This past week, I was able to get the chance to read Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, which was an interesting read on the life of a boy from Africa who comes from a refugee camp and is resettled into Minnesota. This book was suggested to me by my professor, after my previous blog post of talking to a student about seeing snow for the first time, as that is an experience that is common to refugees, and is the opening scene in this particular novel.
I greatly enjoyed the novel, and I do not want to go into too much detail about it, as the book lover in me would prefer that people read it unspoiled and get to experience everything the way that I did. With that being said, I highly recommend reading Home of the Brave, regardless of whether one will be doing work with refugees, as it is a short enough read with a large enough impact for everyone to be able to get something out of it. I know it greatly impacted myself, having been working with many refugee students over the past year, as it opened my eyes to their struggles in a way.
I guess I've always known that to be a refugee, one has to have had a bad living situation to come from. But I never really thought about the details, why they ended up leaving, what it was like where they came from, who they left behind, who they may or may not be coming to be with, what it's like adjusting to an alien environment, and more. This novel caused me to think more in depth about those situations. I know I will never know the exact situation for all of the students that I am coming into contact with, but it helps me to remember that there is a great deal I do not know. There are things I need to be sensitive about, and things I need to understand, because I will never be able to say that I can relate, as growing up in the suburbs of Massachusetts, I really do not know what it's like to live in poverty, or to have to deal with an evil government, or to leave family behind, perhaps indefinitely. I cannot ever truly relate, but I can grasp the concept. Many times, students need someone to be able to understand where they are coming from. I'm not saying this novel changed my life, and taught me everything about the issues of being a refugee, but it's a start, and everyone has to start somewhere.
Your observation: "students need someone to be able to understand where they are coming from. I'm not saying this novel changed my life, and taught me everything about the issues of being a refugee, but it's a start, and everyone has to start somewhere" - is very insightful in that it demonstrates tan important disposition in teaching - empathy which is why you have the potential to be a strong teacher in a setting that allows for students to follow their interests. In community colleges, many instructors teach in a workshop setting, helping diverse groups of students develop the skills they need to be successful.
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