There's Nothing Like the D

It's been two weeks since I moved to Detroit, and what a great two weeks it's been. My roommate Matt and I moved into a two-bedroom townhome in a development about a mile east of downtown Detroit. We're literally a one-minute drive to downtown, I-75, and the Detroit River, so it's a great location, and we really are in the middle of everything. Most of the Teach for America folk also live around here, which makes the area so much more fun.


We've been planning for the upcoming year during our kickoff training these past two weeks; I've had to plan what exactly I'm going to in my classroom - what jobs to assign students, what prizes I'm going to give out, setting my credits/debits system, how to discipline my kids etc... Even though I still don't have a placement, I've still had to do the generic stuff, which has settled my nerves because I now have opportunities to practically apply what I learned during Institute. With all these plans in place, I can picture my classroom and imagine what it'll look like. This is a reminder though, that school is only two weeks away - I guess it's only hit just now.


After training and during weekends, however, we've gotten to explore the city and really enjoy what it has to offer. It's no Hong Kong, San Francisco, or New York, but Detroit has a unique charm unparalleled by any other city I've been to.  It's definitely not the most convenient (barely any buses or cabs), or the most modern, but there are so many things that make Detroit the special place it is. Eastern Market is one of the largest farmers markets I've been to - everything is so fresh and cheap, and it literally has everything you'd want. Zingerman's even has a stall there. Then, you walk through Greektown, and experience two blocks of amazing Greek food and some of the most delicious pastries ever. After eating out, you then have a selection of a bunch of awesome bars. From a pub with live Irish music and dancing to a warehouse-turned-brewery that brews in house, and from a Billboard Top 40-type club to a classic midwestern bar that serves only Michigan beer, Detroit is often bustling with nightlife. After the bars, you complete the night by strolling down the river walk. Walking along the boardwalk, with the Detroit skyline on the left and the breeze from the river to the right, you just get that moment of serenity and peace, away from the crowds.


To people from big cities, that might not have sounded too interesting or exciting, but what Detroit has is a culture of artistic innovation, social awareness and an unwavering pride of anything Detroit. Walking through the many neighborhoods of Detroit, you'll see warehouses turned into lofts and studios, grand murals painted on buildings' walls, local artists and musicians trying to make it big, and many other things that make Detroit and up-and-coming hub of artistic creativity. Detroit's culture is also one that embodies social awareness; the people of Detroit actually care about others in their city. Around the city, what you'll see are community gardens, social justice clinics, children's camps, neighborhood events, food drives and much, much more. Here in Detroit, there is that sense of camaraderie and pride of being from the D. The people are some of the most genuine I've ever met - they will do anything to get to know you, and will do whatever it takes to get your back. They don't have an ulterior motive, except to be there for you and welcome you into the community. To be honest, I was worried about being one of the very few Asians in the city, and indeed, I'm probably the only one in my development. I was worried about being picked on, and not being welcomed into the community. On the contrary, my neighbors have taken time to introduce themselves and welcome me to their community, invited us over for grills, and even random people on the street will ask me how my morning was. I was wrong, and the people of Detroit really have shown a hospitality that I had not seen in any other city before. Before moving here, I had wanted to be back in the Bay Area, or be in Boston, D.C., Chicago, or any other 'big' city, but Detroit has met my expectations, and more. Detroit may not have the fancy, cosmopolitan parts of a 'big' city, but what it has is its unique culture, its pride, and the genuineness that all those other cities don't have. Despite the reputation that Detroit gets, people are still so proud of their city, and will do whatever it takes to bring it back to its heyday.


All this isn't to say that Detroit doesn't have its problems. Violence and crime are certainly problems that still plague the city. Last weekend, there were 16 unrelated shootings during the day in the city of Detroit. My friend had one of her car parts stolen from underneath her car at my parking lot; they even had the audacity to saw off a part of her tailpipe. The Detroit Police said that this was a frequent occurrence, and there wasn't really anything we could do to stop it. Just gotta pray, I guess. At home, we have to keep our blinds shut and keep our doors locked at all times, and I never, ever leave anything outside. Some people say that this is inconvenient, but I think it's just part of life. In any big city, crime is inevitably going to be a problem. Whether you're in New York City, London or Paris, your car could just as well be broken into, and you won't ever leave your doors unlocked anyway. There is always a price you pay for living in a city, and this is just one of them. But when I look at the rewards of being in Detroit and the excitement it will provide, these little things are worth it. These next three years are going to be absolutely transformational, and now that I think about it, I wouldn't want to be anywhere but Detroit.

Institute Reflections

It’s been almost two weeks since Institute ended. It really does feel like it was so long ago; when I walked out of Bronx Prep and then out of St. John’s University, it was kind of surreal. It was surreal because it was only two weeks before that when I thought it would never end. It was surreal because Institute seemed like an eternity, but yet when it ended, it felt like it never really happened. We were on such a routine, and we had processed through so much that our minds were numb to thinking about what had just happened over the past five weeks. It didn’t seem like that long ago when I had to think twice about why I was doing this, and if I would actually make it through these crazy 19-hour days. I did, and I came out of those five weeks a better teacher, ready to do what I need to do in Detroit.

