A qualitative study examined the effectiveness of the combination of autobiography, biography, and cross-cultural analyses in the context of preservice teacher education. Subjects were 21 preservice teachers at a rural Midwestern public university in which only 9% of the 11,000 students were from minority backgrounds. Subjects, for a class assignment, wrote their autobiographies, then wrote a biography of a first-generation immigrant after conducting in-depth interviews with the person, and then made a cross-cultural analysis comparing the two different life histories. A constant comparison method was used to conduct textual analyses of each student's biography, autobiography, and cross-cultural analysis. Results indicated that the preservice teachers: (1) discovered their own"cultural lenses"; (2) discovered similarities in human experiences; (3) discovered and respected cultural differences; (4) understood the problems faced by new immigrants; (5) empathized with immigrants' problems; (6) overcame their fear of noncommunication; (7) strengthened their personal beliefs; and (8) visualized strategies to use in their classrooms and with immigrant parents. Findings suggest that the combination of autobiography, biography, and cross cultural study moved participants beyond the past and present to visualize and construct the future experiences for their personal and professional lives. Future research could explore the long-term impact of the strategy on participants after they enter the teaching profession. (Contains 45 references.) (RS)