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From YouTube: Suitcase Stories: Reflections from the School Year
Description
There has never been a school year like 2020-2021. Due to the pandemic, computer screens became classrooms, parents became teachers, and graduations became online events. Immigrant families navigated multiple, and often unique, challenges. They shared their experiences during "Suitcase Stories: Reflections from the School Year" on June 3.
B
A
Going
to
hear
from
immigrant
students
and
educators
about
what
this
school
year
has
been
like
for
them
for
sure
it
has
been
difficult
for
everyone.
Students
had
to
transition
to
online
learning,
parents
had
to
juggle
both
work
and
child
care,
and
our
teachers
had
to
transition
to
teaching
online
and
for
immigrants.
Many
of
them
did
this,
while
being
english
language
learners,
essential
workers
fighting
covet
on
the
front
lines
and
sometimes
battling
with
it
themselves.
A
My
parents
really
struggled
looking
for
work,
those
first
few
years
and
we
bounced
around
homes
a
lot
at
school.
I
was
getting
c's
and
d's
in
english,
and
I
remember
this
great
culture,
shock
and
embarrassment
and
not
being
able
to
afford
going
to
restaurants
with
my
friends
and
in
the
few
instances
when
I
would
go
not
understanding
the
waiter
and
being
able
to
order
any
food.
C
A
Now
I'd
like
to
transition
and
get
things
started
and
introduce
our
amazing
mayor,
boston,
mayor
kim
janey
and
our
terrific
superintendent
superintendent,
dr
brenda
casilius.
Thank
you
mayor
for
supporting
this
event
in
our
immigrant
communities
and
thank
you,
superintendent
and
everyone
at
bps
for
your
leadership
and
all
your
hard
work
and
getting
us
through
this
pandemic.
B
B
B
The
rich
diversity
of
boston
residents
from
all
over
the
world
makes
our
city
special.
Every
story
is
unique
to
the
greater
narrative
of
boston
stories.
Our
city
is
densely
populated
with
immigrants
and
people
of
color.
We
are
a
vital
part
of
our
city's
culture
and
economy.
Immigrants
help
to
make
boston,
the
vibrant
global
city
that
it
is.
B
B
D
Thank
you,
mayor
janie,
and
thank
you
moia
and
iini
for
holding
this
event
as
we
close
out
this
school
year.
I
also
want
to
thank
all
of
our
bps
students,
parents,
teachers,
leaders,
staff
for
all
your
incredible
hard
work
and
sacrifices
this
past
year.
This
has
been
one
of
the
toughest
years
many
of
us
have
ever
faced
in
our
lives,
both
personally
and
professionally.
D
D
D
D
D
A
Thank
you
mayor.
Thank
you,
superintendent,
thank
you
to
everyone
for
coming
out
here
tonight
and,
of
course
thank
you
to
our
storytellers
I'd
like
to
now
turn
it
over
to
my
co-host
and
welcome
him.
Chris
koh,
the
research
monitoring
and
evaluation
manager
at
the
international
institute
of
new
england.
E
E
The
international
institute
of
new
england
is
one
of
the
oldest
and
largest
non-profit
organizations
serving
immigrants
and
refugees
in
the
regions,
with
offices
in
boston,
lowell
and
new
hampshire.
Each
year
we
serve
over
2
600
individuals
in
a
range
of
services,
including
resettlement,
english,
language
instruction,
employment
and
legal
services.
E
E
A
A
For
tonight's
event,
I
want
to
encourage
you
to
put
your
comments
and
questions
in
the
chat
and
trust
me.
The
storytellers
love
hearing
from
you
and
speaking
of
our
storytellers
they're,
going
to
join
all
of
us
for
a
live
q
a
session
afterwards
so
be
sure
to
hang
on
after
you
hear
the
stories
and,
lastly,
after
the
event,
we'll
post
these
stories
on
our
website
at
boston.gov,
slash
my
hyphen
immigrant
hyphen
story
with
translations.
E
Suitcase
stories
was
launched
in
2017
over
250
people,
from
more
than
70
countries
have
told
a
story
on
stage
or
in
their
school
of
or
business.
Sometimes,
people
will
ask
us
how
we
identify
storytellers
and
it's
always
a
combination
of
outreach
to
community
partners
word
of
mouth
and
even
places
online
for
people
to
nominate
themselves.
E
We
were
excited
when
our
next
teller,
my
nguyen
filled
out
one
of
these
online
interest
forms
mai,
is
an
11th
grader
at
the
boston
international
newcomers
academy
originally
from
vietnam,
mai
moved
to
dorchester
when
she
was
13
with
her
mother.
Well,
we
may
not
all
be
immigrants
this
evening.
I
know
all
of
us
can
relate
to
some
of
the
experiences
this
past
year.
F
I
was
13
years
old
when
my
mom
told
us
we
will
move
to
us
and
I
was
surprised
because
she
told
me
many
times
before,
but
this
time
it's
true
and
I
moved
to
u.s
when
I
was
13.
So
we
joined
rochester
with
my
aunt
who
lived
in
here
many
years
and
she
told
that
we
will
have
many
opportunities
in
here
and
moving
is
my
mother.
