Amy Adoyzie

Teaching is saving me.
Let’s be clear, I’ve made so secret of the how much I detest the researching, creating and planning of lessons. But the moment all my students are in their seats and class begins, I know that I belong there. That it is worth it and they’re the reason.

In high school, my English teachers had us keep reading journals whereby we were supposed to connect with the literature by asking questions or making connections directly with the text. I BS’d my way through most entries, skipping pages and skimming passages for something that I could remotely relate to or ask an inane question about. Just because it didn’t work so well for my over-stimulated, spoiled American butt doesn’t mean it won’t for students who have never been exposed to such a learning technique before.
Connecting and questioning literature? Their brows furrowed when I introduced the concept. You mean, you don’t want us to just read the stuff and then memorize it and spit it back out at you? You want me to, like, understand and comprehend the stuff I read? Really?
Really.
For the most part, it’s working. They’re asking insightful questions about character motives in novels, governmental policies from newspaper articles and American idioms like “drown my sorrows in …” They’re making connections to Diary of Anne Frank and a Reader’s Digest story by Gloria Estefan. For many of them, this is their first experience in engaging with literature. Like Singa, a boisterous young woman from Sri Lanka who has this amazing booming voice and is always asking great questions in class.
Some of her recent entries made so glad that I returned to teaching.
She’s reading something called “Home Town.”

Text: “But when he climbed into bed that night, all he could think about was home. This was the first time in his life, he’d gone to bed without saying goodnight to his mother.” (Page 9)

Singa’s connection response: This situation is sooooo…. close to my life. When I came to [Chittagong] first time, I didn’t sleep for days. This is the first time in my life, I leave my parents for such a long time. It is very hard to live without them. I’m so close to my family. Every night I’m crying I don’t want to show others my inner life, because if I cry in front of friends, they will think me as a weak person. It’s more hard to hide that feeling from others. I hear their smile, their conversations. I want to see their faces but I have to wait a long time. Every night I used to make a wish, “Time, please run fast.”
Miss Amy, thank you for your reading journel. You give me a best friend to share my sorrows and feelings.

Text: “‘Your youngest is gone.’ She didn’t take the bait. ‘Yes, yes,’ she said wearily.” (Page 9)

Singa’s connection response: I also phone my mother once a week. I know sometimes, my mother cries, but she doesn’t want to show me that. I’m the youngest of my family and after I came to this place, my mother and father are living alone, because my sister and brother married and they have their own families. I use to talk that I feel lonely without them, but my mother always tries to jump over from that because she doesn’t want to share her lonelyness. She thinks that if she shows it to me, I will be upset. But, mother, I’m your daughter. I know everything about you. You know everything about me. Our relationship is so deep.

From: Zakin (Whose grandmother gave her some ancient advice)
To: amy.l@auw.edu.bd

hello,mam.hope you are well.i am sorry because i told that you give so much homeworks.that day we had lots of homeworks in all the subjects.i was so tired and i said so without thinking.

the truth is i enjoy doing your reading journals and poems so much.i wait for your journal homeworks eagerly because you write gooood comments on my jornal and i love to read them.

please forgive me if i hurt you.

i love you and your interesting homeworks so much.bye,mam.

Prompt: Write about advice you have received before coming to the Access Academy.

When I was selected for the Access Academy, all my family members, all my relatives, became very happy. Many people gave various advices. My mother, my father, my brother, my aunts gave many precious advice.
Among the advices, the most precious advice that I received was given by my grandmother. Though she is an old lady with ancient thoughts, she said to me, “Everybody will tell you to get married. But never listen to them. First, you have to achieve your higher education. You have to be a successful woman first and then you can think about marriage. Don’t do the mistake which I did in my life by not receiving higher education. I want to see you highly educated.”
I will never forget this precious advice. I will follow the advice with all my efforts.

Zakin