The journey of going to Rock Island High School to help students in the Rock Island ELL Program has come to an end, and I have helped there for a total of twelve hours. Over the course of my time there, I helped students with every subject in the book. There was math, science, geography, history, home ec, and anything else they needed. I also got to watch twenty amazing and unique individuals grow through education and in themselves.
The experience of being at the high school gave way to a few themes. One of the themes that occurred across my experiences was the theme of language. All of the students knew English, but for most of them it was not their first language, and still were not all the way fluent in it. This caused some language barriers both in communicating with peers, communicating with teachers, and completing their course work. Language is a vital part of cultures that allows people to interact and influence others, and being a Rock Island High School allowed me to see that true impact language plays. Another theme that I saw throughout my experiences was diversity, and how it can lead to misunderstanding and even conflict. Every single individual has their own diverse background, skills, and knowledge. This is the beauty of our world today, that we have the opportunity to be so diverse and interact with those from other cultures. Unfortunately, when someone does not understand another culture, it can lead to conflict and inequality. I saw this at the high school with so many different diversities under one roof. The themes of language and diversity played a role in my experiences at Rock Island High School.
Interpersonal interactions depend a lot on our perceptions and understanding of others. Having helped at Rock Island High School has changed my perceptions and understandings. I now know more about refugees and the cultures that the students came from. I also understand that although language allows us to communicate with others to express our ideas, thoughts, and emotions, it can also hinder our communication when we do not all understand one another. This taught me to be more open to diversity, especially cultures and circumstances that I'm not accustomed to. If I keep this in mind, then my future interpersonal interactions can occur across broader cultures to a wider range of people. This will also help in my career goal of being a nurse and helping people in other countries, so I can communicate in the best possible way with everyone.
