Teacher Pride

As I stand at the front of the class monitoring a grade 10 English exam, I can't help but to marvel in the awesomeness of these students. For two hours they are required to take the paper 1 English exam. The learners quietly sift through the readings, appearing as calm and cool as a button. This is what takes my breath away.

In school, primarily university, I was what you would call a nerd, just ask my sister and ex-roomie. Even as an English speaker though, I always faced some form of anxiety prior to a test, exam, or big project. I am an analyzer and would find myself going over different scenarios and options to a question for hours after an assignment. These learners, learning English as a second, third, fourth language, do not resemble me though. They sit there, working hard, appearing as if they have tried their hardest to prepare for this test, and I am blown away. Blown away by their ability to take all exams in a language that is not their own. I cannot even imagine or fathom having all of my college exams in Italian. And this is what hits me...

It is so easy to get frustrated from time to time by low marks and by students not understanding what I am saying, but in this arena, learners are more advanced than me. In some ways, they are more developed in languages than me. They are talented, smart individuals that although may not be able to get a perfect score on an exam, can make American students seem behind. While our students at home go home to Facebook, texting, and hanging out with friends, my students here spend their afternoons in study improving their English, fetching water, washing clothes, digging holes for water pipes, and chopping wood. So not only are they advanced in the language department (meaning they speak more than one language almost fluently), they are being exposed to an incredibly strong work ethic from a young age. They are seeing at an early start the importance of hard work, and with that said, that is how I want people to see, think, and read about my kids here. They are hard workers. In several ways, they know more about work in their 12-20 years of life than I do in my 23 years, and probably more than others in their 49-60 years. They are doing things with their lives that if put in their shoes would not seem imaginable, and because of these reasons and many, many more, I am so proud of these kids.