Bootstraps and Boleh

Guest article by Alana Deluty College of Wooster Some of Alana's Form 4 students at the ETA led Superteens Teen Empowerment Camp  During orientation, the program coordinators had us read an article Called "Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person," an excellent piece by Gina Crosley-Corcoran. This blog post isn't really about white privilege, …

Processing Blackness

Guest article by Shima St. GermainAgnes Scott CollegeThe history with my race has been an exhausting roller coaster ride. It’s been riddled with questioning, conscious searching for belonging, impostor syndrome, hatred, lack of understanding, and a boat-load of confusion with myself, the world, and everything in between. There was a moment of perceived peace after …

The Hats We Wear

Guest Article by Kayla SweeneyWestern Kentucky University I’m convinced months have fewer days here in Malaysia, although the hours sometimes pass like a humid, slow-motion film. There is much I cannot form into words yet. The constant but slow processing that happens as we learn from the students in front of us, the mountains stretched …

The (Super) Power of Language

Guest article by Morgan Hughes College of Wooster Morgan and students participate in a small-group discussion in class. I spend a lot of time thinking about language. And not just in the sense that I teach English and so it is literally my job to think about language. Parts of speech, irregular verb conjugations, and …

Giraffe

Guest article by Matt Fernandes Syracuse University A couple months ago, I spent a lot of time reading about giraffes. Giraffes in captivity sleep about four hours a day. Wild adult giraffes apparently can sleep in short, restless bursts, only about 5 minutes at a time to lower vulnerability to predators. Many giraffes even stand …

Sister // Outsider

Guest Article by Joanne Chern Scripps College Joanne "free-styling" with the drama team   The thing that nobody really wants to admit, even within the cohort, is that being an ETA can be an intensely lonely experience. It’s a natural part of the ETA job – you cannot feel lonely if you do not feel invested, …

A Lasting Impression

Press article by Rozana Sani of New Straits Times: Learning Curve

A Happy Misfortune

Guest article by Rebecca Fulp-Eickstaedt The College of William & Mary Rebecca standing next to her rental car Oh my goodness, what a morning. It was supposed to be a very important one for me. Madame Tan (my mentor) had arranged to have my official "welcoming ceremony" at today's 7:20 AM assembly, so this morning my alarm …

Reflections on Differences and Cross-Cultural Exchange

Guest article from Rose Tran University of Central Florida Based on her farewell speech given at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in KL, 30/10/2015 Rose painting a mural with her students This year, there were 100 ETAs who came from the United States to Malaysia. As a group, we represent nearly the entirety of the U.S. …

Making the World a Better Place, One Volunteer at a Time

Guest article by Amelia Spinrad Arizona State University During my time in Perlis, Malaysia, the northern part of peninsular Malaysia, right on the Thailand border, I have heard my students mention people from Burma. I ask them who lives in the houses across from our school and they tell me that the people from Burma …