Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet another one of my readers of this blog, but they were unique. I went out for lunch with Denis and Moira Wilson, who are the parents of Cecil whom I know through emails only. It was the first time I met someone who only knew of my blog through someone else. But they were a nice couple (I met with them briefly on my birthday). Just as a reminder, the Wilson's hail from Clarksville, TN and it was good to talk to someone folks from my homestate. After I got done with my last class, I met with them and noticed that Moira was wearing a UT Martin shirt – her son, Nate, goes to school there. Amazingly enough, I have a friend who also goes to UT Martin and they are both doing the same degree program (something dealing with Health). So we got in the car and headed out for lunch and then something truly amazing happened – they asked if I had to do any shopping. I did have to pick up a few items from the store, but this would be the first time since I got to Samoa that I was able to drive from my home to the grocery store without having to wait 30 minutes for a bus and then take another 25 minute ride into town…I felt like I was back home! In and out with no fuss…never thought I would experience that here. So that was the first highlight of my afternoon with them (they also had to do some shopping so it wasn't just me shopping alone). Funny thing, I'm so use to go into the grocery store with my bookbag (it's the only way to store and carry food for us Peace Corps) that I got out of the car with it and took it inside like I normally would – except, when I got out of the store I was going back into a car instead of a bus. Old habits die hard sometimes. After the little bit of shopping, we went to Mari's Bakery (not named after the Group 75 volunteer – as far as I know) and had a good lunch. Denis is here doing a bit of ministry computer training work and it was interesting talking to him about the different approaches he has learned in trying to teach Samoans – he and Moira have been coming here for the past 4 years. It was fun to just compare notes on teaching styles and get an outsiders perspective on how things are going in Samoa – even though there are things that still frustrate me, you tend to get use to it after a while. I can save the world but I can't change a culture. We talked for about a good hour or so, finally seeing what Cecil looks like and finding out how things are going back home. They leave for the states on Monday, so hopefully they'll make a trip back up to the school so that we can take a picture together and you can see what they look like.
After that great experience on Wednesday, I got a bit of bad news on Thursday. One of my best students, Wakka Leatigaga, is going to be leaving the school on Monday to go back to the states. He's in my Year 12 (think Sophomore/Junior) computer class and is definitely a bright kid. Let me tell you what my first experience with Wakka was – kinda funny. He started coming to my class in March of this year and he has a pretty bouncy, happy go lucky persona. Of course, I'm in my cranky 'have to instill discipline' mood and this guy just walks up to me and says 'Wassup man'. I was like 'Who is this kid?' thinking he was going to be kind of brash and out of control a bit. So I was kind of suspicious of him for a few weeks but over a short period of time he proved to be a really stand up guy and was helpful in controlling the class rather then causing trouble in it. Wakka partially grew up in the US school system, so he's pretty good with computers – so there were a lot of times where I would be helping some students and he would get done much quicker than the other students. After a few times of this happening, whenever he got done with his work before other students I would tell him to go help them – because I've found out that students are more receptive to help from other students. And he really enjoyed the chance to help other students in the class (even though he got kind of embarrassed by it sometimes). He's the only guy in this particular Year 12 class and he's brought a lot of laughter and enjoyment to it – and has never been a problem. In fact, I can honestly say I was really looking forward to teaching him in my last year (which would have been Year 13 for him) but I also realize that he's going into a better educational system and in the long run it's better for him. I never thought I would have to say goodbye to one of my students this soon – especially a good one – but I guess life/circumstances pull us in different directions.
Also, don't just think that Wakka only impressed me. The students in his particular class asked me to take a class photo of them all with Wakka and they're going to throw him a going away party on Friday. I was quite impressed by the impression and affect he's had on a lot of people in a short amount of time – I told him 'Never underestimate the amount of people you can touch' and he's touched quite a few here. So he'll be missed – who knows, maybe when I get back to the states I'll check up on him and see how things are going. Being a teacher – sometimes its hard to teach them and sometimes it's hard to let go, arrrgghhh….It's a profession where you care too much!
No comments:
Post a Comment