A GALLATIN WRITING PROGRAM PUBLICATION The Gallatin School of Individualized Study New York University 1 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 The Literacy Review An annual journal of writing by adult students in English for Speakers of Other Languages, Basic Education, and General Development Programs in New York City Editor in Chief Editorial Board Libby Goss Mihika Agarwal, Angela Bang, Alexander Barzacanos, Emily Bell, Tsering Bista, Tamasyn Editors Casey, Grace Chan, Juliet Clemens, Gil Cruz, Julie-Ann Hutchinson Reilly Egan, Nadege Giraudet, Grace Guarnieri, Carly A. Krakow Eden Hoffman, Sam Hong, Kristen Iglesias, Melissa Larsen Paoulina Ivanova, Kathryn Jones, Karen Erin Rubenstein Kandelman, John Cole Kantgias, Vanessa Dani Thompson Karalis, Valerie Kipnis, Allyson Kirkpatrick, Designer and Illustrator Isabelle Kitze, Olivia Kreitler, Melissa Lavine, Ritu Ghiya MacKenzie Leighton, Olivia Loving, Samantha Lozada, Samuel Miller, Syma Mohammed, Tali Photographers Jessie Roth Neuhaus, Leah Nouriyelian, Abigail Oakes, Sammy Dalati Sheilamarie Orfano, Allyson Paty, Madeleine Perlmutter, Shelly Pires, Sydney Rappis, Jessie Editorial and Visual Consultant Roth, Madeleine Saaf, Kara Saunders, Nicole Allyson Paty Schenkman, Richard Semus, Henry Sheeran, Isaac Slone, Katherine Smith, Shannon Advisor Sullivan, Ivan Teo, Carley Tsiames, Isabel June Foley, Writing Program Director Wilson, Mariah Young-Jones, Alyssa Yurasits THANKS TO GALLATIN DEANS Susanne Wofford, Dean of the Gallatin School Ali Mirsepassi, Acting Dean Michael Dinwiddie, Acting Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs Linda Wheeler Reiss, Associate Dean for Administration Kimberly DaCosta, Associate Dean of Students Millery Polyné, Acting Associate Dean of Students Celeste Orangers, Assistant Dean for Academic Policy Administration and Institutional Research Patrick McCreery, Assistant Dean for Global Programs Amy Spellacy, Assistant Dean for Advising and Faculty Affairs GALLATIN WRITING PROGRAM FACULTY COMMITTEE Gregory Erickson, Chair; June Foley, Director Anne DeWitt, Chinnie Ding, Lisa Goldfarb, Hannah Gurman, A.B. Huber, Sara Murphy, Stacy Pies, Myisha Priest, Eugene Vydrin LITERACY IN ACTION COURSE INSTRUCTOR Dianne Ramdeholl KIMMEL CENTER FOR UNIVERSITY LIFE Jonathan Ross, Director of Operations; Evelyn DeLeon, Associate Director John H. Reiniers, Manager of Marketing and Scheduling Richard Tom, Senior Scheduler CONSULTANTS Editorial: Dianne Ramdeholl, Adjunct Faculty, Gallatin Design: Lise Friedman, Adjunct Faculty, Gallatin SPECIAL THANKS FOR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION TO FUNDING Lisa Kail, Assistant Director, NYU Office of Civic Engagement Claire Morris Stern, Gallatin, B.A., 1989; M.A., 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 8 The Power of Writing Our Own Stories Dianne Ramdeholl New York City 12 Colors of New York Elena Adasheva-Klein 14 Shot by Shock Hong-Wen Chen 16 Take the A Train Nathaly Garcia 17 God Bless You! Qiao Zhuang (Grace) Zhang 18 See You Tomorrow Oksana Semeniak 20 Sonia Sotomayor on the Subway Ouedraogo Pagom 22 The Lady with the Oranges Agustina Gamero 23 The Symbolic Birds of New York City YingLei Zhuang 24 Where I’m From Lamont Lewis 25 Melody from a Stranger Hector Arguinzones-Noriega 26 My Secret New York Watson (P’Man) Sriboonwong Between Two Cultures 30 At LaGuardia Airport . . . Yanghee Kim 31 My Father’s Wood Shelf Buenaventura Elizabeth Checo 32 A Hundred-Dollar Bill on a Windy Day Magaly Palaguachi 33 My Brothers in the Dominican Republic Eugenio DeLa Cruz 34 A Smell That Takes Me Back Odris Rogers 35 My World Travels with Me Maria Grazia Candela 36 A Hoop-Rolling Memory Keefong Liu 37 Pilaf: More Than Food Farangiz Abdugodirova 38 A Small Piece of Brown Candy Yuanping Xiao 39 Food Is a Way of Life Takako Azuma 40 Jellyfish Village Anna Chan Social Justice 44 Catalyzing Truth Retribution Angel Depeña 46 From Gene to Genius Jeremiah Cumberbatch 47 Why Always Me? Abdoulaye Diogo Balde 48 Amazing Tunisian Women Samia