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Venturing once again to the land that I had left behind at the age of five, I returned to China armed with a suitcase stuffed full of the essentials: bug repellent, sunscreen, and the English language.
For three weeks, in a sweltering 102-degree summer heat that permeated mercilessly through a classroom without air conditioning, 58 pairs of eyes fixed upon this girl from America who had offered to teach them English. I certainly never possessed an aura of authority or the resolute rigidity of the other teachers. Therefore, I expected class to be somewhat of a disorganized circus where monkeys take control and kidnap the ringmaster. Much to my surprise, though I spoke softly and never carried a big stick, those kids were still focused entirely on the task at hand. Naturally, having been on my last throes of sanity from preparing and reviewing the curriculum for days to come, I was a bit disoriented by this unexpected occurrence. When I divulged to my dad the inner happenings of the school, I was surprised that he didn't find the events strange at all. I listened with growing astonishment when he informed me that school was neither required nor free. Thus, not only did these young kids must first possess the will to learn but also pay great sums of money in the process. "Very little of your students," said Dad, "are going without some financial burden on their shoulders."
Thinking of my students, I began to realize the painful truth behind Dad's words. After all, I had seen some kids in my class look wistfully on as their friends handed over fistfuls of bills to the street vendors, leave extra bites of mass-cooked lunch in the containers they brought from home, or do their homework by a bare bulb within the crowded confines of their parents' newspaper stand. Though none of them had ever traveled beyond China, every child articulated in their actions the hope of using English to help him get somewhere, anywhere.
Now more aware of their trying lives, I felt terribly guilty. For every halfhearted homework attempt of mine, they diligently completed assignments with twice the effort. For each time I shied away from speaking in French class, they couldn't wait to stand up amongst their peers to sing English songs or answer a question. For every moment I dismissed the day-to-day trials of my teachers, they expressed more than once each day their utmost gratitude for my efforts.
Humbled by the example they set, I vowed to meet the bar they had raised. This time, I journeyed back to America carrying more than just travel accessories. Turns out, my students were the ones doing the actual teaching: I was only here to learn.
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