Americans know it as the LA Riots, but I still remember it every year as Sa-I-Gu (4-29).  It's the date that is engraved into my psyche as a Korean-American girl, growing up in Los Angeles during the 1990s.   It's the date that has colored my skin yellow and sunken deeper into my soul.  It's a date that makes me struggle with my own racial identity and my dreams of a world where race and ethnicity doesn't matter.

It's a date that makes me remember one of the reasons I want to work in the inner cities.

I can't continue to write this post without feeling anguish and regret as I connect the events of 20 years past to the recent events of young Trayvon.  Our society is still a long ways from the dreams of many, but I pray that the future holds many more opportunities for us to show that we do not have to act on our prejudices.  We do not have to fill our hearts with hate and past wrong-doings, but to move forth with compassion and greater love.

My Teaching Philosophy (in progress)

One of the really important assignments for our teaching program this quarter is to create a teaching philosophy/autobiography.
Our first prompt was on why we want to be teachers in urban schools.

I struggled to write this at 11pm the night before the assignment was due, after I came home from a 17hr day of student teaching, class, and tutoring.

Why do I want to do this?

So I started to write...
I'm sure this will change over time if this is a reflection of who I am.
This process of becoming a teacher is changing me, so I am certain that this will change, but for now, this is why I am pursuing urban education.

Why do I want to be a teacher?  What brought me to teaching in urban schools?

I want to become a teacher in Los Angeles because every year I will get to make a colorful name chart with the names of twenty to thirty students that will be part of my learning community.  The last names, written with bright Crayola markers, reflect a rich history that spans the globe and also make tangible the diversity that I live in. Teaching in an urban school gives me the unique opportunity to be an integral part of the lives of those students that come from diverse backgrounds that make up the diverse backdrop of Los Angeles.  Together, my students and I can be a part of a learning community where education becomes a tool to strengthen the individual and to change the community and society.

My calling to serve my multi-ethnic community began to take shape in college, while I discovered my identity as an ethnic minority and a woman and was introduced to the principle of social justice.  Despite the hardships my Korean immigrant parents encountered in America, they raised me as a “model minority” – a term I learned in my first quarter at University of California San Diego that rocked my world.  It changed how I saw myself and my world.  I realize that I was still a minority and part of a world that is still heavily influenced by socially constructed ideologies of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and citizenship, which continue to perpetuate inequality in American society.

My interdisciplinary education in International and Immigration Studies made me thirst for knowledge about our modern world, diversified through globalization, but also hunger for unity in a fragmented society.  My studies and my upbringing in Los Angeles have shown me that diversity can be fragile, but so powerful.  Diversity and social consciousness are important steps to addressing many of the social injustices.  I knew where my passion lay, but it took several years after my college graduation to lead me back to school, both as a student and as a teacher.

On October 31, 2009, as I waited for my flight back to Los Angeles from a business trip in Korea, I realized that I was ready to learn how to be a teacher in some of the most challenging communities. After three years of working in the private sector, for the gains of two international companies, I realized that there is nothing more rewarding and worthwhile in life than to do what you love and for a cause that you are passionate about.  And I loved kids—every teacher says that, it's a prerequisit.  I was giddy.  Giddy with the thought that I get to spend my future in the company of children that would actually appreciate my energy and enthusiasm, which always seemed a bit out of place in the corporate world.  By the time I boarded my plane, I had decided.  I was returning to Los Angeles, my home and my community, to serve it and the many children that also call Los Angeles their home and community. 

I am fully aware of the challenges of teaching in urban schools, including low socio-economic conditions, violence, high turnover rate of students and staff, and various family and social problems.  Despite all the challenging circumstance, I believe that the learning community that I will share with my students will be an opportunity for us to grow and bring justice to a society that is dominated by inequalities.  I think that social justice is a purpose that is worth of the labor of love that goes into teaching in urban schools.

Now, in my fifth month of TEP, I am doing my best to learn and listen, so that I can teach and speak on behalf of students in the underserved communities of Los Angeles. Everyday I enter my school, wearing the first smile of the day that some of my students will see.  I’m ready to wear more than one hat; I will be an instructor, a counselor, a social worker, and even a mom, so that my students can have the opportunity to learn and the support they need to develop themselves.  I dedicate my future to urban teaching because serving the children of underserved communities is not a short term project, but a life long journey.

Classroom Anthem

I may make this the anthem of my future classroom...
But there's so many song I like... maybe I'll end up a soundtrack.

Rage Against the Machine
"Take The Power Back"

To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back