Self And Communtiy Week 3

I will admit to having been slightly reluctant to go for my third meeting with my partner because it was on a Friday after an extremely stressful week of tests. In, fact I had taken one on Friday morning and I found it near impossible to concentrate during my remaining classes that day. However, when I met Mr. Ramirez and I sensed his enthusiasm, I found that my fatigue from the week vanished in an instant. I guess, an vocation in teaching my not be entirely out of the question (though it is still unlikely), since I could find such elation in sharing my knowledge. 

For about half of the period we went through and essay he wrote about his stay so far in the U.S., identifying grammatical and spelling errors. I was impressed by how well his essay was organized and how he always made an effort to express an idea without the fear of mistakes. I made it a point to encourage him in this regard, because as we learned over the past week, such "courage" is essential when learning a language. I was also happy he has been getting help from his daughters because that ensures that he doesn't speak English only during our meetings. 

We spent the remaining time looking over some of the material he had received earlier that week from his other partner. 

The next time I checked the time, fifty-five minute had passed. I was genuinely shocked. We ended the meeting and wished each other well till the next meeting.

Self And Community Week 2

My second meeting with my partner went just as well as the first. We met in the library this time. I showed him basic email operations here. However, the library closed about twenty minutes later so we had to relocate to the Smith building.

For the rest of the period, we studied verbs, which he mentioned are of prime concern to him. I printed out a nineteen-page list of english verbs. We went through these verbs one-by-one, until the end of the period. We decided that we would continue in subsequent meeting periods.

This meeting was a fiarly ordinary meeting but I feel that in addition to the progress we are making with his English, we are getting to know each other better.

Self And Commmunity Week 1

My first meeting with my partner self and comuunity project partner was in many ways successful. As I walked towards our agreed meeting point, I braced myself for all possibilities. I wasn't sure whether he would be snobbish or jovial, willing to admit his specific difficulties or defensive in this regard, etc. However, when I met Mr. Ramirez half of my worries immediately dissipated because by from one look at him I could tell it would be easy to work with him.

After brief introductions, we sat at a table to converse further. I really appreciated the fact that Mr. Ramirez was quick to tell me what he wanted help with. This helped eliminate the need for me to dig in and identify his problems. He first asked for help with English verbs. He said he knew a good number of verbs, but had difficulty applying them in sentences. I promised to return next week with a comprehensive list of verbs and to compile a set of general rules that would assist him in buiilding sentences.

For the next twenty minutes or so, we went through the papers and he pointed out words that he had difficulty with. To my relief (and astonishment) I was able to provide a simple synonym or phrase to descibe all the words he asked about. I found additional satisfaction in how much he appreciated my assistance.

For the last part of our meeting we discussed many different topics. I found out a number of things about him, his family and his aspirations in this period. I was also particularly pleased that he shares some of my passion for soccer. At the end of the meeting, we agreed on our next meeting point and bade farewell.

My first meeting presented me with the opportunity to pursue conversation with a new kind of person. I felt a strong sense of inner satisfaction and fulfilment as I walked to my apartment after the meeting. In such a short period, I was able to reach into the mind of my partner, at least to a certain depth, and learn a few things about him. I was also lucky enough to learn a few things about myself along the way, like how many words I actually do know. I see great outcomes from this project.

My Street

MY STREET
The choice of this heading would appear somewhat ironic considering that I actually did not grow up on your regular day-to-day American street. Rather, I spent the earlier years of my childhood in an illustrious neighborhood in suburban Ibadan, a quiet city in the tropical African country, Nigeria. Though most of the years I spent in this neighborhood constitute a less conscious portion of my childhood, mixed emotions fill me as I cast my mind back to the environment to which I owe a large part of my early foundation.
As aforementioned, my neighborhood was laid out I an uncommon fashion. My house was in the midst of a block of houses which were not separated by road networks. Rather, adjacent houses shared fences with one another. This expectedly led to occasional quarrels between neighbors. On opposite sides of the block were two roads. One of them was a small, rough road leading to a famous food market in the city. This road was commonly described as “stubborn” because it appeared never to heed to any form of repair. It portrayed seasonality in its annual life-cycle. In dry season, the road showed discontentment with the scorching heat of sun by opening up into cracks. During the rains, the cracks expanded gradually from bigger cracks into deep potholes. In the following dry season, the road would get patched up with full knowledge of the fact that this activity would be repeated the following year. This paved the way for the beginning of another year’s cycle. The other road was a more commercial road which led out of the neighborhood. This road used to be under the watch of a group of policemen at night, but it was widely rumored that these men were a part of a notorious criminal outfit.
I consider myself privileged to have lived next door to my grandparents. As was the case, my house was built by my late grandfather along with his house some five years before I was born. I remember certain occasions during riots and public demonstrations when I would watch amusedly, from the vantage point of my grandfather’s tower, as the police fired tear gas at the rioters. I also readily remember how my grandfather would make me shell corn as punishment for playing unattended in his garden. These are a few snapshots from the time I spent with my grandparents. A favorite pastime worth mentioning, of course, would be playing soccer with my neighbors. Soccer always served as a means through which we could all set aside our differences and leave it all to the game. No matter how many different disagreements had arisen for all reasons ranging from an overgrowing hedge on the fence to late night festivities, everyone was always willing to “shut it up and play ball” or cheer heartily on the side.
I would eventually get shipped off to boarding school in the capital city, Abuja, for the better part of my conscious childhood and adolescence. However, my mind still occasional flashes back to certain events that took place in my neighborhood. It will always hold a fond place in my memory.