Journey to Becoming a Teacher

His eyes seemed to appear as if a thin gloss covered them and thick deep black circles engraved his skin below. His facial expressions displayed emotions from curiosity to worry. He walked in with both parents clutching his hands and an interpreter followed the young Chinese couple. Neither he nor his parents spoke one word of English; the only person to help cross the language barrier was the so called interpreter, who turned out to be little help in the future. In the midst of trying to communicate with the parents through the use of the interpreter we gathered little information about our new student. We did however conclude that two days ago the family boarded a plane in a small town in a rural area of China and endured a 13 hour flight to come to Houston, Texas. The way the innocent young Chinese family appeared, I could tell they were still adjusting to the time difference. Their reason for leaving their home remained up in the air. The interpreter however became helpful in giving the basic information of our student’s name. Recognizing that any normal American’s tongue would become entangled with each syllable of his real Chinese name, his parents decided to define our new student as George. During the rest of my internship, it would be my obligation to teach George the basics of English grammar and to try to immerse him into the United States culture, without knowing that he would significantly change my outlook on teaching completely.

Once I received this goal set by my supervising teacher to help George, I felt mixed emotions. How would I teach someone who did not speak the same language as I did? The basics of the Chinese culture were on opposite ends of the spectrum from the United States. Where would I even begin? B...

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...d my skills to opening my eyes to all types of learners including visual, auditory, and tactile students. George showed me that even when placed in a difficult situation that I could embrace the power of thinking impetuously.

My time with George ended at the end of my internship. Only being in first grade, George did not realize how much of a lasting impact he made on my life. We progressed together getting him to write and spell basic English words, and as for me he changed my outlook on teaching. Although we worked together every day on his writing and memorization skills, he never physically said one vernacular word to me. Without speaking George influenced my hopes and dreams of becoming a great teacher and opening my arms to new generations of students. The positions he placed me in, shaped my ability to conquer and teaching situation that is thrown my way.