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No Vulnerability, No Learning

So when I grew up in India, I experienced a very different schooling system. The teachers I had thought that if they could shame me enough, I would learn. But the more they shamed me, the more I hated them, and the more I hated them the more I did not do the work they assigned me. This gave me a never-ending cycle of embarrassment. Every day I would come into class--without having my homework done, and without an excuse as to why--and the teachers would ask me to stand in front of the class so that they could show the other students what a lazy person looks like. Me! Hello! But that didn't mean I did their work, in fact after every incident like that I would hate them more. My parents got notes home saying "Your child is not paying attention in class" or "Why does Mudita never do her homework?" But my parents didn't care. My mom would come down to talk with my teachers, and when they would tell her how horrible I am as a student--she would point out how horrible they are as a teacher! God, I love my mom!

When I moved to America (Wyoming), I finally saw a teacher who actually cared about me. I was in 6th grade, and my teacher Mrs. Anderson was the nicest person I had ever met! I didn't know any English so she was very patient with me. Her and Mrs. Cobb taught me and my sister English together. They even noticed that we didn't have good winter coats, and brought us one so we won't be cold during recess! They really cared about me, and whenever I messed up they didn't embarrass me for it. I still keep in touch with Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Cobb. They find it hilarious and inspiring that I am an English major, studying to be a teacher. In a way, Mrs. Anderson was the one who inspired me to go into this field.

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