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JOURNAL
December 2005
Schooled in Diversity
It is certainly true that the teacher learns as much from the student as the student learns from the teacher.
I have just finished my first semester of teaching in an academic setting: I teach Speech, a required course, to undergraduates at City College in uptown Manhattan. City College is an oasis of diversity, where immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants can get a relatively inexpensive education from some of the finest professors the country has to offer (after all, don't the best-ofs of all professions flock to New York City?).
One of my students, Faysal, recently gave an impromptu speech about one of his former teachers. That teacher told Faysal to "aim high", the idea being that even if you don't make your ultimate dream, the striving for it will open up doors to other opportunities along the way.
I realized how true that has been for my own life. I have yet to be regarded by major critics for my singing ability, nor I have scored a recording contract or sold a song; I have yet to publish any writing for pay; I have yet to secure an agent to introduce me to the worlds of television and film; I have yet to appear in a hit show on the stage. And yet, because I have pursued these goals, I have had to try my hand at many talents. These talents have led me to the blessing that is City College.
My students, with surnames like Arshad, Sharif, Li, Hwang, Tavarez, Guerrero and Kurniadi, would not be found all together in too many other American classrooms. And yet they represent the best our country has to offer. One week, a student did a speech about immigration procedures. She asked how many of us were born in another country: about half the hands went up. She then asked how many had parents born in another country. The rest of the hands went up. When she asked how many had parents born in the United States, my hand (white American, moving into middle age) was the only one that went up, which made everyone laugh.
I imagine my students are in many ways typical of 18-20 year olds: They want to hang out, chat on their cell phones, play video games and surf the Web. In many ways, they are extraordinary: they have mastered at least two languages and are working to speak articulate, accent-free English. They are pursuing degrees in the sciences, engineering, mathematics and more. In such a setting, they have not only tolerated but embraced friends of different races, cultures and religions. I have certainly learned more about Islam from my students than I ever learned in a textbook. I have learned about New York's pockets of ethnic and lower-middle class neighborhoods that I may not have taken the time to visit. My students represent the melting pot that America should be, and they give me hope.
This December, there have been many news stories about the controversy of using the word "Christmas" as opposed to "holiday." Our government should not be in the business of promoting religion. Our stores should not be promoting Christianity through Santa Claus — what they are promoting has nothing to do with the spiritual meaning of Christmas, but good old American consumerism. Let us not confuse cultural values with religious values.
As one who attends church weekly, I say to all my students and all immigrants who come to our shores, in the most Christian, welcoming way possible: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
What's Your Opinion?
KevScoHall@Verizon.net