I came into
Prescott College right after High School, and was intrigued by the Cultural and
Regional Studies Program, hoping to travel. The first opportunity to travel
however, besides an amazing orientation, was to Kino Bay, which brought me into
the Environmental Studies Program. The
semester-long Marine Biology course re-sparked my love of the outdoors and
particularly the ocean. It also just got me stoked on learning (high school had
turned me off). I felt like a nerd and loved it. My newfound inspiration about
learning led me to spend the next year on campus in Prescott taking Education
courses. This also provided me some amazing experiences and opportunities, but
by the end I was ready to go back to the beach. Only with ample encouragement
from my mom, did I sign up for a class on activism for the block. I had wanted
to just keep up my summer traveling until the Marine Conservation course was
going to start, but I decided to trust my mom and do something I was not
familiar with...Mamma knows best.
The block course
that I took focused on the DREAM act Campaign, where eight young people walked
across the country promoting the act and sharing their stories about growing up
in the U.S. either with family members who were undocumented or being
undocumented themselves. Our class joined the walkers for four days out of
their nine month journey. It was so inspiring and motivating to hear their
stories first-hand and get a taste of what it was like to be so dedicated
something so important. This class stoked my fire for learning again. I rode
this wave of motivation back down to Kino and all through the Marine
Conservation semester, and realized how much being excited about something
helps you to learn it. Similar to my block class, this course focused on
getting involved with projects already underway. However, we also created new
projects. Being able to contribute to community organizing that was already in
action, and being part of the creation process was so empowering. I was not
only getting knowledge, but also experience in what it would actually be like
to work in the conservation field. I was not only enjoying and learning from
this awesome place, but also giving back to it. I didn’t think any other course
I would take could compare…Until I did the Tucson Social Justice Education
Semester. Leaving Kino was hard, but I knew my next semester would be good because
it was taught by the same wonderful professor that taught my previous block
class (the DREAM act one).
Going into this
course I didn’t know what to expect. I had also never been to Tucson before,
which made it even more exciting. I soon realized that the reason we went to
Tucson was because it has a much more diverse population, and the injustices in
schools, and in all aspects of life for that matter, are much clearer. For this
reason, it also has a lot more going on in terms of activism. We got to work
with youth-run organizations, well-known activists and authors, and dedicated
community members. The course was centered on the former Mexican American
Studies (MAS) Program of the Tucson School District and its completely unjust
removal. The MAS Program, based in a place with a majority population f Mexican
Americans, gave voice to their previously silenced history and culture. It
proved to not only increase the students test scores, graduation rates, and
college attendance rates, but also the student’s self-esteem, autonomy, and self-motivation.
Not to mention how much it changed the student’s attitudes about learning. For
example, when the program was cut, one of the teachers offered his class on
Sundays in the community center, and all of his students came to learn in their
free time!
Throughout the
semester, we worked with those students a lot, helping them with projects and
events they put together, exemplifying their self-determination and passion for
community organizing. We contributed to
many groups and organizations directly and indirectly relating to the MAS
program, such as Scholarship AZ, which helps undocumented citizens (usually
students who grew up in the US) get scholarships to college. We also worked
with a youth center that provided a safe space for youth of the city to come
after school and get involved in activities such as dancing, arts and crafts,
and martial arts. This organization also encouraged youth to create their own
activities based on their unique passions. For example one young woman created
a feminist group to help herself and her peers learn about how to stay safe in
a big city and be empowered as a woman. Many members of my class, including
myself, attended her meetings and brought in our experiences and advice as
mentors.
Interacting with
the local community helped us to get an understanding of the place we were
working, and of the work of community organizers/activists. A big lesson from
the semester for me was how teachers are inherently revolutionaries, shaping
the minds and lives of the future. Despite all of our truly unique experiences
(too many to mention), I think one of the best parts of the semester was how
our teachers modeled the methods and theories that they taught. Borrowing from
the pedagogy and epistemologies of the MAS program, our teachers took the time
to get to know us and provided the space to know ourselves and each other. We
shared our life stories through creative narratives, and read and discussed
some of the many books that the Tucson Unified School District had banned along
with the MAS program. We discovered that in doing this we were validating the
experiences of oppressed people and realizing how those stories are necessary
to understanding the reality of our current and past world.
In all of the
courses I briefly described, my world view was changed. The teachers have
become my mentors and friends. My perspective on life was widened, sometimes
with harsh realities, but always with a strong sense of hope. The courses fed
my awareness, experience, and motivation in ways that have inspired me to keep
working in these important fields and to always keep learning.
Angelei Star
