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Home » News and Events » Posts tagged "Arabic"

Arabic

Visiting International Student Talks at Regional Education Conference

Posted on October 25, 2023September 17, 2024
Student holding the flag of Jordan in a display of many flags from around the world
Lina Alalami holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages with a minor in journalism from the University of Jordan.
Two students at a photo booth with one holding a BFFs sign
Alalami (left) and Kenia Coronel Gonzalez were two of the students representing K at the Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MiTESOL) conference.

A visiting international student with experience teaching English to youths was among a Kalamazoo College contingent that recently returned from presenting at a statewide teaching conference.

On October 14, Lina Alalami—from Aman, Jordan—was joined by Learning Support Specialist and ESL Coordinator Candance B. Combs, and students Paola Guzman Jimenez and Kenia Coronel Gonzalez at the Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MiTESOL) conference. Together, they spoke on “Engaging College Students as Teachers’ Assistants in Kalamazoo Public Schools.”

Alalami holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages (German, Italian and English literature) with a minor in journalism from the University of Jordan. Influenced by diverse communities in Aman, Alalami developed an eagerness to learn new foreign languages and gain insights regarding different cultures. In addition, she wants to pursue a career where she can work to bring understanding between cultural groups around the world, especially in the Middle East.

One of the reasons why she decided to join K as a visiting international student is its great reputation with the K-Plan on an international level. She said K has a unique academic environment that cares about on- and off-campus communities.

At K, Alalami works closely with Combs in the academic course LANG295: One in a Billion, a class where K students each week visit newcomer classrooms in some of the Kalamazoo Public Schools to provide academic support to children and teens from Afghanistan, Rwanda, Syria and Central America. Through a collaboration with the Kalamazoo Teaching Volunteers, a Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement student-led program, Alalami also works as an assistant tutor at Maple Street Middle School, where she teaches Arabic to non-Arabic students. Additionally, she teaches English to ESL students and refugees as an assistant tutor at Millwood Middle School.  

At the MiTESOL conference, Alalami discussed the Kalamazoo Teaching Volunteers, her student engagement and the Newcomers Newsletter produced by students in Combs’ classes.

“I always tend to be proactive and I want to give back to the community,” Alalami said. “I have been volunteering since the age of 13. My sense of altruism is something that drives my enthusiasm and commitment to support the newcomers.”In her on-campus involvement, she is part of the Arabic Student Union and actively contributes by supporting the events that help students learn more about Arabic culture. As an international student from a different cultural background, she feels a responsibility to step out of her comfort zone and counter stereotypes that students may have heard in the broader world. Similarly, she enjoys connecting with and learning from others.

“Being active on campus gives me an opportunity to meet and connect with a lot of K students,” Alalami said. “I have the chance to meet people with a wide range of different interests and passions. It makes me happy to learn something new every day about our college and student activism. I also saw at K-Fest that we have a diverse set of student organizations that contribute to our campus community. Kalamazoo College is a student-centric college that makes every student a proactive citizen.”

Editor’s note: This story was written by Blagoja Naskovski ’24. He serves as a social media ambassador for the College Marketing and Communications team. 

Visiting international student on a brick walkway in front of an ornate building
Through a collaboration with the Kalamazoo Teaching Volunteers, Alalami works as an assistant tutor at Maple Street Middle School, where she teaches Arabic to non-Arabic students.
Posted in News Stories StudentsTagged Arabic, civic engagement

Civic Engagement Scholar Empowers Educational Growth of ESL Students

Posted on September 26, 2023October 11, 2023

Kalamazoo College students are not only known for their high academic accomplishments, but also their pro-active engagement in the local communities outside campus. One of those students is Rojina Timsina ’24, who has been civically engaged in her local communities since high school. Rojina’s earliest civic engagement experience included volunteering with the Refugee Educational Center in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Once she arrived in Kalamazoo, her sophomore year of college, she was drawn to the work that the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) did in the Kalamazoo community. Through the CCE, she worked as a classroom aide at El Sol Elementary School, where she assisted the teacher in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. Additionally, she worked as a monitor and tutor with the Homework Champions Tutoring program (HCT). Students who work with HTC join a partnership through the CCE that includes Kalamazoo Public Schools, the Refugee Outreach Collective and Western Michigan University to provide educational, emotional and holistic support to recently settled refugee students and their families in the Kalamazoo area.  

This year, Rojina is one of the three Civic Engagement Scholars (CES) for the HCT program. As a CES, Rojina’s roles include recruiting K students for the program, facilitating orientations and reflection sessions, working toward expanding the program, and serving as a liaison between the K students and the community partners. “I was very drawn to the mission of HCT, and the group of very dedicated, aware and intentional people that were making this program happen,” Rojina said.

Rojina has also been involved in the public policy and non-profit sector during the past two summers. Through the CCE’s Community Building Internship program, she interned at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) (2022). As a public policy intern, she was working with coalitions around Michigan that were attempting to gain momentum on policies that would serve the communities they represented. Rojina’s favorite policy was the Drive Michigan Forward act that allowed Michigan residents to obtain a driver’s license regardless of their immigration status. Also through the CBI program, in 2023 Rojina interned at the Kalamazoo Youth Development Network, where she explored how the values of identity, belonging and agency are incorporated within the BIPOC youth programs. While studying abroad in Jordan, Rojina worked with a global organization called Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB). TBB connects refugees to international job opportunities, opening labor mobility as a complementary solution to traditional refugee resettlement. As an intern, she helped with the process of finding professional jobs overseas for refugees in Jordan and assisting them with the preparation process after they received the job.  

Rojina is a senior working on her psychology major with an English minor. She enjoys the diversity of classes, viewpoints and ideas in both the psychology and English departments. “I have absolutely loved every class I have been in,” she said. “I have taken unique memories, knowledge, perspective, and ah-ha moments from every class. My First-Year Seminar, Culture of Slang, with Candace Combs challenged me to appreciate the uniqueness of my identity and find a community that I can fall back on to this day. One of my most beloved assignments has been a five-hour life history with a K student for my Narrative Analysis class with Dr. Gary Gregg. Some of my most significant memories this past year can be traced back to my beginning Arabic classes with Professor Anna Swank. The Arabic program at K really challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and paved a path for me to go abroad and live life in another language.”

Editor’s note: This story was written by Blagoja Naskovski, a senior at K, majoring economics with a minor in art history. Currently he serves as a social media ambassador for the College Marketing and Communications team. 

Civic Engagement Scholar Rojina Tomsina in Jordan
Rojina Timsina ’24, seen here on study abroad in Jordan, is a Civic Engagement Scholar in the Homework Champions Tutoring program through the Center for Civic Engagement at Kalamazoo College.
Rojina Tomsina on campus
Rojina Timsina ’24 has been civically engaged in her local communities since high school.
Posted in News Stories StudentsTagged Arabic, civic engagement
Updated October 11, 2023
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