In the midst of the hectic bazar crowds, beyond the yellow door that opens in upon the crisp white temple, past the stacks of paperbacks and street side printing press, and next to the man with the sugar cane stand, one can find the door to the Sultaan Bazar Girls School. At this school, I feel that my interaction with the students necessitates a breaking down of walls of ‘otherness’ I wear as a foreigner to be seen as person before romanticized celebrity. It is in these cross-cultural encounters that I recognize the breadth of learning and sharing that can take place through the Modern Story curriculum, but that also humble me to the challenges presented by engaging with a system and pedagogy unfamiliar to my Western upbringing. When I walk through the gate, all eyes of the courtyard turn to me, and I feel a bit insecure in my skin when I notice the teacher of a class being held outdoors search for the source of the spontaneous distraction. Although this attention can become burdensome in general, with these students there is something so innocent in their intrigue – so genuine in their questions to know how I got here and where I am from – and this sincerity makes me so excited to work with them towards integrating into the global dialogues available through technology and their own voices.

On the first day, the students got to class half an hour early. They have their lunch period before The Modern Story class, and it seemed as if they must have eaten as quickly as possible in order to come join me in the computer lab. I made sure they had, in fact, eaten properly before agreeing to start class fifteen minutes early. They were all sitting in a tight knit circle that had formed around my chair at the computer- wide eyed and leaving me with little choice but than to acknowledge they were ready to begin. We started class with an introduction to the curriculum, and once more with going through the rules that we expect in the Modern Story. When they were hesitant to respond to my questions, I was not sure if their nods of understanding were coming from a true grasp of my English. The teaching assistant working with me that day assured me that they did understand, but that speaking is a problem for them. I recognize that the most difficult rule to follow may be the last one we listed on the board, “I will not be afraid to speak.”

By the second day they seemed to have loosened up, and though still quiet, gave fully devoted attention to the lesson. My aim with this class was to introduce the girls to the idea of finding stories in the world around us. I am trying to use the ‘medium as my message’ as much as possible in class, so I showed them a small video I made on the stories that can be seen in the stars, and the lessons that nature teaches us all around. From this we moved on to the idea of a ‘picture says 1,000 words’ and did a free-write exercise responding to an image on the computer. The rigidity I saw in these girls when asked to be creative, the hesitation and fear they seemed to have of getting the ‘wrong answer,’ reminded me of the behavior the day before when many of them used straight edges to make sure the lines on their name cards were perfect. My desire to shake and loosen them up again beckons me to the boundaries of teacher and friend.

With that said, I am excited to get to know more about these girls throughout this six months and hope that I can facilitate their ability to speak up for themselves and believe in their power to effect change in their own lives, families, and communities.