F
Then
she
exactly
apply
fake
wednesday
pregnant
with
me,
so
my
whole
life,
I
noticed
I
removed
some
day
when
I
arrived
to
u.s
language-
is
my
biggest
challenge,
so
I
sitting
in
class
the
first
two
years
in
school
only
to
struggling
and
I
quickly
lost
motivation
to
go
to
school.
I
asked
my
mom
to
come
back
to
vietnam.
She
said
no.
We
are
waiting
for
too
long
13
years.
F
F
in
vietnam.
I
go
by
for
15
minutes
and
this
was
so
fun
after
school
me
and
my
friend
buy
down
the
street
where
people
pushing
cars
to
out
a
small
city
and
they
selling
food.
We
buy
street
food
and
sitting
on
the
table
outside
eating
it's
more
friendly
in
a
lot
of
sales.
It's
different
like
here,
you
went
to
the
restaurant
and
you
feel
a
little
bit
lonely
inside
my
favorite
street
food
was
vengeance,
and
this
is
white
paper
filled
with
meat
and
vegetables.
F
Every
single
student
diet
in
here
it's
difficult
to
in
here
it's
difficult
to
find
it,
but
I
do
enjoy
property
by
the
time
I
go
to
high
school.
I
did
not
miss
school
like
before,
but
it
is
because
I
meet
vietnamese
fans
two
years
first,
two
years
in
school,
I
feel
uncomfortable
to
speak
english,
because
I
don't
understand
what
they
ask
me,
and
I
worry
that
I
will
mispronounce
the
word.
F
However,
I
can
talk
to
my
friend
during
breakfast
and
long
time,
so
it
gave
me
the
energy
for
study
all
day
when
I'm
in
junior
I
participate
much,
and
I
meet
my
new
friend
from
another
country
like
bangladesh
and
haiti
after
many
years
study
in
school.
I
really
normally
would
pay
for
pencil
teaching.
So
when
the
panda
maker
come,
I
suddenly
feel
and
back
to
the
first
day
I
go
to
school.
F
F
Virtual
learning
is
difficult
for
me
to
communicate
and
participate,
so
I
sitting
in
class
and
no
participation.
All
the
camera
went
off
and
I
not
see
my
classmate
for
too
long.
So
this
is
a
reason
I
start
to
not
communicate
to
them
more
because
we
don't
have
connecting
to
each
other
when,
like
in
person
now
what
I
ask
them
is
only
like
what
do
you
have
learned
normally,
I
will
not
think
about
lasting
in
person
person,
but
now
I
do
worried
about
it
when
I
heard
that
a
salon
on
they
got
positive
recovery.
F
So
I
really
scared
one
time.
I
exactly
go
to
the
doctor
for
a
coffee
state
and
it
was
negative,
but
the
doctors
say
I
need
to
continue
in
my
house
for
two
weeks.
I
asked
them
what
I
can
do
and
they
say
you
can
drink
water
before
I
only
drink
one
bottle
for
a
day
and
now
I
drink
so
much
every
night.
I
worry
that
I
will
get
coverage
from
my
neighbor.
They
are
older
in
day
70,
I'm
older
than
70.
F
sometime.
When
I
got
a
coach,
I
really
scared
that
someone
will
take
me
out
of
my
home.
Is
it
mean
I
cannot
quantum
near
to
my
mom
and
I
cannot
come
back.
I
don't
want
to
separate
with
her
because
she's
so
nice
with
me
and
she
not
yelled
at
me.
My
favorite
thing
to
do
with
her
is
take
her
photograph
and
she's
happy.
F
F
A
A
Our
next
storyteller
knows
deeply
the
struggles
of
students.
Dania
vasquez
is
the
head
of
school
at
the
margarita
munez
academy
in
jamaica,
plain
she's,
a
personal
friend,
an
extraordinary
leader
and
an
advocate
for
immigrant
youth
and
other
marginalized
communities
in
boston,
she's,
also
the
wisest
person.
I
know
an
amazing
painter
and
someone
that
I've
had
the
privilege
and
pleasure
to
travel
with
for
10
days
in
rwanda
on
the
bar
fellowship
join
me
in
welcoming
dania.
G
My
nurse,
my
secretary,
I
invited
the
custodians
because
I
wanted
to
have
a
conversation
about
what
what
would
we
do
if
we
had
a
staff
or
a
student
with
corona
virus
in
the
building
like
what
was
the
protocol-
and
you
know
they
were
kind
of
entertaining
me
to
be
honest
with
you
and
at
some
point
one
of
them
said
why.
Why
are
you
worried
about
this?
This
is
not
gonna
happen.
G
You're
the
only
principal
talking
about
this,
and
you
know
what
it's
ten
days
later,
that
we
were
told
we
had
to
be
on
lockdown
and
what
did
that
mean?
It
was
march
16th.
Actually
I
remember
like
rushing
the
kids
into
the
building
and
out
of
the
building
like
giving
them
computers
and
books
and
paper
and
materials,
and
then
gathering
the
teachers
and
saying
listen.
Take
your
most
important
stuff.
G
Take
some
books
whatever
you
need,
but
I
think
we'll
be
back
like
I
said
we
have
to
be
back
like
latest
by
after
april
vacation,
and
you
know
they
all
kind
of
agreed
and
a
few
even
said.
No,
it's
just
going
to
be
a
couple
weeks.
