Introduction by John Myers
My name is John Myers, and I am the ELL teacher here at Friends Select School. I’ve been teaching English as a Second Language for more than 20 years, so I guess you could say I’m an expert in what I do. Students who come here from other countries face unique issues that aren’t always obvious to us when we interact with them at school. Learning English can take a long time for many, and learning the culture can be even more daunting. It is for these reasons that I approached the editors of The Falcon to ask that the ELL students contribute these pieces, so that we all can learn a little more about their unique experiences coming to school here at FSS.
A Short Thought on Adaptation
My stay in the United States was always going to be a temporary one. What started out as a two-year visit turned into an extended seven-year experience. Living here in the U.S. has definitely changed me as a person, and I learned that I can adapt easily to new environments.
Back in 2018, I was in Italy and 8 years old. My friend group consisted of me and four other kids my age, sharing the same passion for almost anything. It was around this time that my father broke the news that, due to money troubles, my family was moving to America. The very fabric of the group slowly tore apart in the worst way possible. The following summer, all of us left to go our own separate ways. I never had contact with them again.
I came to the U.S. at the end of the summer of 2019 and started middle school with little to no understanding of English and no sense of American culture. I wasn’t proficient in English in any way, and my second language classes were replaced with an ELL teacher who taught me English throughout the year. The lack of understanding of the language made it harder for me to get a grasp on the culture, affecting my grades and the expectations that the school had for everyone. The combination of these limitations collided into an incident in middle school, where a cultural misunderstanding sent my reputation spiraling to the lowest of my grade. The reaction from others was reasonable, and it instantly blocked me from pursuing or starting any new social relationships I had up until that point. It served as a lesson about tolerance and respect, and it basically ruined my reputation until I got a fresh start in upper school.
I began upper school after this experience that thrust me into a state of controversy within my grade level. At that time, my parents told me that, because of COVID-19, we would be staying in America for an extended period of time. I had to start fresh for the second time in my life.
During orientation week of upper school, an acquaintance introduced me to their friend, and we hit it off due to a mutual love for video games and other niches that aren’t common in school conversations. For a long while, the two of them were my only friends, until I met the seniors. Our conversations have been some of the most entertaining ones I’ve had. Alongside the seniors, I spent an awful amount of time with the adults, even outside of the school environment. For some reason, I strike up conversations more easily with those who are out of my normal age range.
However, all things must come to an end, and people move on and continue with their lives. I can’t fight it, since I have to press that reset button once again. This time I won’t be a newcomer, but I will find myself as a senior in a country that I knew only during my childhood days. I’ve always been afraid when the time to change arrives, but having to deal with it multiple times only made me able to adapt more easily to new environments and new people.
