From high school to grad school

When I first started teaching at Logos, I had 7th graders in my homeroom, and I grew quite fond of them as my youngest class (I taught English 7-9, 11, and 12). The next year, they were still my youngest grade as I taught grade 8 and up, and again the next year as I taught grade 9 and up. They were my homeroom again in grades 10 and 11, and while students in that class came and went, I taught some of the Class of 2015 as many as seven times counting French classes - more than anyone else. So it seems only fitting that I "graduated" from Logos with them, and that I'm now starting college alongside many of them. But while they're starting their associate's or bachelor's, I've begun a master's at Lehigh University. I took a summer class there, and this fall I have 3 classes and a part-time assistantship.

I didn't know much about Lehigh when I first looked into it - only that it had a reputation for a good engineering program, a large Greek life population, and a high price tag. But it's not far from my brother, his wife, and their twins, so I checked it out just in case. I found that its master's programs in education were far cheaper than its other programs (and the other schools I applied to), it had a program in Comparative and International Education (CIE), and one of the CIE professors had a vaguely Cambodian-sounding name: Sothy Eng. When I clicked on his biography, I realized he'd done his bachelor's degree in my neighborhood in Phnom Penh. Coincidence? I thought not. When I contacted him last fall, he told me that he was bringing students there on a research trip in January, and we ended up meeting for coffee. The more I heard about his work and the Lehigh CIE program, the more I knew that Lehigh was for me.

Two of the perks of Lehigh's location: Evan and Carson!

As it turns out, Lehigh hired Sothy specifically to help oversee its research partnership with a nonprofit called Caring for Cambodia, started by a Lehigh alumnus' wife, which supports schools in Siem Reap, Cambodia. So not only has everyone in my program heard of Cambodia, but there are Cambodia bulletin boards in our hallway, my Latvian professor has published journal articles on Cambodia, and several of my classmates are visiting Cambodia in November. Even my assistantship under Sothy (who's now my adviser) is Cambodia-related: so far I'm supporting a team that raises awareness and funds for CFC, helping find resources for a new ESL class in Siem Reap, and writing a grant for a Cambodian Culture Day at Lehigh. It's all a bit surreal given that I'm 11 time zones away from this tiny country that many Americans my age seem to think is in Africa.

The first meeting of the Lehigh-CFC Executive Board

I'm about halfway through the fall semester. One class is on the theories of comparative and international education. CIE is a very loose field, borrowing elements from sociology, economics, anthropology, and more, so the theories used are equally diverse. Our professor told us that her main goal for us is to be able to succinctly define comparative + international education. So far, here's my definition: a field that examines various ways of solving the same educational problems in different countries, local communities, or international regions (ex. European Union), examining how global, national, and local forces interact. While I'm far from the only teacher in the program, many students and scholars don't have an education background and are interested in education policy, study abroad coordination, nonprofit work, etc. Examples of issues that might attract CIE scholars include...

• "How are various national governments responding to Finland's success on the PISA test?" 
• "To what extent are the World Bank's priorities reflected in the policies of countries whose education systems it helps fund?"
• "How does increasing primary school enrollment in poor regions affect the economic prospects of those students and their communities?" 

My building is on the "Mountaintop Campus," farther up this hill.
I feel pretty removed from life on main campus.

Another class examines issues and issues in education development. Development is actually a very controversial word - what does it mean? who needs it? who should be involved? what does the process look like? - and my professor and classmates are quick to point out hypocrisy and arrogance in the seemingly benevolent actions of Western nations and individuals. Many of them have experienced it firsthand, since my professor is Latvian and my classmates hail from China, Afghanistan, Algeria, Vietnam, and Norway. (There's only 1 other American in my class of 8.) It's been great for my critical thinking skills. I loved Walking with the Poor, the book I chose to review for an assignment last week. (Shout-out to my dear friend Meagan Stolk, who recommended it to me!) Written by Bryant Myers, who worked with World Vision for 30 years before becoming a professor at Fuller Seminary, it uses a biblical worldview to evaluate many of the development theories we've been learning in class, and offers lots of practical advice for Christian development workers. Given that Lehigh is secular, I appreciated my professor allowing me to choose a Christian book to complement our class readings. I found it immensely helpful and inspiring.

My last class is on research methods. It's not quite as intellectually stimulating, but I'm glad that I have an easier class, and I think it will be very relevant to my future work - especially as I begin my thesis. It's got me scheming and dreaming about how to research topics related to Asian Hope, the NGO that runs Logos, and the free Asian Hope "catch-up schools" that supplement students' public school education. It's also got me groaning about the challenges of researching across cultures, languages, and continents, but I'm not giving up the dream just yet. Sothy thinks that a summer research internship at Caring for Cambodia could also tie into my thesis. That would be the perfect convergence of worlds - if I could use my new Lehigh skills to evaluate outcomes for my friend Chenda's kids. So while I'm a long way from Cambo at the moment, I love still feeling involved.

Enjoying lunch last spring with Chenda and some of her students at our church