You
know
little
did
we
know
what
we
were
heading
into
and
the
uncertainty
and
even
not
just
feeling
unsettled,
but
really
feeling
scared
and
time
time
really
rolled
on,
and
we
had
to
figure
out
like
how
do
you
do
remote
learning?
G
What
is
that
and
literally
building
the
plane
while
we
were
flying
it?
I
hate
that
term
that
little
phrase
it's
trite,
but
it
was
so
true,
and
you
know
we
were
all
told,
including
administrators.
You
know,
don't
be
in
the
building,
and
that
was
very
emotional
and
controversial,
and
so
you
know
I
was
home
for
several
weeks
and
and
I
think
it
was
after
april
vacation.
G
She
holds
us
and
I
think
that's
why
I
needed
to
go
just
to
check
on
everything
and
be
there,
and
it
was
just
so
quiet.
It
was
me
and
a
custodian
in
the
building
that
day.
I
remember,
and
you
know
eventually
a
couple
of
my
admin
team
came
in
and
my
secretary
begged
me,
you
know
to
let
her
come
into
the
building
and
you
know
soon
a
couple
of
days
after
I
went
upstairs
to
check
on
the
classrooms
and
I
remember
walking
through
and
it
was
like
the
twilight
zone
like
we
literally
ran
out.
G
It
was
like
we
were
coming
back
in
a
few
days,
but
we
hadn't-
and
it
was
just
so
quiet
and
cold
and
dark-
and
I
remember
just
sitting
there
in
a
room
and
having
this
flashback
to
my
own
youth,
because
I
was
thinking
about
my
kids,
my
students,
my
families.
You
know
I
grew
up
as
a
latina
as
a
puerto
rican
in
washington
heights
in
new
york,
and
you
know
I.
G
How
old-
and
you
know
I
had
my
fair
share
of
struggling
with
my
identity
early
on
in
my
life,
and
you
know
discrimination,
but
you
know
what
this
pandemic
hundredfold
blew
it
out
of
the
water,
like
whatever
I
experienced
as
a
young
person,
my
latino
community,
my
black
and
brown
kids.
They
were
experiencing
something
that
was
warp
speed.
It
was
just
it
was
just
different.
G
I
mean
I
had
a
mother
called
me
to
say:
can
you
help
me?
You
know
turn
on
this
pebt
card,
I
don't
I
don't
get
it
and
I
was
like
yeah
sure,
of
course.
Well
you
know
what
you
need
like
a
double
phd
to
make
that
thing
work
and
get
through
the
bureaucracy.
How
is
like
anybody
who
doesn't
speak
the
language
supposed
to
get
through
that
really
infuriating
or
I
had
a
mom
call
me
to
say
that
she
lost
her
job.
G
You
know,
and
you
know
with
the
mother
who
called
me
to
say
that
she
was
in
her
final
term
of
pregnancy
and
didn't
have
food
like
what
and
then
you
know
we
had
the
phone
calls
from
students.
You
know
my
lily,
who
called
me
to
say
I
can't
believe
we're
not
gonna
have
graduation
and
yeah
everybody
knew
they
weren't
gonna
have
graduation
like
the
regular
graduation
was
gonna,
be
zoom
graduations,
but
you
know
for
a
latino
kid
like
who's,
the
first
in
her
family,
to
graduate
like
damn
it.
G
She
was
missing
that
marker
that
big
event-
and
it
was
just
painful
and
my
staff
they're
heroes.
Like
that's
all
I
could
say
it's
just
like
they're
heroes.
They
were
just
like
not
just
teaching,
they
were
delivering
chromebooks
and
everything
else
in
between
hot
spots,
figuring
out
how
to
get
food
to
families.
G
My
family
coordinator
figured
out
like
housing
vouchers.
I
mean
we
were
doing
everything
to
hold
our
community
and
then,
as
if
that
pandemic,
all
the
trauma
of
that
pandemic
that
moment
in
the
pandemic,
because
we're
still
in
it,
you
know
if
it
wasn't
enough,
we
all
had
to
witness
the
murder
of
george
floyd.
G
You
know,
because
we
were
all
thinking
we'll
be
back
right
and
teachers
set
up
these
like
space,
pods,
six
feet
away
and
a
lot
a
lot,
a
lot
of
cleaning
supplies-
oh
my
god,
never
seen
so
many
cleaning
supplies-
and
there
was
a
moment
that,
like
six
of
us,
found
ourselves
in
the
plaza
which
is
sort
of
the
entrance
of
the
school,
that's
what
we
call
it
and
it
was
just
delightful.
We
hadn't
seen
each
other
for
months,
and
it
was
like.
Oh
my
god.
G
It's
so
good
to
see
you
and
you
know
we
couldn't
hug
each
other
or
anything
and
then
as
quickly
as
we
found
each
other.
We
started
to
peel
away
like
there
was
like
some
coronavirus
protocol
like
you're
in
the
space
for
too
many
minutes
you
need
to
leave,
but
it
was
just
wonderful
to
see
people
a
group
of
people
to
see
my
teachers
in
person
and
the
fall
just
like
was
this
ball
of
confusion
of
communication
you're
starting
you're?
G
Not
starting,
and
you
know
we
had
to
not
just
translate
the
language
we
had
to
translate
what
was
going
on
for
our
families.
