4 4 T H E T U S C A R O R A R E V I E W 2 0 2 2 the students as being different, being sort of their own population unto themselves which of course in some ways they are. For me personally one of the most valuable influences over the length of my career is that I live in this community. When I was a teacher, they were my students, but the students are my neighbors, my fellow parents—their kids go to school with my kids: they’re my peers. I think if we think about the students as our fellow community members, and we don’t think about them as the ‘English students’ with this label or a certain connotation, it changes how we look at them and interact with them. For me personally that’s been really valuable.” When I asked Michelle what the FCC or Frederick community could do to support the students or staff members in the ESOL program, her answer was the last thing I expected. At first, her answer was a light hearted “Hire them, give them jobs!” However, when she began to elaborate, I had to pause to collect myself. “See them,” she said. “I think a lot of times our students feel invisible out in the community and that hurts them. I’ve definitely had that experience where students are shocked when I know their name.” She smiled sadly at me, adding “I see the pain in your eyes. That’s the pain in my eyes.” “They’re like, ‘Oh, you know my name!’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, I know your name!’ That one takes my breath away when students are just so thrilled. You know they are a little bit invisible, a little bit anonymous, and if we treat students like individuals and see their personality, their background, their credentials, it changes the experience of FCC for them.” My final question to Michelle was a standard, open ended “is there anything else you would like to see reflected in this interview?” Her answer will forever stick with me as one of the most respectable, kind views humans can have towards one another. It has also become my definition as to why it is so important to tell everyone’s story. “I thought a lot about whether or not I should tell you a specific story,” Michelle began. “But it’s not my story to tell. There are lots of really touching stories and really sensational stories but they’re not my stories to tell. I don’t want to tell the extreme story because what’s really important is the day-to-day, head down, working hard, just going about their business. It’s them getting up in the morning and going to work just like I do. That’s what’s important about these students. They live and work alongside us, and we want to just see that as our neighbors I think is the most important thing.” She paused for a long moment before smiling warmly at me, no doubt with her students on her mind: “Everybody is amazing, right?”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQxMTc1