INEZGANE, Morocco - My first week at Highland high school was quite a trying time for me.
INEZGANE, Morocco – My first week at Highland high school was quite a trying time for me.
I was neither familiar with the setting nor was I, as yet, acquainted with my schoolmates and teachers. As time went by, I became more assertive in getting what I wanted and in voicing my opinions or concerns according to circumstances I found myself in. Slowly but surely, I managed to make a number of new friends and started to feel more relaxed, more at home and less and less of a stranger.
Most of my teachers were good and friendly. They were willing to provide help and guidance whenever asked. There was this popular figure by the name of Mr. Jenkins who was, in my opinion and that of most other students, I would dare to say, one of the wisest and friendliest counselors one had ever met in one’s school life. I remember once I went to his office for some school related duty I was supposed to perform and had to ask for guidance.
When I got to his office, he greeted me amiably and was ready to listen to what I had to say. I had to introduce myself of course and let him know about my status of exchange student so; I started by telling him that I was a foreign student from Morocco. Laughing jovially, the man interrupted me by saying “I am a foreigner too. I am from Texas”.
The tactful way of counselor Jenkins made a great difference to me then, it helped in making life easier for me ever since and all through the rest of my exchange program duration in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To this man I say, you have far succeeded in your job of counselor. To him, I say ‘Thank you, you have demonstrated what great difference a good educator can make in the life of a teenage foreign exchange student thousands of miles away from his homeland and family.’
Articles written by Mohamed El Hassan Abou El Fadel in Morocco World News are taken from his Cultural Journals. The articles feature his reflections on an important part of his educational and cultural experiences in the US as an American Field Service exchange student, a Fulbright exchange teacher and a University of Delaware alumnus.
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