Ben Sliman 49 Could Have Been Fiction Leonardo Petronilha 52 Umbrella Revolution Krystal Fong 54 Living in Ancient Times Brian Liang 56 September 11, 2001 Ruben Juarez 58 Ibrahim Sings No More A Syrian Refugee Work 62 I Am the Queen Iryna Chystsiakova 64 The Big Tip Mustapha Souibrat Odris Rogers 66 Creating Opportunity Anita George Maria Grazia Candela 67 Fashioning My World Huworth Leonce Keefong Liu 70 Refinishing Marlon Lennard Farangiz Abdugodirova 71 A Day at Work Linda Otero Yuanping Xiao Family Takako Azuma Anna Chan 74 Beyond Numbers Hiroyoshi Itabashi 76 My Three Little Angels Fabienne France 78 A Christmas Story Marzia Messina 79 Feeling Scared Kecia Askew Angel Depeña 82 Sometimes It’s Okay to Forget Joann Wilson Jeremiah Cumberbatch 83 Just Smile Robert Nowak Abdoulaye Diogo Balde 84 Learning How to Cook Julieanna Charles Samia Ben Sliman Leonardo Petronilha Surprises Krystal Fong 88 The Contest June Lau Chan Brian Liang Ruben Juarez 90 Baby Grand under the Bridge Cara Montana A Syrian Refugee 91 The Giant Man Anahit Mkrtchyan 92 Because of an Insect Ana Sofia Abreu Pineda 94 Sunflowers Mary Heron 95 Another English Abdelhamid Annemer Iryna Chystsiakova 96 Regional Dialect Sumitra Sen Mustapha Souibrat 98 Sin City Surprise Parvinder Kaur Overcoming 102 The Immigration Officer Asked Me Saadia Aboulfid 103 Secret Juliet Parris 104 My Transformations Ardelle (Dellie) Mitchell 106 Our Journey Obdulia Ambros 108 Growing Yaguang Wei 110 The Crow Who Wouldn’t Quit Galina Gonshanova 112 Don’t Cry Ian Lewis Inspiration and Imagination 116 My Dinner with a Famous Person Julia Uraga 117 Reunion Yunwei Cen 118 Before I Die Mackenson Felix 120 Inspiration Blanca Lopez 122 She Didn’t Like the Diamonds Virginie Lacheny 124 The Dancing Soul Randy Vergara 126 My Impressions of The Kite Runner Nisrine Drissi 128 Snow Cones Claudia Lorena Velez 129 An Evening with John Lennon Hector Ramos Saadia Aboulfid Juliet Parris Ardelle (Dellie) Mitchell Obdulia Ambros Yaguang Wei Galina Gonshanova Ian Lewis Julia Uraga Yunwei Cen Mackenson Felix Blanca Lopez Virginie Lacheny Randy Vergara Nisrine Drissi Claudia Lorena Velez Hector Ramos INTRODUCTION The Power of Writing Our Own Stories Dianne Ramdeholl Writing one’s story on one’s own terms is a deeply political act. As cultural critic and social activist bell hooks points out, “if people don’t tell their own stories, others do it for them. By doing so, they retain authorship and authority, continuing to objectify and colonize.” When someone else tells our story, it ceases to be our own. Oftentimes, it is robbed of critical and essential truths regarding the author’s complex lived realities. In part, the Literacy Review is an attempt to make space for students’ stories to be told, in their own voices and on their own terms. I have taught Gallatin’s Literacy in Action course for several years, and many of the students in the class either are (or go on to be) editors of the Literacy Review. In this course, students are introduced to the landscape of adult literacy and explore current themes and issues within the field. We read, discuss, and write about who adult students are, about society’s (and our own) assumptions about adult literacy, and strategies and philosophies of teaching practice. As part of the course, students volunteer for 20 hours over the course of the semester. As students begin to work at their field sites, the focus of the class moves between broader issues of literacy, power, and privilege in education. We discuss what Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire means when he says that all education is political (and that education can never be neutral). We question who benefits from current policies and structures in our society and how this impacts adult literacy students, the communities they live in, and the other millions of New Yorkers struggling every day in the midst of incredibly complex circumstances. We connect adult literacy in this country to other larger institutionalized inequities, impacted by race, class, 8