“My parents were farmers. They grew up in rural areas of 15-20 people, and they looked after each other. I think some of that kind of transpired here where I’ve grown up with my friends. We look out for each other, we take care of each other. I think of a happy family as synonymous with being with good friends with people.
As a child I really depended on my friends, because growing up, family life wasn’t always the greatest. I looked forward to school a lot, and that’s why I ended up becoming a teacher, because school was a place for me.
At home, my parents taught me traditional values and morals. Respect and treating people nicely is at the top of who I am. When I’m teaching, I am inherently putting those values on the table.
We get students from different places around the world, and so seeing that diversity right in front of them as a teacher, I think it’s kind of inspiring what they can achieve in the future. From my role and my heritage, I hope that they can learn some things that I picked up in the process of me teaching math and science, like how to talk to each other, how to respect one another, how to work hard, how to study.
A lot of my previous students have continued to send me a message once in a while to ask me how I’m doing. It’s super cute, super lovely. I think the role that I’m in, who I am, and how I’ve taught them has really struck a nice chord with them.
我的父母在只有十几个人的农场地区长大，相濡以沫。从小我也在他们处学到跟朋友互相扶持下成长。每次我都十分期待上学，因为我觉得学校是属于我自己的小天地，也是我后来成为一名老师的原因。在家里，我的父母教会了我传统的价值和道德观念，应该以尊重别人和善待他人为主。在教学时，我希望传授这些价值观给我的学生。
作为一名老师，来自不同背景的学生让我看到他们多样化的未来潜能。通过教导数学和科学课的过程，我希望他们从中可以学到沟通和学习的方法，尊重别人和积极努力的重要性。直到现在，我和曾经教过的学生依然会保持联系。作为一个老师我希望他们能记着我曾在他们的教育旅程上占着一个地位。” —Kevin
All photos provided by Kevin.
REN Project 