It
was
just
so
confusing
for
us
and
our
families
would
call
us
and
we'd
have
these
zoom
meetings
with
families
and
I'd
email
them
and
all
kind
of
text
messages
just
to
keep
them
apprised
of
where
we
were.
G
It
was
really
really
hard,
and
I
remember
one
of
my
teachers.
She
was
sort
of
at
the
fed
up
moment
and
she
says
I
need
to
go
see
this
kid,
I'm
going
to
wear
a
mask
and
a
gown
and
you
know
a
glove.
She
said
I
swear
to
god.
Just
let
me
go
see
him
I'll
stand
across
the
street
because
we
just
miss
them
so
much.
G
It
was
finally
february
when
we
actually
were
able
to
allow
high
school
kids
and
certain
kids
to
come
back
into
the
building,
and
it
was
really
joyful,
I
have
to
say
messy
and
complicated
and
nerve-wracking,
but
mostly
joyful,
to
see
them
start
to
come
back
and
it
was
like
late
march.
We
were
getting
more
kids
in
and
we
were
calling
them
and
trying
to
encourage
them
and
give
them
confidence.
You
know
that
it
was
safe
and
there
was
a
morning
that
I
happened
upon.
G
One
of
my
boys-
emilio-
it's
maybe
10
in
the
morning
and
amelia-
was
doing
this
very
happy
very,
very
jazzy
merengue
in
the
hallway.
There
was
no
one
else
there.
He
was
just
dancing
all
by
himself
and
I
went
over
to
to
to
him.
You
know
I
was
taking
it
in
for
a
few
seconds
and
then
you
know
I
mean
what
are
you
doing
and
he
says
miss
this.
G
I'm
waking
up
and
I'm
like
yeah.
You
have
pajama
pants
on
and
a
hoodie
and
chanklettas.
What
did
you
just
roll
out
of
bed?
We
had
suspended
the
uniform,
we
just
wanted
them
to
come
in
the
building.
You
know
it's
no
mess.
No!
No!
No!
You
don't
understand.
He
says.
I'm
waking
up.
I've
been
at
home
for
so
many
months
and
I
haven't
seen
that
many
people
and
I'm
here
and
I
feel
like
I'm
waking
up.
G
You
know
it
it
inspired
me.
I
had
been
throughout
all
those
months
up
until
that
moment,
I
was
trying
to
figure
out
how
to
like
place
my
emotions
and
I'm
not
a
writer.
I
am
a
good
email
writer,
but
I
am
not
a
writer,
but
I
had
been
writing
some
poetry
and
emilio
really
inspired
me,
and
so
I
want
to
close
and
just
share
a
few
lines
of
one
of
my
poems,
because
it's
it's
where
we're
at
right
and
the
poem
is
called
getting
out
of
zumbi
land.
G
G
E
Thank
you
dania.
I
love
that
you
discovered
a
new
passion
with
poetry
and
I
can
definitely
speak
from
personal
experience
that
a
lot
of
us
have
discovered
interesting,
new
hobbies
this
year.
For
me,
I
found
the
joy
of
painting
and
have
found
it
to
be
a
more
productive
way
of
surviving
the
last
year
than
endless
re-watches
on
streaming
services,
not
that
I
haven't
done
that.
E
Unsurprisingly,
our
next
teller
also
enjoys
several
creative
passions,
photography
numbering
among
them,
sixto
aravello,
was
born
in
central
america.
Like
me,
he
and
his
family
are
el
salvadorian
and,
like
so
many
immigrants
and
others
sixto
juggles
many
responsibilities
from
school
to
multiple
jobs
as
excited
as
I
am.
I
don't
want
to
give
away
his
education
journey
this
year
during
the
pandemic,
because
I
cannot
do
it
justice,
let's
bring
him
on
to
share
it
with
you
in
his
own
words,
sixto
arevello.
H
With
every
new
decision
I
take,
there
is
always
a
challenge
that
follows:
it's
a
never-ending
trial
and
error
to
try
to
reach
my
goals
and
aspirations.
It
was
not
until
I
realized.
I
must
learn
to
adapt
that
I
started
to
make
progress
in
december
2019.
I
made
the
decision
to
take
my
college
education
seriously.
H
H
I
tried
everything
being
a
full-time
student,
that's
stressful,
being
a
part-time
student
and
taking
classes
at
night.
It's
all
right,
but
I'm
getting
home
late
and
tired
and
the
worst
online
classes
I'm
a
bad
procrastinator
as
it
is
online
classes.
Give
me
too
much
room
to
slack
off.
I
allow
the
homework
assignments
to
accumulate
and
it
never
ends
well.
For
me,
at
this
point
I
start
debating
is
college
even
worth
it.
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
My
anxiety
about
the
class
begins
to
grow,
as
I
allowed.
The
homework
assignments
to
accumulate,
but
then
mass
pay
gives
me
the
perfect
excuse
to
quit.
They
changed
the
grading
criteria
to
pass
every
student
as
long
as
they
finished
the
class
and
allowed
students
to
withdraw
without
it
affecting
their
transcript.
H
H
The
pandemic
became
a
challenge
for
me
for
one
work
became
miserable.
Everyone
is
on
their
toes,
people
are
stressed,
and
I
don't
blame
them.
This
pandemic
is
real
and
people
are
dying
from
it
as
a
frontline
worker.
Putting
your
health
at
risk
is
draining
I'm
getting
home
every
day,
tired
and
I'm
afraid
that
my
family
is
at
risk.
H
H
Some
time
goes
by
it's
christmas,
2020
and
my
family.
My
family
makes
a
decision
to
have
my
grandma
travel
from
el
salvador
where
she
lives.
The
situation
is
tough
and
she
lives
on
her
own.
We
decide
it's
better
for
her
to
be
here
with
us.
She
can
wait
out
the
pandemic
until
things
settle
down
and
then
she
can
travel
back
home
once
it's
safe.
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
I
had
to
prioritize
my
education
after
careful
consideration
and
a
lot
of
conversations
with
my
parents,
I
decided
to
go
forward
with
it.
I
applied
and
I
got
accepted
as
I
finished
the
last
couple
of
days
at
my
job,
I
had
to
join
a
zoom
pre-orientation
meeting
still
a
bit
reluctant.
I
sit
in
front
of
my
computer
and
I
just
all
right.
H
H
E
E
So
our
next
teller
and
I
share
a
personal
interest
in
research.
As
I
discussed
earlier,
my
role
at
ii
includes
managing
our
many
research
initiatives.
We've
partnered
with
organizations
like
welcoming
america,
boston,
college
and
tufts
universities
highlight
the
positive
social
and
economic
impacts
of
refugees
and
immigrants
in
our
communities.
E
I
I
For
weeks
we
had
been
watching
the
crisis
unfold
in
china
and
make
its
way
to
iran,
but
on
march
7
the
saudi
arabian
government
closed
the
border
to
bahrain
and,
as
I
watched
cars,
pile
up
on
either
wa
side
of
the
causeway
as
people
scrambled
to
get
home.
I
thought
maybe
I
should
change
my
flight
to
boston.
I
It
was
booked
for
the
following
week
three
weeks,
I
thought
three
weeks
and
this
will
pass
and
then
I'll
go
back.
It
never
occurred
to
me
that
the
virus
would
keep
making
its
way
westward
transgressing
every
man-made
border
and
upending
everything
in
its
path
that
spring
of
2020.
I
was
on
a
research
sabbatical
from
my
job
as
an
assistant
professor
of
international
relations
at
boston
university.
I
My
work
focuses
on
citizenship
and
migration
in
the
middle
east
and
the
themes
I
explore
include
statelessness
forced
migration,
human
trafficking.
That
spring
I
took
a
research
team
to
istanbul
where
my
students
and
I
interviewed
local
nonprofits
who
were
serving
refugees
and
other
undocumented
migrants
in
turkey.
After
a
successful
trip
in
january
and
february,
my
plan
was
to
come
back
to
boston
and
then
go
back
to
istanbul
over
the
summer
to
conduct
a
larger
scale
survey
in
between
I
use
the
opportunity
to
go
home.
I
I
I
valued
the
time
that
I
had
to
spend
with
my
mother,
my
brother
and
my
three
little
nieces
and
my
close
friends
and
family
in
bahrain,
but
by
june
I
was
scrambling
to
find
a
way
back
to
the
united
states,
where
I
would
be
in
violation
of
my
green
card.
It
made
me
think
of
how
important
time
is
in
migration
enforcement,
how
someone
can
become
illegal
by
spending
too
much
time
in
a
country
or
in
my
case,
by
spending
too
much
time
outside
of
it.
I
I
it
didn't
matter
that
the
whole
world
had
been
turned
on
its
head
and
there
were
no
direct
flights
between
boston
and
bahrain.
As
long
as
the
u.s
border
was
open
to
permanent
residence,
I
had
to
find
myself
back,
and
so
I
had
to
purchase
two
different
tickets
and
lay
over
it
five
times
before.
I
found
myself
back
in
boston
just
in
the
nick
of
time,
at
logan
airport
by
the
end
of
june,
that
summer
of
2020
was
eerie.
I
I
My
life
descended
into
pure
chaos
and
I
started
to
crave
that
silence.
Time
went
from
being
the
only
thing
I
had
to
the
only
thing
I
couldn't
find.
Each
day
I
had
a
book
tour
that
went
virtual
along
with
every
conference,
and
that
meant
that
I
had
to
prep
my
classes
and
teach
and
also
give
these
lectures
without
any
time
to
prep
in
between,
and
then
I
was
waking
up
at
the
crack
of
dawn
working
late
into
each
night
and
working
every
single
weekend.
I
I
I
How
not
having
legal
security
can
make
it
very
difficult
to
calculate
your
future
and
how
that
impacts
your
daily
life
and
that
fall.
I
started
to
see
what
that
meant.
It
started,
it
stopped
being
something
I
just
researched
and
started
to
become
something
I
experienced
and
something
I
was
seeing.
My
students
experience
their
ability
to
really
be
present
in
the
classroom
was
completely
crumbling
under
this
pressure
to
not
and
insecurity
about
what
was
to
come
and
how
to
calculate
their
own
futures.
I
Mental
health
is
something
that
I've
been
especially
attuned
to
during
my
past
seven
years
as
a
professor,
because
I've
lost
students
to
suicide.
