Sitting at my desk at the left corner of the office reading emails from our human resource manager on orientation brings me memories of my first time learning English. I feel like I am in middle school all over again learning how to read and write in English. English was not my first language, and here I was trying to to speak and write in a totally new language. I did not have a clue of the most basic words in English. Looking back, it sounded really strange not because it was hard but because I wasn’t used to hearing anyone around me speak in English. I especially remember my English teacher Mrs. Stenfield; she would read us word by word and ask us to repeat everything she has said. It was frustrating at times, I mean try to teach a four-year-old English speaking child how to read and write in Arabic. Impossible right? She was inspirational. She sure did love her job and made our English classes fascinating
My parents also played a big role in helping me learn by buying me fairy tale storybooks. I guess that is where I get my creative writing skills from. My household just like many others practiced the bedtime stories ritual where my parents would read us some stories before going to sleep. Some of them were stories from their childhood others were from children’s books. Looking back, all these stories had a moral to them in the end. My literacy skills, on the other hand, developed from the need to know how to read and write in English, and it was no rocket science that for me to succeed in this, I had to perfect my reading and writing skills.
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Between all the English and literature lessons, giving literature analysis from Shakespeare novels and Frank Kafkaz “The metamorphosis” my knowledge in this magnificent language has surely progressed significantly. Mrs. Stenfield was not your typical teacher, this lady was patient, and when I say patient, I really mean it. She really did stick with us, something she did while teaching that struck my interest. She would never leave any of us behind. She made sure that everyone was on the same page even if it meant repeating the same thing for a whole for one out of fifteen pupils just so that we can all move ahead together. I took the State’s English exam and did very well almost getting the highest possible grade after a year. This major milestone in my new language reminded me of some of the stories my parents used to read to me during bedtime; I had overcome this challenge just like some of the characters did. This was all possible due to my determination.
I had also learned that what looked like simple drawings and words in my bedtime story books had much more meaning. They had well-structured sentences, and the writers put exceptional literacy skills in them. It is then that I learned to appreciate the little things in life and not simply take them at face value. Everything seemed to have a deeper meaning to me. Learning a new language taught me one important lesson, that in order for me to be successful in it, I had to put in the effort. I also learned that when you are removed from your comfort zone to a new environment, you have to adapt to it for you to overcome the challenges that come with it. The desire to overcome is what made me learn how to read and write in a completely different language from what I was used to in a very short period. It is this desire that made me who I am today. It is the same desire to overcome that will make me successful at my new job.
