One of my classes has read and now reporting on Tom Friedman's new book, That Used to be Us. I highly recommend this book for a host of reasons for it does a wonderful job of holding up a mirror on our current culture and the root structure that brought us to that view into the mirror but more importantly, he takes us on a journey of what other countries have and are doing that would and could and should incorporate into our very American culture. One of the elements he strongly postulates for Americans, especially young Americans, is to think and act like and immigrant!
I chose to let that conversation waft as discussion yesterday since I had, well, a class of immigrants called Americans but included were two wonderful young women, one from Romania and one from Mexico. So I posed the question to both ladies for the class to hear by asking unexpectedly, Eva and Larisa, tell us what thinking and acting like an immigrant means to you?
The discussion that followed was rich for I watched the faces of the rest of us, the Americans thus immigrants from past generations, listen intently to the comments of the two students. Immigrants come here with no agenda other than to survive. They have no safety net. They must decide they will do anything to be successful defined a survive. Their primary aim for the journey as an immigrant is normally to secure income that can be sent back to the home / family of origin to assist in their survival. There are no entitlement programs they can lean on. They are alone in a big, scary world and, oh by the way, they usually cannot speak the language thus another challenge on top of the others. THAT is thinking and acting like an immigrant!
Having lived outside this country on two occasions, I have somewhat of an idea of this new venture for it is always very strange and isolating to be in a totally new culture where you do not know the customs, the language, the norms, the rights and the wrongs, etc. But you quickly realize it is for you to adapt and not wait for the culture to adapt to you. It can be frightening but always enlightening I can assure you.
The really sad thing for me today is that in our American cave, the term "immigrant" has become tainted and stereotyped which is very sad, frankly. Yes, there are good, solid, contributing people that come here from other countries want a better life but also, the old 80/20 rule applies meaning that somewhere in the range of 20% come here illegally, for divergent reasons and for criminal intent thus the 80% that come here for the right reasons, and we need them, get painted the same hue as the bad actors; so sad but so true!
As a professor working with thousands of university students in the last almost decade of my life, I have also found a most interesting reality of first generation immigrants as students; they work harder and seek to understand the educational process more deeply than their American counterparts. I like to tell my classes that I am going to hire a Chinese or South Korean student to just sit in my future classes so they can watch and experience the energy these students invest into the learning journey as example of what being "hungry" for education looks like and feels like. There is some humor about this but at the aggregate, it is so true. Children of immigrants in a class environment excel for they work harder, dig deeper and expect more of themselves than the traditional American counterparts. If I have offended some Americans reading this, GOOD! Be offended but let the offense be internalized to develop a high degree of pondering what I am really saying in my message this morning.
We are ALL immigrants as Americans. My heritage is Irish and Welsh. But somewhere from the time my people left Wales or Ireland or Germany or Poland or Nigeria or you name it, as the generations have come and gone, the "hunger" and "drive" faded into expectation of someone else, safety nets and cushions on the hard part of this thing called life. Ever since that discussion in class yesterday, I have found myself now going back into the syllabi's for my Fall semester and revising the Blocks of Work to facilitate more time for open class discussion on these topics that abound; subjects that will color this student generation as they prepare to bring in the next generation and the cultural adaptations they will induce.
So, in closing, I challenge each of you to take a few days and really think about what is means to be an immigrant in what you do, how you think, how you spend your money, your time and I will assure you that you will find some real opportunities to renew that once fresh "hunger" that propelled you at some point in your life. This nation is screaming for people to be hungry to compete, to stretch, to change and challenge, to see that next hilltop as an opportunity.
My life and my viewpoint was changed dramatically yesterday with those few words in a book to think and act like and immigrant! I provide you then that same challenge. Probe wide and deep. Your thoughts and feedback are sought as always!
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