Another busy October first Day!!

Thank me for my hard work to accomplish my personally assignments as well as my job duties. I stayed up all night writing up my assignments; and still afforded to go to work and assisted those poor students with their homework while translating the language at the same time. I did a little bite of teaching too. Many students think that they feel comfortable working with me since they understand me better than the native volunteers. However, I told them that they would be better off learning from the native speakers.

I was quite busy, I recall. I could not have time to grab something to eat. However, it did not bother me at all because I got used to it. I was growing up at a refugee camp where I did eat once a day.  This particular day, I worked with some students on their citizenship questions and homework. Some of the homework activities we worked on were "matching opposites" with pictures and words. We also studied "puzzle" for their homework, and it was fun and challenging.

Hard to Explain!

I look at myself as an individual who survived many horrible things in life. However, I rarely mention learning English language as one of them. I think the language difficulty occurred to me, but I pretty good dealt with it thought I began learning my alphabets at a young age. I was not that influence in English when I came to this country, but compared to my currently students, I think I was better.

Again, as I mentioned that I work with students of all different levels of ESL and it is difficult to explain certain things to them sometimes.  On September 24 and 25, not only did I translate the material to them; but also I worked with them on letters pattern as well as forming words in English. I assisted them individually. For example, I explained to them how we could sound out a name of a place or a word such as 'mother' and then try to spell it out by picking different letters.

Naturalization Applications Help!!

I  would admit that September 18, 2010 was a very busy week for me. Before I headed to my work, I was working on my long assignments, which made my whole day miserable. To top it, my whole body was down. I did not have energy to even take me to the train station, so I grabbed some motivation energy drink to move me.

I finally made it to work and started my regular activities. I ensured that my bosses see me before I start working by always saying hi to them.  When I checked in the classroom, many students were dying waiting for me to help them out with their naturalization applications. Some students wanted to be helped with their English and Math homework, and I was surprisingly stuck. I did not have a clue where to start.

However, I managed to work out my overwhelming day by starting it with homework. Some homework questions only required simple fill in the blanks and no further explanations, so they did not take us that long. I would admit that I'm not a math type person, but the math homework was a piece of cake. It only needed simple, different ways of  explaining addition.  Finally, I assisted those students who needed my full attention. I walked them through their naturalization applications, step by step until they got it.

Studying at My work?

 Many of you would think that it does not sound realistic to be studying at work because we do not usually do it. My main job duties were to translate  the language and answer the phone.  However,  on September 17, 2010, I helped the ESL students out with their homework. Some students are taking English courses from other community Centers. They bring their homework to the Center so that they can be helped out by the volunteers.

This particular day, I personally helped out the students practicing  necessary "life skill" they need. We practiced calling  for necessary  community help such as 411 and 911.  We practiced the questions that both would ask. I played the 911 and had them responded to my questions. For example, I would ask them to provide their address and to wait outside if they were reporting fire.  We also practiced many greetings such as hand shake, bowing, and hugging. We discussed what these form of greetings might mean in many different countries and their cultures.

Giving to the Community

Today, September 11, 2010,  I personally was happy to share my knowledge, citizenship skills with the non-American students. I was helping the students who are seeking to become the new United States citizens with their citizenship application questions. I guided them through the whole application process so that they will feel comfortable filing it out on own when they are ready.

I was helpful to them and they almost praised me because some of them did not even know what the "middle name" means.  I discovered that some individuals can read, but can not get what the application asks them to do. Therefore, I decided to dedicate the rest of my time helping them achieve their goals. Everyone went back home smiling. They appreciated what I did, saying they were bless to have me translating the language. They said it makes it simple and understandable for them since I speak the same language that they speak.

First day on my job

My first day on my job was exciting and confusing. I was excited to be introduced to my co-workers, although some individuals already knew me personally. However, I was very much confused because they were showing me a lot of things that I will be responsible for during internship with them. I could not catch everything at once. Things were kind of strange to me even though I personally knew the Center inside out.

However,  I managed to interact with the employees and shared my goals with them. I was able to tell them what I wanted to do to help the Center out. They were quite appreciative and they welcomed me with great join.  They showed me where I was going to be working at, and introduced me to the students as well. I started my day translating English to Sudanese local language. It went well and the students were very thrilled to have me there with them.