As a parent, teacher and American, I have grown increasingly concerned by the division that has weakened our nation, and the tendency towards self-concern combined with a disinclination for critical thought that marks many of our citizens. During my time at Michigan State, I have been encouraged to embrace the goal of social change by pursuing global citizenship as a goal for each and every one of my students. To this end, I have tried to design lessons that encourage empathy, critical thinking and perspective taking. While my graduate work has helped to prepare me to meet this goal in the classroom, I readily acknowledge that in order to have the greatest possible impact on the world around me, I need to go beyond the confines of my own classroom. In order to achieve this broader goal, it will be necessary to develop a particular set of skills, skills related to communication. By expanding my knowledge of foreign languages, improving my craft as a writer, and building my leadership skills, I can increase my ability to impact the world around me.
Challenging Myself to Change the World
I readily acknowledge that in order to have the greatest possible impact on the world around me, I need to go beyond the confines of my own classroom.
Not only does a knowledge of foreign languages improve one’s ability to communicate with a wider range of people, it empowers one to understand foreign publications and pronouncements without relying on a translator. I was fortunate enough to begin studying French at a very early age, allowing me to amass sixteen years of instruction in that particular language by the time I graduated from college. Because French is a Romance language, I was also able to easily take advantage of additional courses in college in order to learn Spanish and Italian. Since coming to St. Johnsbury Academy, I have pursued my goals of becoming a true polyglot by accessing the diverse international
population in the boarding program as a source for help in developing my knowledge of German and Russian. Given the current international political climate, I believe that expanding my facility with these two particular languages is a necessary goal. Recently, the Academy has acquired Mango Languages, a tool available on our library’s website that will allow one to study any of 71 different languages. With my graduate studies at Michigan State behind me, I plan to commence my study of Russian this summer. In addition to using the Mango Languages program, I hope to persuade my daughter’s gymnastics coach, who is a native Russian speaker, to help me practice my conversational Russian. I plan to expand my conversational partners among the boarding student population in the fall.
“Anyone that doesn't know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote that, “Anyone that doesn't know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” This connection between foreign language skills and facility within one’s native language is so well documented that a number of MFA writing programs involve a foreign language component. It is perhaps fitting then, that my next goal focuses on improving my writing skills through enrollment in an MFA writing program. The Vermont College of Fine Arts, located 45 minutes from my home, boasts a number of celebrated graduates, including Wally Lamb and Kekla Magoon. Slightly farther away, but
offering an even stronger program, Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English offers intense summer programming in Creative Writing. Enrolling in either of these schools will encourage me to make more time for my writing, help me develop my voice as a writer, and provide me with rich opportunities to improve my writing. In recent months, I have channeled the majority of my writing energy into the completion of essays and other written assignments for my work at Michigan State. I have, however, been able to carve out time to craft a handful of op-eds that have been published in the local paper. While this has been a good start, I hope to increase the range of my audience through publication in larger periodicals by honing my craft in a quality writing program.
Finally, I look to the opportunities within my own school to further challenge myself to meet my goal of promoting positive social change. St. Johnsbury Academy’s administration is structured in such a way that each class, freshman through senior year, has a dedicated dean who oversees programming and discipline. While these deans act under the guidance of the Assistant Head of Campus Life, they have the power to develop programming for the students under their care. This programming is often focused on building community within the class and connection to the school as a whole. However, a class dean could potentially use their position to create a program that focused on fostering the skills critical to global citizenship within the students in their assigned class. To this end, I have sought to promote global citizenship within the class for which I am an advisor; I have shared opportunities for students to engage in global citizenship with my class’s dean. For example, I encouraged our dean to have our class take the lead in promoting CNN’s Freedom Project, a day dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking. I hope to be able to take on the deanship of a class at the Academy at some point in the future. Beyond working with my class dean, I plan to build the skills necessary for such a position by attending conferences on building student leaders and promoting global citizenship.
Michigan State’s MAEd program has lit a fire in me. I feel compelled to action, called to the service of my fellow citizens. By working to develop critical communication and leadership skills over the next three to five years, I hope to increase my ability to further global citizenship on my campus and take a more active role in creating the positive social change that I believe our nation desperately needs.