In
fact,
I
lost
a
student
to
suicide
my
first
year
of
teaching,
and
I
think
it
was
especially
devastating
that
was
my
lowest
point
in
my
career.
I
feel
like
we're
responsible
for
these
students
and
I
had
failed
him
and
I
think
the
scariest
part
was.
I
didn't
see
any
warning
signs.
He
seemed
like
he
was
fine.
I
In
fact
he
seemed
like
he
was
great
and
he
was
even
turning
assignments
in
early
and
then
suddenly
he
was
gone,
and
so
even
though
that
experience
taught
me
that
you
know
you
can't
tell
sometimes
when
students
are
just
in
distress,
I
think
all
of
the
strategies
I
had
in
place
were
to
treat
mental
health
as
something
that
I
should
react
to.
I
would
look
for
signs
of
distress
and
then
act
and
that
fall.
I
started
to
be
more
proactive
about
thinking
about
how
to
do
that.
So
first
I
made
all
of
my
deadlines
flexible.
I
Then
I
would
really
kind
of
watch
my
students.
I
would
look
at
their
energy
levels.
I
would
see
who
had
bloodshot
eyes
and
seemed
like
they
couldn't
sleep
or
had
occasionally
would
cry
during
office
hours,
and
then
I
would
contact
those
students
individually
talk
to
them
privately
and
ask
them
to
seek
help
when
they
opened
up
about
things
that
they
were
going
through,
and
I
found
out
that
there
were
a
whole
range
of
negative
coping
strategies
that
they
had
adopted.
I
How
can
I
incorporate
mental
health
into
the
curriculum
itself,
rather
than
just
focusing
on
specific
students
who
need
help?
How
can
I
bring
this
into
the
way
I
teach
and
and
make
it
so
that
mental
health
doesn't
have
the
stigma
that
only
certain
people
need
support
instead
of
all
fascinating
support?
I
And
so
what
I
do
in
all
of
my
classes
and
have
always
done,
is
ask
students,
in
the
beginning
of
the
semester,
to
introduce
themselves
to
say
why
they
were
taking
my
class
and
to
just
share
something
surprising
about
them,
and
that
was
kind
of
an
icebreaker
and
last
spring
I
added
two
more
questions.
I
asked
them:
what
are
you
going
to
do
to
be
proactive
about
your
mental
health,
this
semester,
and
what
are
you
going
to
do
for
fun
this
semester,
and
it
was
a
really
beautiful
experience.
I
Students
really
appreciated.
Having
that
openness,
some
actually
used
that
initial
icebreaker
to
reveal
some
of
their
own
mental
health
diagnoses.
Others
talked
about
the
fact
that
they
would
make
an
effort
to
go
outside
and
exercise.
Some
said
that
they
would
start
trying
to
dance,
even
if
it
meant
dancing
alone
in
their
rooms.
Others
said
that
they
would
bake
cookies
because
and
go
around
their
dorms
and
knock
on
doors
and
offer
cookies,
because
they
had
a
hard
time
making
friends
in
the
fall
each
every
two
weeks.
I
I
would
start
the
class
by
asking
for
a
show
of
hands
of
how
many
people
actually
kept
up
with
the
plans
that
they
made
and
when
they
didn't.
I
would
ask
them
why
and
what
they
could
do
to
make
sure
that
they
were
actually
a
being
proactive
about
their
mental
health
and
b
thinking
about
how
they
could
have
fun
this
semester.
I
also
shared
my
own
strategies.
I
I
A
A
I
also
liked
how
you
emphasize
the
need
to
do
things
differently,
which
is
exactly
our
next
tellers
experience.
Liliana
avendano
is
from
colombia
and
moved
to
boston.
Seven
years
ago,
she's
currently
learning
english
very
passionate
about
working
on
co-ops,
and
we
know
her
because
she's,
a
founding
member
and
facilitator
with
the
cooperative
center
for
development
and
solidarity
in
east
boston.
Our
partner
in
helping
immigrant
entrepreneurs
develop
worker-owned
co-ops
lyniana
has
impacted
hundreds
of
lives
in
the
community
and
we're
so
honored
she's
sharing
her
story
tonight.
J
And
a
resilient
person-
and
you
know
why
is
because
I
I
survived
for
difficult
problems
in
my
life,
I'm
co-founder
with
lusanbrano
for
the
center
for
cooperative
development
in
solidarity.
Ccds,
we
create
that
organization
with
the
proposal
inspire
and
empower
people
to
create
cooperatives
in
our
community.
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
I
J
A
Thank
you
liliana,
what
a
great
way
for
us
to
end
this
program
today,
I'd
really
like
to
thank
all
of
our
storytellers
who
are
here
with
us,
live,
I
know
they're
turning
on
their
videos,
and
I
want
to
ask
you
to
please
take
a
virtual
bow
right
now
and
do
it
in
any
way
that
you,
like
you
were
all
so
terrific
and
I
so
enjoyed
hearing
your
stories.
As
I
know,
everyone
else
did.
Thank
you.
Everyone
for
joining
us
today,
also
including
mayor
janey
and
superintendent
casilius.
A
I'd
also
like
to
really
thank
my
team,
especially
my
communications
manager
pain
you
who
just
did
a
fabulous
job
in
shepherding
this
program
and
our
partners.
