Changing to learn, learning from change
I’m in the middle of a career change. I graduated with a BA in Political Science with a minor in Journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1998, and since then my primary occupation has been as a journalist. In 2001, the event that changed the world changed my world as well. I had been freelancing in the New York area, mostly covering international trade economics and politics. In May of that year I began teaching a couple of classes at a local language institute in the Ironbound, a predominantly Portuguese-speaking neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, where I lived at the time.
I had planned a field trip with my level II students to visit the World Trade Center and the United Nations on September 11. I thought it would be a good idea to elevate the class discussions we were having on immigration and working in the U.S. by doing a lesson on international integration and cooperation. This soon turned out to be an ironic subject as the PATH train we were on stopped just before reaching the WTC (just as the first plane hit). We were re-routed through a maze of tunnels to Sixth Avenue, a.k.a. Avenue of the Americas, and the lesson plan was changed as we unfortunately experienced the failure of world cooperation up close instead.
For the next few months I began to analyze my chosen career path. I was no longer satisfied in my journalistic writing and began to write journals reflecting on the role I was playing in the world. I began to feel the need to make a greater impact on my community at the local level, so I took a job as managing editor of three local weeklies in Newark’s urban rim. This meant a huge pay cut, but it gave me the perspective I needed to digest all my experiences up to that point and make a decision about my future. I became keenly aware of the growing division between immigrant and native-born populations, which I envisioned as a crack on the wall of American solidarity that could surely split our nation if nothing significant is done to begin repairing it.
I began to reflect on my experience years before when I had lived in Miami. In order to become fully involved in that community I taught myself Spanish while volunteering as a language tutor and while living with a group of Cuban political refugees and a variety of other recently arrived economic immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. At that time, I saw that access to education was the only thing that could help immigrants (or intra-national migrants, as I viewed myself) successfully cast off disenfranchisement and become fully involved in a “foreign” society. It was then I realized I needed to be a part of the process of building stronger local communities through education. Children of immigrants were suffering in the wake of increasingly weighted outcome based education standards and education for their parents is the only way to fill the gap for these kids.
I have since returned to South Florida, where I began working at Miami Dade College earlier this year as a lab instructor in the EAP department (English for Academic Purposes). Many of these adult learners cite the need to cooperate more fully in the education of their children as a reason for studying English, especially since work in many areas of the United States frequently does not require this skill. This fall I will also teach a vocational English conversation course in the community education department for those seeking work in English-speaking environments. I may also become more involved in academic advisement, helping immigrant students decide on career paths that require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. MDC was recently designated a four-year college after adding four bachelor’s degree programs in teacher education. It remains, however, a traditional community college in many respects. The multicultural dimension is especially significant here, as MDC serves the largest population of Latino students and the second largest population of African American students of any college in the United States. It is also well-known for its adult education programs for refugees, serving large populations of Cuban, Haitian and other Caribbean students.
My principle goal in studying in the MAED/AEDL program at University of Phoenix is to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to assist in the development of online classes for students of English as a Second Language. While MDC already utilizes online instruction for many of its classes, there are no such options for students in MDC’s language programs. Online options would especially aid student retention rates, since a majority of second language learners in the United States are working adults, many of whose frequent schedule or lifestyle changes during a semester may force them to withdraw or fail due to difficulties with attendance.
For me, changing careers doesn’t mean I won’t continue to work as a writer and a journalist. In fact, I know from experience that working with adult learners inspires me by giving me a clear glimpse into the true heart of humanity.
I had planned a field trip with my level II students to visit the World Trade Center and the United Nations on September 11. I thought it would be a good idea to elevate the class discussions we were having on immigration and working in the U.S. by doing a lesson on international integration and cooperation. This soon turned out to be an ironic subject as the PATH train we were on stopped just before reaching the WTC (just as the first plane hit). We were re-routed through a maze of tunnels to Sixth Avenue, a.k.a. Avenue of the Americas, and the lesson plan was changed as we unfortunately experienced the failure of world cooperation up close instead.
For the next few months I began to analyze my chosen career path. I was no longer satisfied in my journalistic writing and began to write journals reflecting on the role I was playing in the world. I began to feel the need to make a greater impact on my community at the local level, so I took a job as managing editor of three local weeklies in Newark’s urban rim. This meant a huge pay cut, but it gave me the perspective I needed to digest all my experiences up to that point and make a decision about my future. I became keenly aware of the growing division between immigrant and native-born populations, which I envisioned as a crack on the wall of American solidarity that could surely split our nation if nothing significant is done to begin repairing it.
I began to reflect on my experience years before when I had lived in Miami. In order to become fully involved in that community I taught myself Spanish while volunteering as a language tutor and while living with a group of Cuban political refugees and a variety of other recently arrived economic immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. At that time, I saw that access to education was the only thing that could help immigrants (or intra-national migrants, as I viewed myself) successfully cast off disenfranchisement and become fully involved in a “foreign” society. It was then I realized I needed to be a part of the process of building stronger local communities through education. Children of immigrants were suffering in the wake of increasingly weighted outcome based education standards and education for their parents is the only way to fill the gap for these kids.
I have since returned to South Florida, where I began working at Miami Dade College earlier this year as a lab instructor in the EAP department (English for Academic Purposes). Many of these adult learners cite the need to cooperate more fully in the education of their children as a reason for studying English, especially since work in many areas of the United States frequently does not require this skill. This fall I will also teach a vocational English conversation course in the community education department for those seeking work in English-speaking environments. I may also become more involved in academic advisement, helping immigrant students decide on career paths that require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. MDC was recently designated a four-year college after adding four bachelor’s degree programs in teacher education. It remains, however, a traditional community college in many respects. The multicultural dimension is especially significant here, as MDC serves the largest population of Latino students and the second largest population of African American students of any college in the United States. It is also well-known for its adult education programs for refugees, serving large populations of Cuban, Haitian and other Caribbean students.
My principle goal in studying in the MAED/AEDL program at University of Phoenix is to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to assist in the development of online classes for students of English as a Second Language. While MDC already utilizes online instruction for many of its classes, there are no such options for students in MDC’s language programs. Online options would especially aid student retention rates, since a majority of second language learners in the United States are working adults, many of whose frequent schedule or lifestyle changes during a semester may force them to withdraw or fail due to difficulties with attendance.
For me, changing careers doesn’t mean I won’t continue to work as a writer and a journalist. In fact, I know from experience that working with adult learners inspires me by giving me a clear glimpse into the true heart of humanity.
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