September,2021 begins.
It reminds me of the very first freshman year at the college…wow it is almost 30 years ago. Everything was new to me…starting my college life in a dormitory with a roommate, almost overwhelmingly high in calories in every single meal at a cafeterria, and taking required classes of course, all in English. I was totally exhausted by 9 p.m.that my mouth was always so thirsty and my tongue was so tired from trying to speak American English for better pronunciation. I remember I slept so much each day as if sleeping was only my coping strategy to get by.
Visiting my academic adviser’s office, that was the first meet with my dearest American mom, Mary. As I was walking into her office nervously, it was her warm loving nature, understanding, and curiosity for people, that touched me deeply with such a beautiful big smile.
Since then, I visited her office hours for a chat. As we were getting to know each other, we shared some of one’s ups and downs in life. We would go out for a cup of coffee and take a walk to celebrate our shared birthday together. We talked about the future a lot… she recommended me getting involved to a local food bank group for people then to hospice… something actively to contribute yourself to a society as a student. She was a multicultural advisor of the university, teaching English classes while completing her higher education degree at that time. She then offered a class called “Introduction to American Culture”, which was designed not only for students with multicultural background, but also for American students. There, we learned about the nature of “diversity”. It wasn’t only about describing “differences” between the cultures and race and even sexual orientations. It was more about how we can give ourselves an opportunity to cultivate our understanding of the world through other people’s eyes with different backgrounds. She multidimensionally gave us an idea how it feels like to be someone’s shoes and encouraged us to have “empathy and respect” for others. I cannot tell how she has impacted my life in so many ways and I wish I could tell her in person, how grateful I am to be her lifetime student…and one of her Japanese daughters. I love you Mary.
With my sincere wish for world peace.