Educate Yourself

When I get home from work, I unwind with a shower, and then watch a movie or read a book. It's me time and I get to decompress from the day, so I usually watch a romantic comedy or an action movie- something that I don't have to concentrate on. Last week, I strayed from the norm on the recommendation of a friend and watched “Waiting for Superman”, a documentary on the public school system in the United States. I was captivated by the stories and found myself crossing my fingers and hoping for the best outcomes. At the same time, I couldn't help but think about the education system here in Senegal and my own schooling.

            

I have been blessed in my schooling with amazing teachers and awesome opportunities. I lucked out. I've always had a passion for learning and was that weird kid who loved going to school (although I didn't finish pre-school...). I had a tough start to school due to the fact that I missed the first week of kindergarten with chicken pox and didn't speak much English. Thanks to the dedication of a patient teacher and additional help at home from my mom and sisters, I quickly caught up and was chattering away in English before long. My education past is a jumble of public and private schools and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's the breakdown: K-2 private Lutheran school, 3-5 public elementary school, 6-8 public middle school, 9-12 private Jesuit high school. Besides kindergarten, I attended school within a 6 block radius from my house my entire life (and we never moved), but I had incredible experiences that made sure I went beyond my neighborhood bubble.

To this day, I remember so many great ideas my teachers had to encourage learning. They had great strategies including rewarding us with stickers or redeemable tickets (for computer time, free pass on homework, etc), creating games (such as current event Fridays), cooking demonstrations (making Indian fry bread when we were studying Native Americans), and creative projects that made homework fun! In addition to creating a productive learning environment, my teachers taught me a lot about life and how I am in control of my own fate. In eighth grade, my social studies teacher was talking to us about high school and what our options were. My choices were the high performing public school, the local public school, a charter school, and private schools. Due to the tuition costs of the private schools, I had resigned myself to the public school, until my teacher told me about a scholarship program (for high school!). I applied to both the scholarship program and the school and were accepted to both. Thanks to the scholarship and help from my sister, I was able to attend the school that I wanted to. Side note... San Francisco public schools are fantastic, but I didn't want to get lost in the system. Class sizes were on the rise at that point, and I figured that I would benefit from a smaller class size and more focused attention.

The documentary opened my eyes to the problems in American school systems. The statistics that they presented were shocking and I didn't realize the extent of the problem. I'm in the middle ground of keeping myself in the loop of the education system. I care deeply about the state of schools, but being out of school and not looking for schools for my future kids (far off in the future), I've definitely slacked in keeping up to date. In addition, I work peripherally with school systems here and see all the problems that plague the system. Here is a system where teachers and/or students are on strike several times a year and where children have forged birth certificates in order to keep attending school. I wish I had a solution to all these problems, but I don't. One thing that I am involved in is the MSS program (see blog: Girls Rule! For more information). If you would like to help send nine girls to school next year, you can donate to the Senegal Country Fund and mark your donations for “MSS- PCV Wilma Mui”. It's a small effort, but it can go a long way.

                            

Living in Africa, I often hear “you're doing such an amazing thing and you're doing so much good work.” I am thankful for all the support that I receive, but I think that we need to show the same amount of awe and support for teachers, Teach for America volunteers, Americorps volunteers, and anyone else working on the ground level in America. In many ways, their job is a million times more difficult than mine. I'm proud of my friends who chose to work in schools and help shape the nation's future. Last, but not least, I would like to thank ALL my teachers for everything you've taught me and what you've done to shape me into the person I am.

Peace & Learning!