After coming to the United States, I was often struck by the sense of lag. Back in China, I am an excellent student who is favorited by teachers. But since I came to the United States, I often feel tired because I can’t understand what the teacher says in class and I don’t know how to do my homework. I shut myself in my room and silently cry. One day after school, I could not help crying to my mother: “I feel so tired, I want to go back to China. I don’t have any friends here and I can’t understand what the teachers are saying. “My mother wiped my tears and then put on my coat and bring me downstairs to CLC (Chinese Learning Center).
I was greeted by a girl who kindly handed me tissues and hot water. While waiting for mom to talk to the supervisor, the girl spoke up: “Are you ok? Let me know if you need any help. “I looked embarrassed. Shouldn’t I be crying? My mouth opened and closed, I wanted to talk to her, but I didn’t know how to respond to her, after all, my English was really limited. She seemed to see what I was thinking, gave me a gentle smile, and told my mother that she would help me with my homework every weekend, and that I could ask her if there was anything I didn’t understand in class.
After that, I went to CLC every weekend, and she always arrived earlier than me. From the beginning, she waited for me at the door, and later I became extrovert, I would take the initiative to say hello to her first. I know she can speak Chinese, although she is not fluent, but she can, but from the beginning of our acquaintance she will never speak Chinese with me, most of the conversation is in English. Later, I realized that it was because I wanted to better fit into the environment. Since we were friends, I would not be timid and would not worry about my pronunciation and grammar mistakes. Every time she sees me, she asks, “How is your week? Did you understand what the teacher said in class? What homework are you struggling? How was your exam? “ I could only answer with YES and NO in the first two few weeks, but later I would share a lot with her about what happened in school. Even I didn’t realize that I was able to communicate with her without barriers, and I became a lot more cheerful and gradually saw myself who I thought was excellent before. She taught me a lot of things. Without her, I would still be a timid person, afraid of making mistakes and afraid to express myself. So she’s worthy my Literacy Sponsor.
Nana, this is such a touching and well-described relationship– excellent work.
It’s really heartwarming to see your growth over the years, from a timid girl who’s frustrated at your lack of English knowledge to a stronger, more confident version of yourself. Not only is your literacy sponsor your teacher, but also a friend who has welcomed you, and been there beside you when you needed help.