Sat Nam Grounding

Everything here is so different in ways I had never thought: facial expressions and gestures, hygiene and personal needs, relationship dynamics. The students are all so different, certainly they are in America too, but they are different in ways that seem so odd to me. These students know that us teachers have no idea of their worlds.

Students know we are young and eager and ambitious and it seems they are either a). extremely eager to learn from us and grow, or b). often try all kinds of ways to sabotage our roles of authority.

The classrooms here are almost entirely chaos as teachers rotate around for classes instead of students. A lot of chaos can happen in an unattended classroom with 5 minutes between bells. I know this sounds paranoid, but these students are organized. No, not in the “clean” kind of way–in the malicious kind of way.

It seems every time I turn my back, they’re plotting something. We don’t know their language and every time we begin to catch on, they switch to another language. (Most students speak English and the languages of surrounding cultures also: Chuukese, Marshallese, Palauan, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, Yapese, and even some Korean.)

Their efforts are not catastrophic, because they know they do not want to get in actual trouble, but it is just “nudging” enough to knock a teacher off their high horse. For instance, they’ll tell you a phrase in Chuukese that is obviously the wrong one to embarass you. Or they’ll send in a student during office hours to convey a sob story and then mock you when you bring it up in a teachers’ meeting.

In turn, the student/teacher dynamic is skewed. I struggle to actually connect with many students. Even though I often feel mentally “bested” by my pupils, I regain my humility in the few that do not fit in much with their classmates and have actual questions about America, culture, and college.

These few students make all the difference for me. They will visit me in my office during office hours (after classes M-F, 3pm-5pm), during their free times (5pm-7pm), or will sit by me during study times (7pm-8:30pm) in the computer lab, library, or study hall. I am learning so much about the way they live and how they grew up.

One student told me the story of his horrendous scar on his shin: he had to climb their family hut (which consisted of corrugated tin fashioned into a “building”) to remove fallen trees and debris during a typhoon in fear of losing their home. He slipped on a banana leaf and got caught on the edges of metal. He claimed he hung there by his shin for nearly an hour before his father was able to get to him. Amazing. Humbling.

Many of the other teachers are in a “click.” They are all so young and enjoy partying. They drink many nights on the roof. I join in briefly from time to time just for the conversation before returning to my work or proctoring study time. I have accepted that they are not my group. Regardless, I am finding my place among locals and students.

I am humbled at this gift I have been given in being here.