learnings\Summary- Michael J Harrington

Any experience changes us, some for the better, some for the worst.  This experience made me a better person no doubt.  Mentoring the Joses helped me in many ways.  First of all I learned about other cultures.  I'm not normally around many foreign individuals, so it's weird for me to get used to having someone not speak English around me, and it was interesting to get their perspective on life.  Second, I learned about myself.  Sometimes you can only really see yourself in the eyes of others, and when Jose drew a picture of our time together I understood a little more about myself.  Third, I learned about children.  Children see the world in a new light, and it was very cool to hear what he thought about zoos and playing sports and moving in general.  My mentees have had experiences I've never had, and probably never will, but it was interesting to live through his eyes.

Something my mentee has seen that I haven't, a redwood.

I hope that I have changed my mentees too, and that they have learned something about American life or America in general from me.  And maybe learned some academics too, from all the homework we worked on together.  But all in all I know that I got something out of the experience, and can only hope that he did too.  Thanks for a great year and goodbye.

Me...and my roommate.

What I have Learned

Adama

I really did not know what I was getting into when I first signed up for this class. I was not really sure what we would learn about, or if I would really learn anything at all. But after taking part in the classwork, and getting the chance to work at AMIS I realize just how much I did learn about the  lives of immigrant children. Before the first day at AMIS I wasn't really sure about this whole process. I figured I would be paired with a student who I would not be able to understand and even if I could understand them we would have nothing to talk about because I figured our lives were too different. I was so wrong. My mentee Adama was just like any other 4th grade boy I have ever babysat. He loved to play games, loved dinosaurs, and loved cartoons. I realized after the first few meetings that I had judged these kids before I even got the chance to get to know them. I think that a lot of people do this. But through this course I have learned that immigrant children may have so challenges in their lives that other people don't have to experience, but underneath it all they are just kids who want the same chances and want to have the same experiences as any other kid. I think this concept was the most important thing this class has taught me, not to judge other ways of life just because they are not familiar to me. I that if more people in the world learned this, things could be a lot better for a lot of people.

AMIS

I am really glad that I took this class and was able to meet the wonderful people at AMIS. I will take the concepts that I learned in this class with me when I myself become a teacher so that I can help all the students in my classes become very successful.

Learnings/Summary; Nish Thiyagarajah

Over the past ten weeks, while I can’t exactly say this class has been the focal point of my life, I can say with honesty that I’ve been thoroughly surprised by it. The experience of mentoring Kevin, while fleeting, has been really great. I’ve learned a lot, and have been able to do a lot of reflection through these photo journals. My family went through issues involving immigration, and this class has allowed me to go back and, as I said, reflect a decent amount on everything in the context of my experiences and who I am today. 

First day at AMIS.

In terms of the mentoring at AMIS, I was first paired with Kevin when we showed up at AMIS all those weeks ago, not knowing at all just how this experience was going to go. He seemed at first to just hate me, seeming just apathetic about everything I said or asked, and though I’m not exactly proud of it took me several minutes to piece together that he really just wasn’t able to speak English.  Upon this realization, I was pretty doubtful as to how we’d ever develop any kind of mentee mentor relationship, given that my Spanish experience was a couple of years removed and never particularly developed to begin with. 

However, I quickly realized that the so called language barrier people seem to be so anxious about really doesn’t  have to come so far between people so as not to let them communicate with one another. We eventually became very friendly, and this was established through not just limited actual communication, but familiarity developing from simple activities like drawing, gesturing, and the like. The thing is that a lot of kids, especially young immigrant children, don’t yet file the same stereotypes that many of us do due to the ins and outs of growing up in America, so there’s no stigma in becoming comfortable with a person- if they get along, they get along.

In the last few weeks.

In my mind, culture is as important as ever, and Kevin, who always said he loved his home more than anything, and didn’t seem to like it here especially, even showed me that I’d like to learn a little more about my homeland’s culture and maybe cultivate some of that cultural competence. As I'm transferring to a different school next year, sadly I won't be able to continue the mentoring relationship, but I hope if anything, Kevin was able to learn from our time there that visible differences between people should make no difference in how we talk to or interact with one another, and also that his adjustment to living here goes smoothly as he grows older and gains some perspective.

