In the tapestry of life, childhood experiences weave threads that define our identity and how we operate in the spaces we navigate. Growing up in different countries can offer a diverse palette of memories, cultural nuances, perspectives, and leadership skills. This blog explores the rich tapestry of my childhood experiences between the United States and Mexico, leading to an enlightening adult education tour sponsored by EF Educational Tours in the vibrant Dominican Republic that brought me full circle with my childhood experiences in schools in two countries.
Childhood Memories Across Borders
Growing Up in Multicultural Environments
I share my story by prefacing that I became bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural by chance. I say by chance because my parents did not have a predefined plan for what education should look like for their children. What my parents did know and want was to overcome their economical challenges and provide a better life for their children. What this meant was that they would navigate two countries and inadvertently provide my siblings and I multicultural experiences. See as children raised in diverse cultural environments we often develop a unique lens through which we view the world. For example, in my elementary years I remember being keenly aware of the different educational systems in the United States and Mexico. In the United States, I experienced and viewed education from an industrialized, forced lens. See in the 1980’s I had little to no language acquisition support. My siblings and I were “sink or swim” babies. Whereas in Mexico I experienced and viewed education through a more fluid, less stressful environment acquiring Spanish through a natural, evolutionary acquisition of language. I was fully immersed in Mexico schools but never felt fully immersed in American schools. The leadership skills I developed through these experiences are cultural awareness, adaptability, agility, grit, and grace.
Language as a Multicultural Bridge
The perception of my grandmother Susana and my parents of my siblings and I being able to speak, write, and read in both English and Spanish opened up a world of possibilities for them. We became the language bridge for them. Living in both Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico and Laredo, Texas, United States meant surviving and negotiating in two worlds. See in many multicultural households, as soon as you are able to read a complete sentence in English you are highly qualified to be a translator. And so, at a very early age I remember reading highly elevated English letters to my family. Now, one thing I should say is that I read and translated those letters literally missing out on fully understanding the context and implications of what I was translating. Although I immediately knew if it was good news or bad news by how they responded to my translation. The leadership skill I developed early on being a child translator and bridging both languages are empathetic leadership, being a good listener, and understanding of policies and systems that impact those with similar experiences. Since then, I have seen myself as a bridge connecting others to different cultures and communities through my own childhood experiences.
EF Educational Tours: The Transformative Power of Education
Adult Education: A Lifelong Journey
The experience EF Educational Tours provided me not only encouraged me to lead as my authentic self, as who I am, but also reignited my passion to provide international learning opportunities to all of the students I serve. I came back from the Dominican Republic embracing the transformative power of education in my adulthood and harnessing this power to make world-class, international learning accessible to all students but especially those that look like me. I emphasize the idea that learning is a lifelong journey for everyone. It might take years for an experience like the one I had in the Dominican Republic to bring perspective into your current leadership journey or educational role. Taking a leap of faith into your adult education with EF Educational Tours can open doors to new multicultural opportunities and new global perspectives for you and your students.
Connecting Childhood Memories to Educational Exploration
What impacted me the most of the EF Education Tour in the Dominican Republic was the connection I made growing up between countries and the leadership skills I unknowingly developed through my childhood experiences in multicultural environments. In the Dominican Republic, my childhood and adulthood came full circle when connecting with the people. Speaking the language, learning about their culture, and experiencing carnival was like I was reliving my childhood in Mexico- being a bridge between two countries. Additionally, learning about their Carnival and wearing their costumes allowed me to not only immerse myself in their traditions but also remember and honor the costumes of my cultural traditions. Furthermore, the visit to Inspire DR re-energized my passion for research enabling me to remember my “why” and continuing to support marginalized youth communities.
The Gifts of the Dominican Republic
Impactful Educational Experiences for Students of Multicultural Backgrounds
The most impactful experience for me in the Dominican Republic was when I actually realized that I was in Espaniola, the most famous of the West Indie islands. My feet were actually touching the sand where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492. As an adult learner I was able to recognize that I was making historical connections that I had only read about in textbooks. Taking a global perspective for me while in the DR opened up a world of curiosity and questions. I recognized that what I was taught in school was very different from what we learned through the tours. This was a defining moment for me because it allowed me to adopt a growth mindset and learn that Dominicans have different historical knowledge. As a leader, I found value in being able to engage in perspective taking and adopt a growth mindset to enhance my worldview and this is the opportunities I want to provide students!
The Gifts of EF Educational Tours
The gift of reliving my childhood as an adult encapsulates my journey from childhood memories across the United States and Mexico to an enriching adult education tour in the Dominican Republic. This blog aims to celebrate the intertwining of personal experiences, cultural diversity, and the transformative power of adult and student international education in shaping how we leverage the global competencies assets our students in the United States bring with them.
My most heartfelt “THANK YOU” goes out to EF Educational Tours for providing me with this opportunity to connect with my identity and come full circle so that I can provide international opportunities for the students I serve.
For more information on how you can also provide international experiences to your students contact Meredith Stefos-Norris, State Manager of Educational Partnerships – Texas for EF Educational Tours at (512) 914-4812 or [email protected].
