No Limits!
Malaysia is limitless. As I reflect on my time spent in rural Teluk Intan Perak, which is a small town two and a half hour outside north of Kuala Lumpor, I understand that Malaysia provided me with limitless opportunities; opportunities to understand, to empathize, to realize, to learn, to teach and engage.
I am a William J. Fulbright grantee and was given the honor of traveling to Malaysia to be an English teaching assistant from January 2015-October 2015. I had the tasks of assisting Malaysian English teachers in low performing government schools providing interactive and innovative teaching strategies. In short it was dope! My kids were amazing!
With the grant I formed an arts club that focused on the importance of art(Fine and visual Arts) in core curriculum classes like math, science and even history! I had a small group of students (11 to be exact) who were all of the Malaysian minority. My babies were all of Indian descent and worked their butts off to RENNOVATE….yes RENNOVATE four areas of their school! So when I say Malaysia was limitless I mean so limitless that I became a carpenter, contractor, painter, gardener and the list just goes on and on.
Malaysia broke more boundaries than my future career path. I survived my home’s sewage explosion (talk about a stinky house), gastritis that lead me on an uncontrollable bowell movement marathon and a trip to McDonalds that resulted in the employees becoming MC -anics (get it???)
While, in Malaysia I wanted to be sure that I did not go in with a colonization mind frame. I didn’t want to go into my school demean current practices and change everything I got my hands on. It was an intentional goal of mine to absorb and relate to everything possible, Malaysia boleh. Malaysia taught me that although we live life differently, are of various faiths, and have distinctive purposes in life, there is one thing that all humans have in common and that is our humanity. I was very fortunate to have not lived an eat pray love life during my time in Malaysia. I was able to experience systematic injustices that many of my students faced. I related to a mother who fought relentlessly for her daughter’s education stunted by a discriminatory system that tried to prevent her from excelling. Systematic injustices are universal, we can bridge the gaps between us simply by listening.
I’ve learned that going abroad is about a checklist or a social media post but about bridging the differences that we face as human beings. Having enough grace to humbly empathize and truly understand someone else. We have to ears and one mouth for a reason. Boleh in Bahsa Melyu means can, Malaysia taught me that nothing was a cannot. The impossible is always possible.