Week 10 -- Learnings/Summary -- Sarah Arriola

The time I have spent over the last 10 weeks, both in the classroom and at AMIS, have been much more enriching than I ever thought they would be. I thought I was signing up for yet other class that would require lots of reading and out-of-the-box assignments that would ultimately leave me with little more than another grade at the end of the quarter. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Spending time with my mentee, Hawa, at AMIS was really enjoyable, and it never felt like a class assignment. I was learning from her and we were having fun together, whether that meant coloring, playing games on her Nintendo DS, or running around on the playground. I didn't dread that time that we spent at AMIS. Rather, I looked forward to it. In fact, I have found that, although I don't really miss the time spent driving back and forth, I do miss seeing the mentees. 

I have learned a lot about immigration this quarter, both from the readings, the AMIS students, and the time spent in the classroom. One of the biggest things I have learned is that all immigrants are not the same. They all have different stories and have had different experiences. Trying to lump all immigrants into one neat group is like trying to say that all college students are the same; that they act the same, believe the same things, or have the same goals. It's simply not true. It's actually quite insulting to try and say that all immigrants are the same. If we, as a society, try to look at immigrants as individuals with different needs and different stories, we would all get along better and would be better able to relate to one another. We would realize that we actually may have a lot in common with many of the immigrants that we feel as though we are so different from. I realized this fact through my mentee, Hawa.

When we showed up at AMIS on that first day, I was sure that I was going to end up paired with some student that I may not be able to communicate with, and surely wouldn't have anything in common with. I was quite wrong. Hawa spoke exellent English, owned a Nintendo DS, and talked about the same things I would expect any other fourth grade girl to talk about. Over the weeks that we met, I realized that we had several things in common. We both had experienced moving to different schools, both had brothers that we fought with a lot, and both had family in far away places (although hers is quite a bit farther than mine). I came to like Hawa a lot, and hope to stay in contact with her in the future.

Hawa and I with her picture and certificate.

What this class has taught me is to always remain open-minded about the new people I meet, especially immigrants. The people that I will encounter throughout my life will all have different backgrounds and different stories. They will most likely all desire the same things -- understanding, support, and respect. I believe that the things that I learned in this class will definitely help me for many years to come. 

Everyone in line for all the delicious food we brought!

The students grabbing for candy after they broke the pinata!

Week 10, Learnings/Summary--Allison Miller

This quarter has sped by, and now that it’s coming to a close I must say that I am extremely grateful for the enriching experiences that this class has given me.  Being a mentor to an immigrant child taught me more about immigration firsthand, reinforcing what I was learning about in the readings every week. 

            Overall, I have learned about immigration as a whole; about the many different experiences that people have when immigrating, how the situation affects peoples’ outlook on their new land (i.e. leaving because of persecution vs. leaving for better opportunities).  I have also learned about the effects immigration can have on some individuals, namely culture shock.  However, that being said, I have also realized that just because someone is an immigrant, doesn’t mean that they are escaping persecution and experiencing culture shock in America.  Immigration is not a single experience that millions of people go through; immigrants each have their own individual stories, which may not be applicable to the rest of the immigrant population.  There is no such thing as a “cookie cutter” immigrant experience, so we must try to refrain from making general assumptions.

I really hope to stay in contact with my mentee!

            This experience has also taught me more about myself.  Throughout this blog, I do quite a few comparisons of my mentee, Lizbeth, and myself.  I compare her to myself at age 8, how I interacted with my peers, my experiences with schoolwork and family life.  Though there are quite a few distinct differences between us, I have come to find that Lizbeth and I (particularly at age 8) do share a number of similarities.  In terms of applying this to my life, it has shown me that no matter who someone appears to be, however different they may seem, it is quite possible to share similarities and thus relate to one another.  I think that this is something the entire world should take into consideration:  empathy.

            As I continue to pursue my career in nursing, I wish to always remember this fact.  Since I plan on eventually working at Children’s Hospital right down the street in Cincinnati, I will undoubtedly come into contact with many types of people who are different from me (be it religion, sexual orientation, language, and culture in general).  I always want to keep an open mind about people, and search for the similarities between ourselves so that we may find mutual respect and understanding for one another.  While I’m sure that it is not always going to be as easy to do this as it was with Lizbeth, I’m sure it is still possible, no matter what the circumstances.  I plan to pursue cultural competency as a goal, and implement the strategies that Vaughn discusses in chapter five of her book.  And I know that if I ever have questions about how to interact with those of another culture, there are a plethora of resources available to me to further educate myself.

