One day, on the day before I was to meet with my conversation partner, Simon, I received a text from him saying that he was going to bring a friend from his IEP class to our meeting. I was excited about this, and I became even more excited when I received a text from his friend, Mikko, the next day before out meeting. In the text, she wanted to confirm the time, and also wanted to introduce herself and tell me that she was communicating for Simon as well, since his phone had run out of service. Sadly, however, on this day I was feeling ill and had decided to visit the Health Center. This visit made me 40 minutes late to the meeting, time during which Mikko continued to text me and let me know that it was okay.
When I finally arrived at our meeting spot, the Barnes & Noble bookstore, I found the familiar face of Simon sitting with a girl around our same age. The girl introduced herself as Mikko, and let me know again that it was okay that I was late, as I was taking care of myself. She was really sweet, and it was a lot of fun getting to know her. One of the first things that she told me was that she was glad to be meeting with me as she had not been assigned a conversation partner of her own. She explained to me that she really wanted one, because she wanted to improve her English. Thus, she had asked Simon if she could accompany him to his conversation meetings.
This was very interesting to me, as it made me think about the nature of our meetings. To be completely honest, I had viewed the meetings as part of a checklist- something to get done for a grade and cross off the list. However, Mikko reminded me that having a conversation partner was truly beneficial, as it helped the IEP students to learn and helped me to open my eyes. Also, Mikko's enthusiasm was an inspiration. She had gone out of her way to make sure that she had a conversation partner, despite the fact that she had not been assigned one to begin with. This was amazing to me, and definitely a lesson in determination.
Kourtney, I liked your blog about how your conversation partner brought a friend along to speak English with you. I had a similar experience with my IEP partner. At one point I was helping three South Koreans understand and communicate in English! It was a little overwhelming, but I'd say it was extremely rewarding. I like it when I see my work paying off as my partners' English proficiency slowly grew. I liked your eye-opening experience when you realized that you were helping these kids gain skills they would use for the rest of their lives and not just working for a good grade in Lit and Civ. This is an important part in peoples' lives and we can make a difference.
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