I
I
n
e,
particularly
rebecca
leclaire
and
my
co-host
chris
ko
and,
of
course,
cheryl
hamilton,
who
helped
prep
all
of
our
storytellers
before
we
get
into
the
live
q
and
a
which
we're
really
excited
to
do
here
with
our
storytellers.
I
just
want
to
remind
you
all,
we'll
post
these
stories
and
translations
on
our
website
at
boston.gov
immigrant.
A
So
please
check
that
out
and
share
these
widely.
You
know
I'll
just
say.
For
me,
I
mean
this
put
just
a
profound
face
on
the
pandemic
to
hear
these
stories.
If
you'd
like
to
learn
more
also
about
my
office
moya
reach
out
anytime,
we're
at
on
twitter
at
boss,
immigrants,
our
email
is
immigrant
advancement
at
boston.gov.
K
A
Our
number
is
617-635-2980
now,
let's
get
into
some
of
our
questions,
feel
free
to
put
your
questions
in
the
chat
and
or
or
the
q
a,
and
I
will
prioritize
those
but
to
get
us
kicked
off.
I'm
just
gonna
actually
start
off
with
sigto.
You
know.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
story.
Now
I
wanted
to
ask
you:
how
much
work
did
it
take
to
craft
your
story
and
once
you
did,
that
story
did
you
feel
like
in
in
the
process
of
reflecting
something
maybe
changed
about
you
in
that
process.
H
H
I
changed
it
up
a
bit
and
I
was
like
there's
something
just
isn't
missing
and
then
lastly,
I
was
like
there
needs
to
be
a
message
behind
this,
and
I
just
that's
where
I
came
up
with
it.
I
was
like
life
is
a
trial
and
error,
whether
there's
a
pandemic,
whether
whatever
the
situation
is
whatever
life
throws
at
you.
H
I
need
to
be
adaptable,
so
I
was
like
you
know
what
that's
going
to
be
my
message
and
that's
something
that
I
realized.
I'm
like
you
know
what
that's
what
I
did
do.
I
was
adaptable.
I
made
it
happen,
and
likewise
I
just
hope
people
can
can
hear
my
story
and
if,
by
any
chance,
be
inspired
by
it
or
learn
something
then
that's
why
I
did
it.
A
Well,
it
was
a
beautiful
lesson
that
you
taught
all
of
us
and
I
think
that's
a
theme
that
has
been
with
all
of
us
in
this
pandemic,
which
is
of
flexibility
and
perseverance,
trial
and
error,
which
I
think
we
heard
in
all
of
our
stories
me
I'm
going
to
go
to
you
next.
You
know
you
have
this
theme
of
feeling
homesick
here
in
america
and
wanting
to
you
know
be
in
vietnam,
and
you
know
the
street
food,
and
I
mean
the
images
were
beautiful
in
your
story.
A
F
Yes,
I
exactly
feel
to
play.
I
can
feel
like
it's.
My
home
is
my
school
at
vinca,
where
I
can
be
myself
and
like
my
friends,
they
also
like
my
brother
and
sister
and
also
is
my
apartment,
where
my
mom,
and
I
feel
I
also
be
myself
when
I
with
her
so
that
is
to
play.
I
can
feel
like
home
in
my
life
now.
A
That's
beautiful,
and
I
know
school
communities,
and
just
the
idea
of
community
is
just
so
so
important
is
particularly
starting
to
come
back
from
this
pandemic
and
speaking
of
community.
I
want
to
turn
it
over
to
danya,
who
is
has
her
own
school
community
and
my
goodness,
those
images
that
you
had
in
your
story,
for
instance,
of
emiliano,
doing
the
merengue
and-
and
so
I'm
wondering
now
as
people
are
completely
back
in
school,
you
know
what
are
well
now.
A
G
I
call
my
staff
gumby
these
days,
because
they've
turned
themselves
inside
out
to
get
kids
back
and
talk
to
them
and
to
very
similar
to
I
think,
sikhsto.
You
know
you
talked
about
how
your
school
made
all
these
sort
of
changes
to
how
they
were
doing
things
in
terms
of
grading
and
lots
of
things
just
to
like
keep.
G
You
guys,
engaged
right
and
not
penalize
you,
and
so
that
that's
part
of
what
we've
been
doing
here
at
winis
academy,
and
so
not
all
of
our
kids
have
chosen
to
return
to
in
person
in
the
building
and
and
so
that's
that's
still
a
struggle.
And-
and
today
I
just
asked
one
student,
you
know
who
came
for
to
do
a
special
presentation
with
her
mom
and
you
know
we
asked
mom
as
they
were
leaving
you
know.
G
Is
she
ready
to
come
back
and
she
said
not
yet
september,
and
so
I
think
our
kids
are
getting
vaccinated.
Our
families
are
getting
more
comfortable
with
getting
vaccinated,
but
they're
still
hesitant,
and
so
the
image
that
I
would
leave
you
with
is
that
we
started
some
of
our
summer
learning
early
for
a
small
group
of
10th
graders
and
we're
partnering
with
hail
and
it's
all
outside
and
after
the
first
day
they
were
exhausted
and
they
said
we
haven't
moved
this
much
all
year.
This
is
a
lot
I
said
exactly.
