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I don’t recall having so much interest in school back in Bangladesh, which probably has to do with how strict the teachers were back home. When coming to America, my ENL teacher really pushed me to do well. She taught me phonics, grammar, how to read and write. But more than that she taught me the value of education. From a very small age, the positive impression that she made on me defiantly had some impact on why I chose this career.

Now, doing my residency at Lafayette, I feel like I’m helping kids who are in the same position I was when I first came to America. I believe somewhere in me wanted to give back what I earned in terms of the education I got through some incredible teachers, many of whom were my English teachers. I also want to help kids see that while it is incredibly hard trying to assimilate, learn a new language, and accommodate to a whole new life here, it is well worth it after getting an education and finding your voice.

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Coming from a conservative family meant that I really had to think about a career that would best suit me in the long run. While helping my teachers during my lunch hours starting in high school, I learned that while teaching is a very high demand job, there are some perks that come with it which helps, especially as a working woman. I do want kids of my own, and the hours and vacations work out when you do have kids who eventually also goes off to school.

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While helping my teachers in high school, it occurred to me that I would also like to have a classroom of my own where I can share my enthusiasm and love for literature and education. I want my students to find pieces of literature that they can connect with and talk about with their friends. Books are my safe space, my escape from reality, and I want that for kids who are going through their teenage years feeling out of place, uncomfortable, disdained, or feeling trapped in whatever that is going on in their life.

Furthermore, literature is about our lives, in the same way, most movies are. It teaches you valuable lessons, shows you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it talks about uncomfortable but needed conversations about politics, differences among people, gender, race, cultures, wealth, etc. But more than anything it connects you to not just fictional characters, but to people who are like you, and a world where there are people like you going through the same things. As an ELA teacher, I don’t only want to teach students the necessary skills that they need to know to pass an exam at the end of the year. I want to have valuable conversations and help students navigate their life even in the smallest way possible, and I believe that literature allows that conversation to be made.

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Experience with BPS school PS 6: Buffalo Elementary School of Technology

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Experience with BPS school PS 6: Buffalo Elementary School of Technology

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Before fully committing to the UBTeach program and finalizing my major, I was able to intern at PS 6 in my sophomore year of college through LAI 410. In PS 6, I was able to work with some amazing students and teachers. PS 6 caters to predominantly ENL students coming from all over the word, and I was lucky enough to work with some amazing 6th graders who had so much spark and potential. I also worked with 1st graders, and they all had so much resilience. I went to that school every week so incredibly happy to work with these students who reminded me so much of my little self. I worked on phonics and helped students improve their lexical level and the result at the end of that semester was so incredible to see. It was from there that I made my final decision in wanting to pursue a career in teaching ELA.

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While taking my education courses in UB and also having worked with teachers, it occurred to me that there is very little diversity within the education field. It didn’t occur to me before or I didn’t give it much thought until my nephew one day told me it’d be cool to have a teacher that looked like him because he only has white teachers. As a Bangladeshi-American and a Muslim woman, I thought of how inspirational it would be for students to see someone like me in their classroom. Currently, the education system has students coming from all over the world but there are very few teachers who can connect with these students. For many young adults, connection means everything to them, and there is nothing nicer than having an adult who can connect to them and maybe even advise them.