Introduction to My Unique Educational Journey
My name is Rose Wang. I was born on January the 28th in Beijing, China. I am a Chinese girl who never received the “normal” type of education in China. Growing up, I never attended a traditional Chinese school, took the Chinese elementary school and middle school entrance exams, or wore those baggy traditional Chinese school uniforms. From the first grade to the third grade, I attended Morning Stars International School. From the fourth grade to the sixth grade, I attended a homeschool called A+ Learning Center. For middle school, I went to another homeschool called Rising Eagles Middle School. My community in Beijing is very small, peaceful, cohesive, and supportive, and the schools I attended were very similar to it. Almost everybody knew each other, and they would greet each other when they met. Growing up, my parents have always had this positive attitude towards my education, and they were very confident in my academic success when they placed me in the homeschools. Most of my teachers were very encouraging and patient with me, and most of my classmates were friendly and fun to spend time with. Most of the elementary and middle schools that I attended had only ten to twenty students, therefore, I could always get the help that I needed, become close friends with my peers, and feel protected and taken care of. We took classes based on our grade levels, and we followed American private school curriculums, such as Saxon Math and Shurley English.
Transition to American High School: A New Cultural and Educational Environment
When I was fourteen years old, I came to the United States for high school. Back when I was in Dallas, Texas, for high school, I lived in a friendly, conservative, and Christian community where 90% of the population was white. My high school, Prestonwood Christian Academy, was also very conservative, Christian, white, and friendly. Most students who went to my elementary schools and middle school were Chinese, Christian, diligent, and heterosexual. Most of them were girls who came from middle-class families. Most students who went to my high school were Christian, mostly hardworking, and heterosexual as well. 50% of the students were boys and the other 50% of the students were girls, and most of them were from middle-class families. The main difference would be there were more white students than Chinese students in my high school. Based on my observations, most of the classes that were related to science, technology, and math were taught by male teachers. On the other hand, most of the literature, art, and music classes were taught by female teachers. 98% of the school administrators in my elementary schools and middle school were Chinese, Christian, heterosexual, and middle-class women. 95% of the school administrators in my high school were white, heterosexual, and middle-class women, while the remaining 5% were white, heterosexual, and middle-class men.
Influential Educators: Mrs. Tian and Ms. XiaoMing
Growing up, I have had a lot of positive teacher role models and a few negative teacher role models in elementary and secondary schools. I was lucky enough to meet more good ones than bad ones. When I was in elementary school and middle school, my life was completely changed by two incredible ladies—Mrs. Tian and Ms. XiaoMing. Mrs. Tian was the principal of A+ Learning Center and she was a brilliant and unique educator. Instead of making us take the XiaoShengChu (the Chinese elementary school entrance exam), she made us attend the Model United Nations and solve world issues. Instead of letting us sit in the classroom all day long, she took us into the mountains and groves to study nature. When children at other schools were taking ZhongKao (the middle school entrance exam) prep classes, we traveled with her to Guizhou, Thailand and the United States to learn about the world and build lifelong friendships. Instead of coercing her students to write tedious long essays about their lives, she taught us to keep a journal. We were not trained to be test takers but world changers. Every time I saw her, she encouraged me to be the best me possible.
During my middle school years, I was fortunate to meet Ms. XiaoMing, my Chinese literature teacher. Not only was she a wonderful teacher, she was also someone I could look up to as a role model. In the classroom, she always tried to make learning Chinese fun for us. Every week, she would let us write about our weekends and we were allowed to write about anything. It was always the highlight of my week because I was an introverted student who never had the courage to verbally share my life events with anyone, not even with my own parents sometimes. Writing things down was my only way to express my emotions, feelings, and thoughts about everything. On Fridays, Ms. XiaoMing would pick some of the most interesting journals from my class and read them out loud. It gave me something to look forward to every single week because I always wanted her to read mine to the entire class. Gladly, she did. Some of my writings made her laugh and some of them made her cry. Through seeing all of the emotions she exhibited, I felt how much she appreciated my life and me as an individual, and it meant the world to me. She could see the light in me, and she encouraged me to show off my uniqueness to the people around me. Gradually, I gained the courage to write more and more. At the end of my middle school career, not only did I become a better writer, I was even able to talk to people about my life and my feelings.
