Cinelle Barnes draws the layout of her childhood home on the board, adding in a few details, explaining that the exercise permits one to revisit formative moments and recall early emotions.

“Can you guess what this is?” she asks.

“A chandelier?” one of the students ventures.

Another room is drawn.

“Can you guess what this is?”

“A disco ball!” comes the reply.

“And this?”

“Is it a bar?”

Now the students are curious about this house in the Philippines that contains such things. Barnes continues, drawing a fancy chair at the head of a large table otherwise surrounded by stools. It’s the chair her mother sat in, she explains.