Starting a New Chapter

Starting a New Chapter
 

When starting any new chapter, it helps to reflect on the past, in order to understand how to tackle the future. My time as a high school student is ending and this has led me to the same fate.  
One of the most notable aspects of my time in high school has been volunteering at Refugee Resources, in part due to the amount of time I’ve spent with the program. But it’s not only about the time I’ve spent there, it’s about the experiences and people I’ve been given in this time volunteering. As I reminisce and reflect on the past, I believe my time with Refugee Resources can best be explained when broken down into three separate parts. 
 
Happy 
I began participating in this program after my stepmom told me about it. As all new things go, I wasn’t too sure about it, but I’m not adverse to trying new things so I thought, “What can it hurt to try?” So, on my way to my first-ever meeting for Refugee Resources, my stepmom began to tell us about the student we would be working with. She was telling me about his outgoing, loud, and talkative personality, all the while balanced on top of his educational proficiency. 
But, as I mentioned, this was sounding like a little too much for me. I mean, how is a high school freshman qualified to teach a kid how to read and write better? That being said, I pressed on and allowed myself the opportunity to understand how this program works. 
On arrival, I got to meet Happy. 
He was just as described: very loud in the best possible way, while also being friendly to the other students. However, as soon as class began, I started to understand this kid was not just an outgoing kid, he was sharp—maybe too sharp for his own good. He was able to answer all the questions in his workbooks and read at a higher level than his grade level. There was one issue Happy struggled with: motivation. Happy, while being more than able to complete his assignments on an academic level, found himself struggling with finding the motivation to do so. 
Despite this being my first visit, it opened my eyes to something so very important about teaching that would impact me for the rest of my time at Refugee Resources. When teaching students, it's of course important to give them academic help, but you also need to provide the same level of emotional help, even if that means just asking them about their day. No matter how smart a student is, their work will never get done if they aren’t motivated to do it. So, just be an academic pillar as well as an emotional pillar to support the foundation of your student’s education. 
As time went on, Happy and I both gained confidence. I gradually felt more qualified to teach these kids and Happy knew he could answer whatever questions were thrown at him. Despite this, I felt Happy wasn’t as excited about the program as he once was. One day, he just stopped coming to class. As sad as this was, I believe it was a learning opportunity; it showed me everything in life,  good or bad, is temporary; you have to cherish every experience while you can. 
 
Mohammad 
After Happy’s departure, my dad and I had an empty spot for a new mentee.  
This spot was filled by a boy named Mohammad. 
Although I wasn’t told anything about him, once I met him, I felt like I understood his personality immediately. He was a loud, outgoing kid who was incredibly intelligent (sound familiar?). Despite his bright personality, he was very shy and quite reserved when I first started working with him. 
For context of this next part, it’s important to note Mohammad is a devout Muslim. So, trying to get him to participate in a heavily Christian-based program was rather difficult. It started out with him not even listening to the Bible when it was time to read it, to then listening to it, to then opening the book, to finally reading it and reading it well. Progressing through the program, Mohammad became more and more open to Christian beliefs. He would read from the Bible and tell us about his prayer requests for the week. However, this was a bit of a compromise, as when we would read the Bible, he would sometimes say, “That’s not how the story goes in the Qur’an,” and so we would ask him how it went in that book. That way, when we were educating him, we could allow ourselves to be educated, as well. 
That’s one of my favorite things I’ve learned from Refugee Resources. It’s important to have your voice heard, but it’s equally important if not more so, to hear others and gain other perspectives as well. 
Mohammad, while showing very similar characteristics to Happy, was more akin to him than I first realized. Just as things started to really get into the flow, he began to have many absences and his Muslim school began having scheduling conflicts with our class time and unfortunately, he had to be dropped from the program. 
As much as I wish it was with us, I know whatever academic endeavors Mohammad gets into, he will dominate. 
 
Ling 
Although Ling is the newest addition to my career at Refugee Resources, he remains a highlight. Ling is a talkative, friendly, outgoing kid who will always find a way to make me laugh. And Ling, like my students in the past, is very smart and is willing and able to tackle any challenge he faces. My time with Ling has been short, but he has already advanced several reading levels, and I think we’re both very proud of this fact. 
Our time together has been shorter, but that is kind of a lesson in itself - people, friends, family are here to teach you lessons, but not necessarily immediately. Having a real and important relationship takes time to develop and patience is your best friend. 
This new chapter about to unfold has me uncertain about my future with Refugee Resources, but to say it has been a valuable learning opportunity would be an understatement. 
Not only has it taught me how to teach, it has taught how to connect. As I mentioned, connecting is just as important as being able to give your student information. It has also taught me that patience is a virtue and that without it, you can’t be successful. And that goes for anything, not just teaching kids. I started by talking about how looking back can help you tackle your future and I believe the most important part of that sentence is the word help. Your past is not going to tell you exactly what to do in your future, but ignoring your past means you do not care about your future. 
I most certainly do care, and I have Refugee Resources to thank for playing a part in helping me shape that future.  

Written by: Brandon Hageland

Edited by: Kendra Smith