Evan McCormick
Evan McCormick is a graduate student in education at the University of Kansas and an associate member of the KU Mayul project team.
My experience teaching English to Tibetan students at the Mayul School in the Golok region of Qinghai province was without parallel. What stood out the most was the attitude the students demonstrated toward learning. They were enthusiastic in a way that I had previously encountered in my 4 years experience teaching English as a Second Language in China and the US. Every
language class I have taught in the past has had students who were highly motivated, but what stood out in this case was the fact that almost all the students were highly motivated to learn. This large proportion of highly motivated students in a single classroom is a rarity across the board in the education field. It was truly refreshing to meet students who clearly valued their education in this way, and inspiring to see the progress that they made with English in such a short time.
Simply living in Golok for three weeks was a remarkable opportunity to see and experience the culture and life of the people. And our experience was greatly facilitated by the generosity of the people who seemed to want to help us understand, and to experience something of their way of living. From small daily discoveries, such as eating yogurt with miniature sweet potatoes
and yak butter, to the chance to witness a large religious celebration in the open mountains, the new experiences came rolling into in our lives like the misty clouds we saw moving into the mountain valley around us every day. But what stood out for me was not just seeing new sights, or tasting new flavors. Without a doubt it was the interaction that we had with the people, and staff and students of the school in particular that served to open the door to an initial, cursory glimpse of this remarkable culture. Although our communication was sometimes limited by language differences, the end result of the interaction never felt to me like there was a barrier between the people and us. On the contrary, we smiled more, we laughed more, and we learned more as a result of our exchange with them. I believe this initial success in building relationships with the people is a very promising outcome that bodes well for the future of this project. I look forward to
learning and conversing more with the students and teachers at the Mayul School and the people in the community, and will continue to share my thoughts here on this blog. Please join us in the effort to aid the Mayul School and post any comments or ideas.
- Evan McCormick
