We recently heard an update from one of our initial teaching licensure alumni, and we thought we’d share her story. Christina Thuli was one of our outstanding ESL teacher candidates who graduated from the Second Languages and Cultures Education program in 2010. She moved to New York City to pursue her teaching career but she maintains her strong connection to our program. Read her story below.
I distinctly remember waiting for a train in India, when a boy asked if he could shine my shoes. I smiled because my shoes were filthy, but they were also cross-trainers, and I was sure his cloth would only rub around the dirt. However, he looked so eager to shine them that I couldn’t resist. “Of course,” I said, and as he began his work, a man in a well-tailored business suit slid over to sit beside me. “He would do anything to be in those shoes,” he said, “…to go all the places you’ve been.”
His comment spoke as a metaphor for the past year of my life. I had taken time off from my undergraduate degree at UW-Madison and was nearing the end of my year long trip around the world. The sudden chills that ran down my spine at his comment were all too familiar. I recalled the voices of the Nepalese children from the school in which I’d taught in Kathmandu. “Ms., will we learn English every day?” they’d ask with vehement enthusiasm, desirous to learn as much as possible. The mornings in the orphanage flashed almost simultaneously through my mind. “You’ll teach us English?” the children would ask as they gobbled dal bhat before school. As I reflected on these experiences and thought about what the man in the business suit had said, I realized that I had not only fallen in love with all of the places I’d been, but rather than quenching my traveling thirst, my journey had ignited a fervid desire to forever be a part of this cultural exchange.
Upon returning to university, I changed my major to Spanish Language and Culture, studying abroad in Chile and volunteering to teach English in a public elementary school. I then moved to New York City to teach, and soon it became clear to me. Just as in India, I realized that as much as I loved experiencing different languages and cultures, it was sharing it with others that made me the most passionate. I wanted to be a teacher.
My decision to complete the Second Languages and Cultures Program at the University of Minnesota could have not have been more fitting. The model that the university promotes–teaching students English through culturally relevant, content-based instruction–thoroughly resonated with me. The rigor and progressive educational model of this program also gave me confidence to teach English Language Learners at any level. For the past three years, I have used this model to teach ESL at a charter school in the Bronx, where I also co-advise the student council.
I have recently accepted a position as the ELL specialist at East Harlem Scholars Academy II, a founding charter school in East Harlem that focuses on ELLs. The integrity of the ELL program at its sister school–East Harlem Scholars Academy– immediately struck a chord with me. I soon learned that the ELL specialist at this school also completed the Second Languages and Cultures Program at Minnesota! I could not be more excited to begin my new work, helping to create a program from the ground up for English Language Learners, with an emphasis on family involvement and holistic education.
Thinking back to the boy who wanted to shine my shoes in India, I truly believe I’ve found my calling to help children like him “go all the places [I’ve] been.” As a teacher of languages, I am forever committed to helping create opportunities for people, such as the boy in India, who may otherwise have gone denied. In the future, I hope to travel and write children’s books, combining my love of culture, language and travel with meaningful education and engaging literacy that will push students forward and give them the opportunities they deserve.