Fulbright Essays, Part I
Last week, I spoke about my book and writing process to a group of students, faculty, and alumni at Fairfield University. It was great to be back on campus and catching up with my former teachers. Over the last ten years, the university has changed a great deal and those changes appear to be for the better.
As I reflected on this, it made me examine how I’ve changed, and I took a look back at my Fulbright essays, which I’ve always credited as the main catalyst to being awarded the grant. To that point in my life, they were by far the best pieces of writing I’d ever created and they set the foundation for how I write today.
Proposal for Teaching in Taiwan
The world can be affected through simple actions. If we can teach people to build upon the simple, it will expand to the complexity of the world around us. This is a basic statement for understanding our world. Through ordinary actions, there is the possibility of shaping it to be different.
I am a teacher and I am a student. This is how I will be for life. All people are students and teachers of life whether they know it or not. Every day there is the opportunity to learn something new, but many times this opportunity passes people by. I have believed this all my life and, after traveling through Europe for 7 months, I believe it more than ever. I can honestly say that every day I learned something new, whether it was a word of Spanish, a festival in Germany, or a part of the culture in Estonia, I learned. But, I also taught. Some of my friends knew the United States only through the eye of the news, and the news did not have a varied perspective to offer. As I traveled, I surprised many people with my overall attitudes and values. They were amazed to learn that the U.S. was not all the same as George Bush and that people existed in the U.S. that thought for themselves. This may sound amusing, but it is quite true. But, thankfully, there are many people out there that are open to conversation. An open mind is the only way to approach people, cultures, and the world at large, and that is exactly how I approached every day and experience in not only my travels, but also my everyday life here on the East coast.
Now that I have traveled around a good portion of Europe and returned, I learned something else. I need to experience more from other parts of the world, and I need to share more of myself with other parts of the world. I am a dynamic person and will reflect this in the classroom and out of it. I bring more than most to new environments, not only because of my experience, but also because of my attitude.
Teaching brings an aspect that doesn’t come with many other opportunities: the chance to make a clear difference in someone else’s day, week, and/or life. In high school, I volunteered to tutor for disadvantaged students in Philadelphia and Camden when I had time between sports. During these sessions, I learned the rewards of being a teacher. These students were glad to have someone there interested. Through the different perspective I brought to the students, they were able to see their material in a whole new light. With this new understanding of the material, they could then respond to questions correctly and apply their new knowledge to other materials.
As a student of English and Education here at Fairfield University, I have studied many things. From a class on Shakespeare, where we studied his poetry and prose, to a class on cultural studies, where we examined what societal pressures or influences caused a man like him to write, my classes have opposed and proposed many arguments and taught me to critically think and analyze. I have a love for literature and great authors, but I also have a love of culture and what makes it work the way it does. This produces the desire I have to analyze and critique the way that different cultures interact with each other. I owe a great deal to literature because not only has it taught me to think critically, but has taught me to see the world from other people’s perspectives, which is invaluable. There is no way to understand a person if you cannot open yourself to try and understand where their ideas come from. And if you cannot do this, there is no hope in ever teaching them anything.
Of all this, the most invaluable tool, that I have only just recently learned, and will help me in Taiwan as a teacher, is that learning a new language is a struggle. I went to Spain with a basic understanding of the language. And when I say basic, I do mean it. I was at a level below my peers in the classroom and I know what it feels like to struggle, and struggle hard. But, I persevered and learned Spanish on a conversational level, while strengthening a new understanding of the term “work ethic”. Now, I say this is the most invaluable tool because, through my personal learning difficulties, I came to realize the different ways language is interpreted, translated, and understood. I feel that I have a great advantage for teaching English because I now see the language in a new light. I analyzed the English language and all the different nuances that construct it. I now have a better understanding of my own language and how to convey it to students of all levels.
Learning is the greatest part of life, whether it is learning a new word, a new name, a new place, a new way, etc. To learn is to grow, and to grow is to understand. This is an opportunity where learning will never stop for me. I am looking forward to teaching in Taiwan and feel an insatiable appetite for more knowledge and new experiences.
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