Jian is a student of mine. And he is also my teacher. Weeks ago, holding back tears, I thanked him for reminding me that America can be a dream, not always the nightmare or empty promise whose image I have come to understand by looking through my lens of easy cynicism. And, though this nightmare is often truth, it humbles me to be reminded that it is not the only truth.
Six of us sat in our chairs preparing for Jian’s senior graduation portfolio defense, a presentation shaped to fit a well-defined academic box, into which students can cleanly fit their leadership skills, growth, metacognition, and demonstration of academic prowess. Just enough to “prove” they are ready to successfully navigate college and beyond. The grad portfolio defense is an exercise that fits nicely into 60 minutes and a dozen note cards. It needs not be more. But when a student chooses to take it on with heart, to burst free from the expectations of the page, transformation is the result, both for the student and, more importantly, for those gathered to witness. I was one who had the fortune of being transformed by the wisdom of Jian’s heart.
“In Malaysia, I was a robot,” Jian asserted multiple times through the course of his presentation. The education system in his country of birth had taught him primarily to conform and care only about earning a grade. “Coming here,” he explained, “helped me to become human.” This was not hyperbole - sweet rhetoric conjured for the purpose of pleasing his graduation portfolio committee. Jian was speaking his truth. He went on to describe the myriad ways being “American” had shaped the person he is – and who he would become. This person is worlds different from the one he was destined to grow into had he continued on his educational trajectory in Malaysia. Yet, Jian also made it clear that much had been lost in his parent’s choice to relocate to the other side of the globe in order to give him and his brother greater opportunities in life. Family, culture, community – all had been sacrificed.
Still, Jian was thankful. He liked the shape of his life, the person he saw when he looked inside, and the opportunities that awaited him.
The lessons we learn when we listen deeply to the young people with whom we have the privilege of sharing too often, too hectic classrooms transform us – not just as educators but as human beings. Jian’s experience did not teach me anything new in the sense that I am thinking of these ideas for the first time. However, his presentation has helped me to open my consciousness to the more positive and hopeful realities this country bestows upon its privileged inhabitants. I am not naive. I get that the system is broken. I realize that I stand on shoulders made bloody through centuries of violence, oppression, and neglect. I struggle alongside those who wish to carve deep furrows into the path that this country is on and entirely change the direction we are headed. But honesty is cardinal and that means I must also honor the opportunity and hope this land offers to so many, which is to honor Jian – and so many students and families in our schools.
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