"Hello Miss!"

This is what I am greeted with innumerable times a day in thick Chilean accents with an emphasis on “i” causing it to sound more like “Meees.”  Occasionally the greeting is followed by quick “I love you!” as I walk to class. I smile to myself because in some ways I still feel like I was just in high school and in others I think of how much I have done since then. 

                I have the fortune of living next to my school, but not only for the convenience of a 3 minute round trip commute.  This allows me to see the students outside of class, meet parents, greet them at the store, and truly feel like part of a community. It also allows me to reflect on the lives of the students and their situations.

Galvarino is a small town. Including all of the surrounding campos and rural neighborhoods it is home to 14,000 people.  A large number of the students are of Mapuche origin, the indigenous people that settled in the region. Araucania, my region, is the poorest in all of Chile.  For this reason, the students have very low expectations and motivations to create new lives for themselves. It is a generalization based on observation and conversation and, of course, there are exceptions. However, the reality of settling and living a life mirrored to the previous generations greatly outweighs the desire to excel or surpass these expectations for most of the students. 

I have seen in the school the lack of motivation but also the lack of expectation. Teachers and administrators try to encourage the students to complete tasks but there is very little enforcement or consequence. Initially I was frustrated by the lack of order and discipline in the high school. I have learned to be more patient and accepting of the different culture while also upholding my beliefs on education and respect. Often times I want to stand on a soap box about how they can excel and succeed but with lack of familial support, financial situations, and personal incentive all contribute to the reality that many of them will never leave Galvarino. 

Many of the students during our discussion on why we were learning English had nothing to say. One problem that I have detected is the difficulty they have in the native language. Deficit in spelling, reading or speaking in ones native language makes it nearly impossible to acquire a second language. 

This reflection is not meant to disparage the educational system or the municipality by any means. They are all thoughts that I have made through my observation and help me to further understand another world. It makes me additionally grateful for my educational opportunities. It helps me realize that my being here is not necessarily going to encourage them to study abroad in an English speaking country because that is not a priority. I hope that I am able to facilitate their learning and give them more individualized support to help them recognize their significance in their world.