Hamilton Week Ten: Summary

While I may not be going into immigration law or psychology, I know that the lessons that I have learned in this class will help me relate to and understand many people in a more complete way. Having a well-developed cultural competency will allow me to interact with those I come into contact with during my career more smoothly, and the readings opened my eyes more fully to the struggles that immigrants and their families deal with on a daily basis.

Other students in my studio groan about having to sit through another sociology lecture or complain about the aplia homework they had to complete for their economics class. Listening to them made me so much more appreciative for my time at AMIS. Unlike them, I was fulfilling my general education requirements in a meaningful way, and knowing that my time and efforts were making a difference meant a lot. Going to visit with Jose did not feel like going to class. Helping the girl’s action team finish their movie about health was never something that I dreaded. It was fun, and I hope to see Jose again when I return next year.

Quarter in Review

I am grateful for my further exposure to immigration in this class, but I still do not feel as though the work at AMIS was very beneficial.  Most of the mentees seemed to be stable and adapted to life in the US, with established cultural identities either as Americans or Hispanic/ African Americans.  My mentee already had a cell phone at the age of 8, whereas I did not receive one until I was sixteen.  She described a "typical" American youth's lifestyle, watching television regularly, living with two working parents and one sibling, celebrating Easter with egg hunts and candy, and hanging out with friends at and after school.  She is a happy, though shy, kid, but her shyness seemed more related to an introverted personality than to her status as an immigrant, as she remembers very little of Mexico anyway, identifying primarily as an American who happened to have been born in Mexico.

I feel that children of immigration are definitely affected psychologically by the uprooting, but Sara (and from my conversations with other mentors, many of the other AMIS students) did not seem to follow the case of an immigrant child needing any more support and embracing than the average American youth.  Regardless, I found the material engaging and educational, and it has led me to want to show more support for the immigrant community both in Cincinnati and my hometown of Chicago.

This class also reminded me of my own background and the fact that my family still practices Irish traditions as we still have a lot of family in Ireland and Irish American immigrant relatives.  Included are pictures from a family trip to Ireland in 2005, where we stayed with relatives in County Monaghan, listened to stories, ate meals in their home, and lived as they do.

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Week 9: Approaching Immigration

            With an aunt, many cousins, and newly adopted babies in my family having come from China (as well as Guatemala and Honduras), I am naturally extremely grateful for immigration into the U.S. being manageable and allowing me to have these wonderful people in my life.  And when it comes down to it, all Americans who are not of Native American descent have some immigrant blood in them.  However, I understand that the United States physically cannot handle to accept everyone who requests permanent residence, especially given the political turmoil and lack of stability in South and Central America as well as the Middle East.

            So now, the US struggles with the cost of immigration control in the current recession and the effort of identifying deserving immigrants for green cards in light of the rapid population growth as a result.  Also, given that the draft of the Vietnam War led many young Americans to flee to Canada, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 tripled the budget for Border Patrol along the Canadian border to address illegal reentry.

            Though it is devastating that many hardworking families cannot make it into the “land of opportunity,” it is an impossible situation for all involved, and there is no way of pleasing everyone.  So we are left with states like Arizona who feel abandoned by the Federal Government and attract attention to their cause by concocting a new law that causes great racial profiling and the unreasonable requirement of immigrants carrying their papers on themselves at all times.

            While I do not share the bigoted perspective of “the darn immigrants are takin’ all our jobs,” I do have to agree with the concept that we must deny a great deal of people seeking entrance (besides those seeking refuge from oppression and persecution, of course).

            Once immigrants have earned permanent residence or even citizenship, though, I am naturally very happy for them and interested in learning of their past and current cultures as well as welcoming them into the American lifestyle.

            I included a picture of my cousin Jenwei Tsai who moved here from China at the age of 16, alone, and graduated from the University of Illinois just weeks ago with a Masters degree in Agriculture.  This picture is of her researching for her thesis.

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            The second picture is of my adopted cousin Bo, whom my aunt and uncle picked up from China in November of 2009.

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