At West Virginia State College, the majority of women one professor teaches are first generation college students who arrive in the classroom full of rich cultural stories. These Appalachian women use what they already know as a frame of reference to explore and process the new material of their teacher education program. As part of the final exam each semester, the students are asked to select and describe a metaphor whose characteristics (as they know them) best fit their perceptions of a classroom. This "exercise in metaphors" provides a way for the students to stretch their thinking and refresh their conventional mindsets about the kind of teacher they hope to become and the kind of classroom they want to design. The responses in this paper present a blend of both past and present experiences as these future teachers revisit the truths of their upbringing to inform and shape their emerging understanding of the teaching and learning process. (Author/SM)