»We've got questions / in our school!

This afternoon I took off from work and headed up to Jender's high-school classroom. She had asked me and Aram to speak with one of her classes, to talk about our jobs and careers. She student-teaches at a charter school which has since become a part of the San Francisco Unified School District.

As you know, I am currently student teaching as I make my way toward a teaching credential slated to be in hand come June . As part of that process this semester I am solo teaching for 8 weeks. Right now I am at the International Studies Academy High school in San Francisco in Potrero Hill teaching Advanced ELL (English Language Learner) classes. Most of my students are 17 to 19 and have been in the US for 2 to 5 years.   My eight week unit this semester is about work, why we work, the jobs we do and how we navigate work in our lives. Since many of these students are new to the world of work in the US and they will be soon trying to determine their future careers, one of their unit projects is interviewing someone about their job and creating a paper from that interview. These students need lots of practice before actually leaving the classroom and doing activities on their own. I want them to interview a person in class as I class before they venture out into the cruel world. That is where you come in. I need two brave volunteers to come into my class and be interviewed by my students. Don't worry, these students are more intimidated by you then you could ever be of them and I will supply you with a list of possible questions before hand.  I, personally, think all of your jobs are interesting and believe that my students would enjoy talking to you

Many years had passed since I last walked in the halls of a high school: it was nice to hear Aram's familiar voice echoing against the tile when I walked in.

The English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class asked me lots of questions. They were practicing for their current assignment: interviewing someone with a job, and writing an essay on that person's background, daily routine, challenges, and rewards.
The very first question I heard, right after I wrote my name on the board, was, "Are you Indian?" A few more questions on the subject of race: "Do people at your job ever make fun of you because of your ethnicity?"

The questions made me reflect on how much I do like my job, and also offered a different perspective on what I do. I work in a for-profit industry, so our projects are concerned directly with the bottom line and with making money over the long term.