Skip to main content

Final Project Blog: West Aurora Refugees


Over the course of my research on World Relief, what stands out to me the most is the fortitude of the refugee high school students. Regardless of what country and what type of conflict these kids have left behind, each must bear the burden of emotional scars while simultaneously navigating a completely foreign new life—foreign in every sense of the word—and they each make it work. It’s hard to put myself in their shoes. Most of the kids come here speaking little to no English, but they learn so quickly. They work hard, study hard, help support their families, and they help each other so much. Kim Orchard, the guidance counselor for the WR students at West Aurora, facilitates adjustment group meetings for the students to discuss, seek advice, or vent about issues they face.  Imagine an English-speaking counselor, a French-speaking African, an Arabic-speaking Iraqi who translates for a Bhutanese in Spanish so the Pakistani can understand…you get the picture. Given the level of trauma so many refugees have experienced, they certainly deserve the chance to begin life anew in typical American towns such as Aurora, IL.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prompt: The Media, Real Women and Gender Oppression

Wow. I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with some examples, but I keep coming up short. Luckily, I know a nineteen year old feminist who watches a lot of TV.   In particular, she brought up Orange is the New Black and Game of Thrones as examples of shows that portray strong women and shed light on gender inequity. By virtue of the all-female cast on OITNB, issues of gender inequity are inevitably raised.   The inclusion of women of color and varying sexuality does much to promote feminist viewpoints.   My daughter sees the treatment of the prisoners by the guards as a metaphor for how the women are treated in real life, also exposing oppression in society.   I found her inclusion of Game of Thrones to be interesting.   While I haven’t seen the show (I know…I need to watch it!), I have read about the controversies concerning the rapes and otherwise poor treatment of the female characters.   Do such plot points in some way elevate the oppression of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Blog Week 3: Expert Commentary, Expert Testimony, Academic Fields

Regardless of the issue being discussed, it sure seems like Economics and Political Science have been the most thoroughly represented disciplines in the media, at least since 2008 and the Great Recession. It’s hard to blame the media for such a focus because it seems like that’s what most viewers want to hear about.  Of course the financial health of the country and its citizens will always be a hot topic, and between the auto industry’s near collapse, the banking/mortgage fiasco, and subsequent high unemployment levels all coinciding with the beginning of Obama’s presidency, the media always had relevant economic news to cover. And since the government became heavily involved in each of those crises, political commentary proved of equal interest.  Add to that the partisan shenanigans that exploded with Obama’s presidency, which have shown no signs of slowing down, and the media continues to have persistent political news to cover and analyze by bringing on political intellec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Class Comments Blog Post

I found the required books for this course really, really interesting, especially the Space of Public Opinion and Nobody.   The progression of the media’s reporting and commenting about current news has changed so much with the advent of the internet.   It seemed like everyone tuned into the nightly network news when I was a kid, but not I don’t really hear anyone talking about last night’s broadcasts.   I can say that I don’t even know the names of the 3 major networks evening broadcasters.   We’ve switched from trusting a knowledgeable news journalist or two to trusting sound bites provided by basically anyone with a Twitter account. But honestly, what will stick with me the most about the class is Hill’s book, Nobody. Hill makes it so apparent that our country has done a lousy job of caring for and providing opportunities for the most vulnerable.   It’s an overwhelming reality that has absolutely no easy solution. I only hope that our leaders and future ...
Post a Comment
Read more