To my amazing family who supported me along my journey and helped me deeply reflect on my experiences to create this story.
To Dr. Shenton who gave me the opportunity of doing something I never thought I would and made me get out of my comfort zone by writing a reflection on my experience as a way to help children who might feel the same way about their cultures.
Today is the first day of classes in Sunlight School. Everyone is probably excited to meet their new friends!
Aleena is going to start the 4th grade. She is excited about starting classes again, but she is also having a crazy feeling in her tummy.
Aleena and her family are muslims, and she loves to say that so she can present more about this part of her to others
But she is concerned about what her friends will think of her by choosing to not wear a hijab like her mom and other muslim women.
Mike is going to start the 4th grade as well. He can’t wait to meet his new classmates. But he is having some negative thoughts.
Mike is feeling insecure about being the only black boy in the classroom and being excluded because of that.
Manuela is going to start the 4th grade too. This is the first time she will be attending a school that is not in her country, Colombia.
Manuela is feeling insecure because she is not sure if her teacher and classmates will understand her accent, and mock it.
Noah is going to be a 4th grader as well. He is happy about returning to school because it’s where he can meet new people, and he loves doing that.
But Noah is a little afraid that his classmates would think of him or his parents as savage when he says that he comes from a family of native Americans.
They are all feeling in the same way. They are worried about showing some part of them and their culture that can be considered different.
Going to the first day of 4th grade and
being themselves in the classroom.
Now, they have to face the same challenge:
Welcome everyone! Come in and take a seat so we can start getting to know each other a little better.
When they arrive at the classroom, Aleena, Mike, Manuela, and Noah shift their worried and pensive expressions to widened eyes and smiles from ear to ear. They were not expecting to have classmates that are so different from each other. They seem to like that!
Now I will ask everyone to introduce themselves and tell your classmates something you think they should know about you.
The kids get hesitant for a few seconds because they remember how they might be judged by their colleagues, but then...
My name is Aleena, I’m 8 years old, and what I would like you to know is that I’m a muslim girl who doesn’t wear a hijab. That can change in the future, but for now I chose not to wear it and I’m happy with it.
Aleena reminds herself of how proud she is of each part of her and her culture, and starts her introduction.
Thank you, Aleena!
My name is Mike, I’m 9 years old, and what I would like you to know is that I’m an African-American boy. My grandparents are from Kenya, and I’m very proud of having Kenyan roots.
Inspired by Aleena, Mike goes next.
Thank you, Mike!
My name is Noah, I’m 8 years old, and what I would like you to know is that I come from a family of native Americans.
Thank you, Noah!
Thank you, Manuela!
My name is Manuela, I’m 9 years old, and what I would like you to know is that I’m Colombian. This is the first time I go to a school outside of Colombia and I’m still adapting to this new language and culture.
Thank you, everyone! Now it's my turn. My name is Helena, I'm a Brazilian woman and something I would like you to know about me is that I love getting to know other cultures and be respectful to them.
Now I wanted to explain why I asked you to say something you would like your classmates to know about you. As you can see, we are a very diverse group of people, and that makes us all unique!
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To my amazing family who supported me along my journey and helped me deeply reflect on my experiences to create this story.
To Dr. Shenton who gave me the opportunity of doing something I never thought I would and made me get out of my comfort zone by writing a reflection on my experience as a way to help children who might feel the same way about their cultures.
Today is the first day of classes in Sunlight School. Everyone is probably excited to meet their new friends!
Aleena is going to start the 4th grade. She is excited about starting classes again, but she is also having a crazy feeling in her tummy.
Aleena and her family are muslims, and she loves to say that so she can present more about this part of her to others
But she is concerned about what her friends will think of her by choosing to not wear a hijab like her mom and other muslim women.
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