We drove up Tenzin Higher Secondary School’s bumpy dirt road
for our final day (a half day) at the school. With only three periods, we
immediately jumped into classroom with the students in an attempt to get as
much interaction with them as possible in the remaining time we had. Throughout
the course of the day, we received requests from students to come talk in their
classroom and, as a result, attempted to go into as many additional classes as
possible in the limited time we had. Although we did not plan specific material
to discuss, today proved to be one our most effective day in Tenzin as the
students asked hours and hours worth of questions about issues or ideas that
they were especially interested in. Such questions ranged from politics to
music to girls and through this, we were able to gain insight into the
students’ character and culture and understand a bit more about where their often-romanticized
conceptions of the US are derived from. The first part of our day was a blur as
we moved from class to class, constantly looking at new set of faces and
listening to new voices until the lunch bell, which marked the end of the
school day, ended academic work for the day. After a quick meal with some
friends from grades 11 and 12, we walked to the school auditorium building
where a speech competition was being held. Throughout our stay, the Tenzin
principle had been very keen on placing us into various school programs (like the
Tenzin Idol and Basketball game) so it came as no surprise to us when he asked
for two volunteers from our group to join the competition. Ultimately, Kei and
Julian chose to participate, soon finding themselves on stage looking in front
of the entire school’s student and staff body. In this speech competition, students
would randomly pick a number out of thirteen (number of participants)
corresponding to their turn. Immediately after their number is called upon,
they will be given a topic to speak on followed by one minute of preparation
and three minutes of talking. After being randomly assigned their numbers, Kei
was chosen to go first and Julian eighth. As their turns approached, their
stomachs churned as they sat in anticipation, hoping that the topic they were
given was significant enough to be discussed for three minutes. Ultimately, Kei
was given the question of ‘How does education shape our character’ while Julian
was asked ‘What do you think is the best school in your country’. By the end of the completion, and
numerous rounds of applause (and occasionally laughs) later, Julian won the
speech competition (coming in first place), while Kei came in second. It was an
invigorating experience for both the crowd and the participants as well as an
incredibly opportunity to insert ourselves into the school in a way that we had
not anywhere else. After the speech competition ended, we were given six copies
of the school’s list of rules as a gift and were met by flattering roars of
applause as we stepped foot outside the school, bidding farewell to our
friends, wishing them the best, and thanking them for the unmatched hospitality
that we received on our visit.
