Eman Fathallah is a coordinator of the TEYL SIG, it is a shared leadership position, at the NileTESOL, a RELO Cairo mentor, and an English language instructor. She has a ten years of teaching experience to YL. She obtained her FELT YL certificate from the SCE at the AUC in 2016. A year later, she was awarded the Fulbright scholarship; the Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship (FLTA), where she visited Florida, Michigan, New York, California, Massachusetts, Washington D.C, and Connecticut. Her experience in teaching in the United States reshaped her personality and developed her life skills and teaching competences as well. She had a better understanding to how culture impacts our language and communication. In 2020, she was elected as a member in the Egypt- U.S. Alumni council – the project management committee. Two years later, she became a RELO Cairo mentor. These experiences qualified Eman to held a leadership position at the NileTESOL organization.
Without hesitation, it was New York. I am still till now following Facebook pages that publish posts or photos for this charming state. What made it special is that it has its magical glow, especially in winter. You will absolutely enjoy the Christmas and the new year celebrations and vibes. The Christmas trees are almost in every corner and the underground bands play their lovely pieces of music which spread the joy to your heart and relax your mind. Another special thing about NYC is that it represents diversity. It was easy to find my Egyptian food that I was desperately missing to taste a famous dish of another country. I was also lucky to see an old friend from the college after 10 years of his travel to the United States. Visiting the Central Park, Madame Tussauds, the Museum of Natural History, and the public library were special. But, my favorite part in this trip was staying in Coney Island. I spent one of my happiest days there, as walking on the beach, taking the train almost every day to the Times square, cooking my favorite Egyptian food, such as Mahshy, and building a snowman. I also learned that it is not allowed to collect shells because it harms the environment. Since that, whenever I am on the beach, I pay attention to this point.
My host university – Stetson University – is an urban area which finding public transportation is not an easy matter. Finding busses might be unavailable on the weekends or available within certain hours during the week. It might also be expensive because you have to call a private car like Uber or Lyft. Luckily, my colleagues added me to a WhatsApp group which students who have cars can give you rides with half of the price. Also, some students may give you free rides based on their schedule. Also, if you get to know new people off campus, some of them are generous in doing so.
I still remember when I needed a ride to Orlando Airport to attend the FLTA Mid-year conference, one of the ladies I got know there gave me a free ride to the Airport. Another story, the leader of the Cross Cultural Center at Stetson University used to give me free rides from time to time to get halal food from the nearest town, which was 30 minutes away from the campus. Going each Friday to the Islamic Center was one of unforgettable experiences, the university generously offered Muslim students who want to Attend the Jumaa prayer a car to use it for this purpose. One last more example was attending the Adha Eid in the U.S, I was still in my first weeks in the U.S. I had just started navigating life in Deland. Attending Eid’s prayers was important to me, I was sad because I would miss the celebration for the first time. One of my friends offered to pick me from the campus and drop me off when we are done. These incidents are memorable.
I still remember my first month at Stetson University when one of my friends invited me to talk about New Beginning. I did my best at that time to talk about it; the phrase was new for me. I couldn’t relate it to my personal experience. This phrase lasted for six years after coming back home! I kept asking myself What does ‘New Beginning mean? Does it refer to something? If yes, what is it? However, I did not find an answer. Last year, these two words started to give meaning. Fulbright transformed my life. It changed my way of thinking. So, I decided to drift my life to another direction because I realized that I was driving in the wrong one. Since then, the change happened and this how I had a New Beginning.
For sure, I made friends through the program. Zahra was a special friend from Stetson. What I like most about her is that she has tolerance toward others, and she knows how to enjoy small things in her day.
There are several common cultural points between the U.S. and Egypt.
First, some people in the U.S. like to gather on the weekend and watch a movie or play board games. This is so similar to what Egyptians do on weekends.
Second, the main events in the U.S. are connected with food and exchanging gifts. For example, turkey is the main dish in the Thanksgiving. In Egypt, in Adha Eid, meat is the main dish. In Christmas, family members give gifts and make cookies. This is so similar to Muslim and Coptic feasts in Egypt. A gift can be a toy or Eideya money. Egyptians like to make Kahk or Egyptian cookies too.
Also, the vibes of Christmas and Ramadan are so similar. They are special and you find their vibes in every corner and street. Many people enjoy them regardless of their believes.
The most impactful part of the program for me was the activity where participants formed a circle and took turns expressing appreciation for each other. It was incredibly fulfilling to be recognized and appreciated by everyone for my contributions, and likewise, to have the opportunity to sincerely express my gratitude for their actions. This experience fostered a genuine sense of connection and camaraderie among the group, making it a truly meaningful and memorable aspect of my overall experience.
It gave me a new beginning to find my true self. I am changing believes, opinions, and/ or perceptions that are not serving me anymore. On the contrary, they are barriers toward my personal and professional growth. Changing my mindset made me realize and value little things I accomplish in my day because these small steps will make great changes. I become wiser in choosing my nearest circle, take better decisions, realize the pattern in my interaction with people and make the suitable change, and learn from my mistakes.
On the professional level, I changed my way of using my creativity. Now, I see clearly my ultimate goal from teaching the English language which is how to demonstrate big or complicated ideas in an easy and engaging way. Now, I see students who struggle in reading comprehension are less suffering because of using drama and sketch-noting strategies in teaching. When the written words in their book are visualized and transformed into drawings, they have a better understanding to the hidden meaning between lines. Also, when they act out a story events, they have a better understanding to the hidden meaning between lines. Also, when they act out a story events, they have a better understanding to situations and how words impact the communication between people.
I do believe that my contribution to the program is giving several workshops and presentations with RELO Cairo and the NileTESOL to the EFL educators on topics that might unfamiliar to them, such as integrating culture into EFL lessons, or approaching familiar topics, but showing a new perspective by giving examples from .my life on campus. Moreover, taking a leadership role as the coordinator of TEYL SIG Teaching English to Young Learners Special Interest Group at the NileTESOL. Although it is still my third month, I was able to incorporate Culture in our monthly theme calendar. I believe that this will give teachers an opportunity to read about this topic. They may realize that they apply it unconsciously. So, this may encourage them to apply as presenters and share their experiences. The attendees of our events may gain new knowledge or have a better understanding to their teaching practices and how they have an effect on their learners.
As a teacher, I always whenever it fits my lesson, I explain the term climate change and what is our individual responsibility. I also integrate ideas about how to make better communication with people from other cultures. I encourage my colleagues to take care of their emotional and mental well-being.
As a mentor with RELO Cairo, I give workshops that aim at improving the professional skills of our teachers.
As a leader of the TEYL SIG at the NileTESOL, I and my partner work closely on selecting important topics for educators and choosing promising presenters in our events. This opportunity may motivate them to take bigger steps, such as being a member in our SIG or any other SIGs, apply as presenters in the annual NileTESOL conference or/ and any other international conferences, study in depth some TESOL topics an apply for the OPEN courses scholarships, and/ or apply as a RELO mentor.
I volunteered in the Egypt – U.S. Alumni Council in 2020. I was a member in the project management committee. Through the year, I had a better understanding of what a leadership is, how to prepare for events, and cooperate with other committees. This had a great impact on my role now at the NileTESOL organization. It made it easier for me to perform my tasks more accurately with minimum mistakes. The council also helped me build network, for instance The American Corner at Maadi Public Library invited to give English conversation sessions for more than two years and gave a mini course on how teach grammar in a communicative way.
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