Baylor Engaged: Ayesha Khanna

When I first learned that I was going to be a Teaching Assistant for English as a Second Language courses, it felt extremely daunting. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to teach these students in the correct manner, or if they were going to respond to my teaching style. However, looking back now as a Baylor Engaged Fellow, I realize all the strong and meaningful relationships, in addition to the impactful conversations, I have with the students. This experience has been much more than simply teaching students English, turning the classroom into an environment that fosters conversations about the range of stories and experiences that we all have.

Even though we come from different backgrounds, I have been able to share my interests with students and learn about their stories as well. I have had debates with students about who the best Formula One driver on the grid is right now, or how golf is actually a sport and not just a hobby for old people. Funny enough, I have actually used a Formula One Driver (Carlos Sainz) to prove my point about golf, as he just took part in a golf competition called the Ryder Cup.

However, there is one story that a student named Lieu shared that stuck out the most to me, and with her permission, I will be retelling it and sharing some pictures. After asking what track I am on in school (Pre-Dental), she shared her heartbreaking experience with me related to her own teeth. After biting down on something hard and feeling pain in a tooth, she went to a dental clinic to have it checked for a crack. They identified the fracture in her tooth, and instead of putting a crown on it, they referred her to an oral surgeon as they believed the issue was much worse than it actually was. Lieu waited 2 months for her appointment with the surgeon, where he told her that a crown was all that was needed, and sent her back to the dentist to perform this procedure. She waited for another month for her appointment, in which the fracture got much worse during

this time, resulting in a
split tooth that had to be extracted. So, what started off as a treatable cracked tooth, turned into an untreatable split tooth because of the time she had to wait in between (refer to the pictures).
She talked about the immense pain that she was in during this time, and how she felt that she didn’t have the resources or the knowledge of English to speak up about her experience, request an earlier appointment, or properly express what she was feeling. She explained how powerless she felt, as she knew that this situation could be avoided. Her fear of not having a voice was one of the driving factors that led her to want to learn how to speak English better, and thus join these ESL classes 

She was able to find this voice through sharing her story with the group. So, in response to her experience, I gave her and all the other students in my group information about the clinic that I volunteer at (Meyer Center Community Clinic - a part of Waco Family Medicine), where they see emergent dental cases for free and refer patients as well. This was in written form, and included the address, the number, the name of the clinic director, and how to book appointments. It was amazing to see how my personal experiences could help these students and made me realize just how much bigger this experience is than simply teaching English.

With English being our first language, we sometimes don’t realize how hard it is for immigrants to learn the language and adapt to the culture. As a first-generation American, I had always heard these stories from my parents, but seeing them for myself and being a part of the process of helping students learn has given me a whole new perspective.

I wish I could tell my past self to not worry, and it is this exact opportunity that is going to increase her admiration for people who are taking the risks to move to a new country and the steps to ensure their success. I would tell her that this experience has been so much more than just teaching English and that she is in for an extremely enriching experience. However, most of all, I would tell her to love every second of it and enjoy watching the extreme progress of these students as they learn a new language and acclimate to a brand-new culture.