow of hope is for our world and I hope that we can leave behind negativity and uncertainty and instead spread positivity and acceptance into the world so that I can feel proud of the legacy we leave for future generations.