January 29, 2026

Thanks to my Teachers

After sixteen years in the US education system, I’m starting to get an inkling of what my teachers were going through as we started our first official teaching day at Parikrma today! We decided on hotel management as the subject to teach, as our students were most interested in it. The new empowerment centers are focused on providing hireable skills to students ages 17–22, most of whom were previously engaged with the main Parikrma educational programming but had to take leave for personal or family reasons.

While some of us have experience working with kids much younger than us, it’s a different (and quite intimidating) ball game trying to relate to and educate students our age and (some) older than us. Learning how to manage and keep focus in the classroom seems to be getting easier by the hour as we learn what tactics work (NOT counting down from ten) and what *does* work (reminding our students that the more lecture is interrupted, the longer class will take). However, even after the first day, I felt the need to text one of the high school favorites at my alma mater, asking her, “How do you get students to like you but also listen to you?” To which she wisely replied…

– Give lots of small opportunities to talk in small groups and then share.
– It’s not one-size-fits-all (which we have quickly learned).
– If you find yourself nagging, ask for time and ask what *we* should do as a class to help everyone be engaged.

Thanks as always, MG 🙌. In all seriousness, all I could think at the end of our TWO-hour lecture is how teachers do FIVE hours of teaching in a 1:26–30 classroom environment (we were 4:18), while keeping their poise and staying on track. I also never realized how difficult it was to present a lecture and focus on the next thing to say while anticipating students’ needs and disruptions (does this make sense, or should I explain? I don’t want to repeat material that already seems useless to them. Who’s actually talking right now? I can’t tell).

It was a gentle reminder of the respect I have for teachers and the education system, saying a silent thanks as we left the building for all of the ways in which my favorite teachers from 3rd grade to 16th grade have impacted my character — and another thanks to my mom for always reminding me to show my appreciation, such as giving my teachers books for Christmas and writing cards for my TAs at the end of each quarter.

We will learn a lot these next months we plan a lesson for every week: how to navigate conflict, separate teaching styles, problem-solve on the fly, and navigate language barriers and communication differences. However, I’m already thinking ahead to the months after, when I get home to Seattle. For example, in one of my jobs as certified nursing assistant, one of my favorite parts (and it’s the public health in me too) is patient education. For example, when do we start preventive womens health screenings? What are the symptoms and prevention of heat exhaustion? What are the safe vs cautionary zones for blood pressure and how to take your own. I discuss these issues on a weekly basis but often run into hurdles when we are not provided translators and no family is available, using external sources (thanks google translate) but feeling that technology creates a barrier between me and the patient in that moment.

However, through our teaching, I am already observing ways I can overcome that by learning how paying close attention to body language, spending five minutes researching cultural communication differences, and actively listening and asking questions can morph a conversation from passive to productive. The last two days have made me all the more excited, not just for my journey with Parikrma, but for the ways the lessons these students will teach me will better equip me for the years moving forward.

By,
Ali