The last two weeks of Institute seem like a blur to me now. We had come up with such a routine that it didn’t really stress us out that much anymore. I made sure that my lesson plans and handouts for the next day were done by 5pm, so when I got off the bus from school, I would go straight to print and copy, just to skip the long lines later at night at the copy center. I finally learned how to fully script out a lesson plan, and how to ask students the right questions to push their understanding. I learned how to execute my lessons efficiently, so that my students would be interested and invested. I learned what I needed to do when I needed my students to work, when I needed to listen, when I needed to them work with each other, and when I needed them to speak up in class. Thinking back to the last two weeks, they just happened so fast. It seemed like I didn’t really get to go through everything I wanted to. I didn’t get to know my students well enough. It just wasn’t a long-enough summer. Indeed, as much as I didn’t enjoy the training part of Institute, my students at Bronx Prep were amazing, and they deserved so much more than the time we gave them.

I left Bronx Prep with a sense of excitement – for a new chapter of my life in Detroit – but also one of regret. I regretted not knowing my students as well as I could have; I didn’t know their stories, I didn’t know who they were as people. The fact that they were the class I used to student-teach and train made it feel like they were our guinea pigs. We tried and tested our methods on them, and when they didn’t work, they just sat there in confusion. One of my biggest regrets at Bronx Prep was that the four weeks we had with our students could have been so much more impactful than they were. One of my students was passionate about the subject and had worked diligently in class. He knew he wasn’t doing well with the material, so he asked to stay after school for tutoring, took the initiative to ask more questions, and did his homework to the best of his ability. Before the final exam, he was passing the class with a C average. Then came the final. The final exam, being the only assessment not written by myself, was also a gauge of teacher effectiveness. If the students did well, it probably showed that the teachers had effectively taught the students the objectives. If the students didn’t do well, questions are asked about the teacher and if they actually taught the students the material. As it turns out, all but one of my students passed it. He went from passing my class to failing it marginally, solely because of his performance on his final. This means he would probably have to repeat this class again next year, maybe even pushing his graduation back another year.

Seeing his test results broke my heart – not only for him but for myself. I had questions about my own ability to teach; if this test was meant to measure how well we taught them, does that mean I didn’t do a good job of it? Did he really fail because I wasn’t a good enough teacher? Thinking about it more though, I realized that this wasn’t the attitude I should be having. The question isn’t why I failed, but why we failed as a team. The question was where the disconnect was between my teaching and his learning, and identifying how I could improve my teaching so that my students will increase their own learning. I had to remember that we were a team, and it wasn’t only his fault, or my fault, but a collaborative effort.  The question I had to address was how I could become a better teacher, and how I could help him become a better student. While this part of the past was unfortunate, and regrettable, we can only change what’s ahead of us. I came out of this knowing that I will need to change my delivery of information, that students need more individualized time than what I had given, and that I probably need to be a stricter grader, so that students know where they actually are with their learning.

I talked to him after class and told him I was proud of his work in class. I told him I was proud of him no matter what, because he showed he actually cared. He deserved it, and so did the rest of my class. They may have told me I was boring, fallen asleep, and texted each other in class, but these were nothing in comparison to what many other students did. My class showed me the respect that any teacher deserved, and they thoroughly deserve my appreciation for that. On my last day, my students gave me a signed t-shirt and card that expressed their own thanks for this summer. That, for me, was one of the most powerful moments in my teaching – I was reminded of why I did this again. I was reminded that no matter how hard it was going to be, it was for no one else but the kids.

Institute wasn’t easy. Not at all. But I did come out of it knowing how to be a better teacher. I was pushed to improve, pushed to make my kids improve, and pushed to do everything in my power to help my students succeed. I came out of Institute with a clear direction on where I want to (and don’t want to) take my class next year. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and can leverage that to make my classroom as effective as it can be next year. I may not have gotten the instruction that I wanted, but in some ways I got more than that; I learned some essential skills that would make me a more effective teacher. I may still not know how to be an effective English teacher, but I do know how to execute my lessons efficiently, and how to invest in my students to build genuine, lasting relationships with them. The challenges at Institute only made me more aware of the challenges we will be facing in Detroit. There are things I’m not going to agree with here, just as there were at Institute, but I have to remember that this isn’t about me. I have an entire community of amazing corps members in Detroit who have a real heart for the city and these students. They care so deeply about the education of these young men and women, and together, we will find ways to best serve our students. The heart that my fellow corps members have shown has been nothing short of transformational – they will work day and night to ensure that they teach effectively, and will love their students more than anything. We will work through these challenges together, share ideas with each other, build each other up, encourage each other, and most importantly, constantly remind each other of why we’re here, and who we’re here for. There are undoubtedly going to be challenges like the ones we faced at Institute, but these are means to get to the end of being a good teacher. So, if this is what I have to do to best serve my kids, that’s what I’ll do.