Tell ME what you think
Being the oldest of 8 kids, I had thought that tutoring 3 middle school students would be no problem. I was excited to employ the same creative thinking for these students that I had utilized in order to get my siblings to learn. Yet, I didn't know that New Orleans's school system was comparable to that of a third world country, that the No Child Left Behind Act had not been beneficial to this already crippled school system and was actually, literally, "leaving some children behind." The No Child Left Behind Act had motivated many students to no longer learn for the sake of learning, but for the sake of passing the tests. There was even a period of a week in which we weren't able to tutor because the children had to prepare for the tests, studying strategies in order to do well. These were children who, though they knew it wouldn't be easy coming from their socioeconomic class, wanted to go to college, but in order to do so they would need to learn how to write and not just for the sake of passing a test. Coming into this, I had to learn how to break the molds into which they had thought they needed to fit in order to succeed, and in the process explore creative options by which to do so.
Growing up, I had to face my own learning disabilities and find ways to conquer them. Since I wasn't diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder till I was sixteen, I had to find imaginative ways in order for me to learn and to succeed in school. For instance, I would borrow notes from three different students in my class so that I could see the information in various forms and would therefore be able to have different forms for remembering the information. Now, I had to take those same skills that had helped me succeed in school and find ways to assist these students learn to write creatively. The issue was, they wanted to know what I wanted from them: they had become so used to teachers giving them guidelines that were meant for them to pass tests that they expected me to do the same.
In order to challenge their mode of learning, I began preparing exercises for them ahead of our time together. For example, in one exercise, I would create the beginning of a story and they would create the ending. Though their stories contained elements that were not normally seen in classroom writing, like a dragon eating a cat only to regurgitate it, their writing began to improve. Soon, they began to create their own stories without much assistance.
We are sometimes given so many prescriptions for how to address situations in our lives that we lose some of the other talents we may possess and find ourselves creating poor quality work. Yet, thinking outside of the box sometimes produces the best outcomes and best solutions. This was case for these young students and I have found, that it is the situation for most issues we confront. Being able to think critically had helped me find solutions for these children and has assisted me in so many other areas of my life.
Being a creative thinker; I have learned that creativity and flexibility can be more productive than rigidity. As an English major, I was allowed to use those creative abilities and find different ways to interpret a situation. It was not like science and math where there are definitive answers. This was how I became interested in law, a field, which has clear-cut answers, but in fact offers various ways in which to approach them. After working at an immigration law firm, I found that in many instances there were several different approaches one could take when attempting to bring an immigrant into the United States. One approach is to illustrate in a letter how the immigrant will be an asset to the United States. Another approach could be to apply for a specific work visa or one could have one's spouse apply. In the case of one immigrant, it was necessary for me to use my creative thinking in order ensure that her family remained together in the United States. For her, my abilities to find other answers made all the difference for her. In the end, I was able to draft a petition that attached her to her husband's visa. The letter my law firm received after she was granted permission to stay in which she thanked us profusely is testament to the fact that just thinking outside of the box can lead to the greatest outcome. If not for your own personal benefit, then for someone else.
Various solutions can be sought to bring about the single outcome, like discovering a way for an immigrant to enter the United States. In other areas of law, just like in English and in my personal situations, there are sometimes many solutions to a given problem. Considering various alternatives and utilizing creative thinking can lead to the most desired outcome.