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Ms. XiaoMing was also a devoted Christian lady and she would often share her testimony with us. I still remember a powerful story she told about how her brother converted to Christianity. Her brother suffered from Stage IV cancer and lost the ability to function properly. Ms. XiaoMing took care of him the entire time he was in the hospital. When he was on the verge of death, Ms. XiaoMing asked him if he was willing to give up his life to Jesus Christ, he nodded and took his last breath. The story impacted my spiritual life so much that I still remember it up till this day. It constantly reminds me to care for the unbelievers in my life and hold on to Christianity, no matter how difficult life gets. After I entered high school, I realized how lucky I was to able to grow up under the influence of wonderful teachers like Mrs. Tian and Ms. XiaoMing.
A Painful Lesson: Experiencing Racism and Disrespect in High School
One incident that happened during my junior year turned my world upside down. Apologetics was one of the courses that I was required to take in order to graduate from Prestonwood Christian Academy, and Mr. Lee was the instructor of the course. I went to Apologetics one day and sat down at the spot where I would usually sit. Mr. Lee looked at me and said, “Rose, I have heard from some of your classmates that you raise your hand very oddly.” I was confused because I raised my hand just like any other normal student would raise his or her hand. Then, all of the sudden, totally out of my expectation, Mr. Lee pointed his middle finger at me and asked, “is this bad in your culture?” in a mocking way. I froze and was lost for words. Immediately after, he asked another question, “is pointing your pinky finger at someone bad in your culture?” I said yes and then he pointed his ring finger at me and said, “oh! Just so you know…the ring finger is also called ‘the dove,’ and it just cancelled out the middle finger that I pointed at you.” Before I could respond to what he just did to me, everyone around me started to laugh. Not a single person said it was wrong. Not a single person stood up for me. I was humiliated by my teacher and the twenty peers sitting with me in the classroom. Not only did Mr. Lee disrespect me as an individual, he also disrespected my culture. I was upset and absolutely devastated, but I could not do or say anything at that moment, because it felt like twenty-one against one. The amount of racism and disrespect that I received completely shattered my confidence, and I do not think I will ever be able to forget what happened to me on that day.
Embracing the Role of Educator: From Neighborhood Classes to Teaching Abroad
However, this incident has made me realize the importance of being a positive teacher role model. Now, let us rewind back to my middle school years. When I was fourteen, I decided to make a change. I invited many children in my neighborhood to come to my house and get a taste of the “experiential education.” I aspired to change my students’ lives just like Mrs. Tian and Ms. XiaoMing changed mine, by instilling this passion for learning in me. Even though, later on in high school, I won several academic awards, they did not really matter to me as a learner because of this passion. I played the guitar for them, read picture books to them, sang English songs for them, made them draw out the meanings of the English vocabulary words, taught them how to make English picture books, took them on nature walks, and encouraged them to ask questions and do their best. By the winter of 2017, I had already taught more than thirty classes, and every single one of them had a different topic. Many parents told me that their children had changed tremendously. They had been transformed into “learning maniacs” from “learning abominators,” and they had become so much braver when it came to asking questions. They also told me their children would run to my house every time we had class, and they could not keep up with them! My students and my students’ parents encouraged me to keep teaching.
When I was in high school, I got the opportunity to teach at an orphanage in Mexico on a Minimester school trip. A Minimester was a week-long spring break experience that my school would offer every single year. Students from every grade level was given the chance to be a part of it. During my trip to Mexico, I got to meet and serve some of the strongest, sweetest, and godliest children. Life was so cruel to them, but they had so much power and joy in their hearts. During my senior year, I started tutoring and giving Chinese lessons in the United States. I taught three American elementary schoolers Chinese calligraphy, Chinese culture, and Chinese conversations. However, my early experiences in China are at the heart of my desire to teach today.
Conclusion: My Aspirations and Goals as a Future Educator
My early experiences have influenced me to consider becoming a teacher. I am choosing teaching as a career because my life was changed for the better by the great teachers that I have had. Also, I have been effectively teaching for the past four years. Therefore, I hope to change more children’s lives through education. I have learned that a good teacher inspires and builds you up, while a bad teacher destroys you and brings you down. As a teacher, my top priorities are to inspire my students to give their personal best every day, enhance multiculturalism in the classroom, and integrate experiential education in the classroom. My three goals as a teacher are to help my students find their passions, nurture my students’ love of learning, and reflect on and improve my teaching. All in all, education and teaching have made a huge impact on my life. I am forever thankful for my elementary schools, middle school, high school, parents, and all of the wonderful teachers who have inspired me and helped me grow. I will strive to become an outstanding teacher, and I look forward to sharing my passion of learning with my future students!
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