A
I
I'm
really
glad
to
hear
that
your
your
kids
are
going
to
be
able
to
have
a
graduation
in
the
way
they
are
and
gosh
it's
it's
those
it's
those
things
that
we
took
so
much
for
granted
that
you
know
now
are
only
starting
to
come
back,
but
I
just
can't
imagine
what
it's
been
like
for
for
for
our
students,
and
I
you
know
the
other
thing
that
has
really
stood
out
to
me
about
the
story.
Was
this
idea
of
waking
up?
A
You
know
because
I
feel
like
the
country
is
starting
to
wake
up,
and
with
that
I
I
want
to
turn
to
you
nora,
which
is
you
know,
we're
waking
up,
but
what's
interesting.
What
I
found
so
beautiful
about
your
story
is
that
that
focus
on
mental
health
and
these
strategies
that
you
started
to
institute
with
your
students.
A
So
the
question
is,
you
know:
are
you
sticking
to
your
plan
around
that
and
any
any
words
of
wisdom
for
us
as
we
start
to,
because
we're
gonna
go
through
another
big
change
now
and
coming
back
as
daniel's
describing
so
you
know,
how
are
you
thinking
about
that
and
and
are?
Is
there
something
that
you're
trying
with
your
students
there.
I
Yeah,
thank
you.
First
of
all,
it's
such
an
honor
to
be
part
of
this
group
and
to
learn
from
these
stories.
So
I
don't
know
if
I
have
words
of
wisdom.
I
think
I've
learned
a
lot
and
I
I'd
love
even
for
people
in
the
chat
to
share
any
strategies
that
they
use
to
be
proactive
about
mental
health.
But
I
think
that
at
least
in
the
university
we
know
that
it's
been
systematic
in
these
higher
education
institutions.
I
We
see
suicide.
We
see
this
kind
of
distress,
but
it's
never
part
of
the
curriculum.
It's
always
kind
of
a
reaction.
There's
some
people
who
just
can't
handle
the
stress
and
therefore,
and
because
of
you,
know,
hipaa
violations
restrictions
on
privacy.
I
think
the
students
who
come
to
me
are
all
over
18,
so
they're
adults.
I
So,
even
if
I
see
that
someone's
in
distress,
I
can't
really
you
know-
I
have
to
take
a
step
back
and
just
use
the
protocols
in
place
and
also
respect
their
privacy
and
so
trying
to
find
what
that
balance
is
of
how
you
can
help
but
not
overstep
your
boundaries,
because
at
the
end
of
the
day
I
need
to
respect
people's
boundaries
and
their
privacies
just
meant
that
now,
I
think,
about
fun
and
that
becomes
part
of
the
homework.
What
are
you
going
to
do
for
fun
and
sometimes
I'll
say
one
thing.
B
A
Well,
we'll
look
at
the
chat,
I'm
sure
people
will
start
to
share
some
of
the
things
creative
things
they've
started
to
do
in
in
the
pandemic,
and
now
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
to
liliana
liliana.
You
know.
The
thing
that
I
was
thinking
about
in
regards
to
your
story
is
just
how
you
were
there
for
elizabeth.
A
J
J
This
is
one
of
the
first
step
and
the
other
part
is
when
you
can
transform
the
pain
or
the
crisis.
Like
can
I
say
it
in
further
for
our
community
in
opportunities?
This
is
one
of
them.
I
think
the
most
important
and
when
I
saw
in
our
community
the
community
impacted
they
can.
You
know
you
sufi,
because
you
are
part
of
groups
that
we
work
together,
for
example
the
community
that
are
studying
english
with
english
for
new
bostonian
moya
and
harbourside.
J
J
J
J
A
Amen
to
that,
I
think
we're
what
a
what
a
powerful
message
for
us
to
end
on.
You
know
believing
in
our
own
power.
I
know
that
you
know
so
many
of
our
young
people
can
particularly
you
know,
take
that
pretty
powerful
lesson
away.
I
I
honestly
could
talk
to
each
one
of
you
for
hours.
I
took
a
bunch
of
notes
on
your
stories
and
I
want
I
have
follow-up
questions,
but
we
promised
everyone
we're
going
to
end
by
8
15..
A
So
I
encourage
everyone
to
reach
out
to
these
incredible
people
hear
their
stories.
Please
play
them.
Thank
you,
everyone
for
being
attendants.
Thank
you
for
all
of
our
storytellers
for
putting
their
incredible
work
in
on
this
and
again,
all
the
stories
will
be
up
on
our
website
at
boston.gov,
immigrant
we're
gonna
now
close
the
zoom
link.
So
thank
you
everyone.
I
hope
you
have
a
beautiful
night
beautiful
summer
as
as
dania
is
saying
you
know,
she's
working
on
getting
her
school
vaccinated.
I
just
asked
everyone
gets
vaccinated.
I
got
vaccinated.
A
Our
whole
team
has
gotten
vaccinated
every
yeah
people
are
raising
their
hands.
If
you
know
someone
that
isn't
vaccinated,
please
give
them
that
little
push,
because
you
know,
as
a
cooperative
movement,
you
know,
teaches
us
it's
all
about
community
and
us
in
this
together
with
that
good
night,
and
thank
you
again,
iainey
for
this
beautiful
program.