Inquiry in Education - Students' work - Professor Randy Brozen

Some say frogs are associated with prosperity because they are found near water and we are all in desperate need of water to survive. Being a student at CCNY School of Education is the same as frogs near the pond because it helps prepare students and set them on the right path, to obtain prosperityas well after graduating, as the frog symbolizes wealth and transformation. I consider this frog to be a symbol of good luck and success for me and other CCNY School of Education students. As future teachers, we need a quality of education in order to help students thrive in a learning environment. CCNY School of Education provides quality education that gives us hope to succeed, and helps us make change in our communities. CCNY School of Education is the most popular and diverse school in New York City. It is the only school that has bilingual education in various languages and particularly in the Arabic language. By graduating from CCNY school of education, we will have the power of educating a new generation and make a massive impact in our society.

When I first heard of City College, it was from my mom who had, at the time, recently graduated from there. My mother is the strongest women I know. She has worked very hard for her education despite having had me at an early age. Naturally, she had invited the whole family to come to her graduation party and I had not expected the campus to look like what it did. Gorgeous trees with white rose petals filled the campus and a gorgeous open field. The architecture blew me away and the school’s colors contains my favorite color, purple. I remember commenting to her about just how beautiful the campus was. She eagerly nodded her head and told me that one day I might graduate from there too. At the time, I had decided on Pace University for the fall so I scoffed at her. Little did I know, I’d be transferring there in a year.
    
Due to several reasons, I left Pace University and took a semester off. During that semester off, I decided that I’d work and apply to City College. It was the only CUNY that really caught my eye during my college application process in high school and it had continued to be, till that day. On a whim, I decided that if I got in, it would be fate. After all, I had only applied to one school that year. The day I found out that I had been accepted to the college, my heart went into overdrive and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I was so glad, scared, happy, and confused. Despite my emotions, all I could think was: I did it. I made it. Before City College, I had never really taken public transportation. In fact, I was afraid of taking trains by myself. The idea alone would trigger my anxiety and cause a million butterflies to erupt in my tummy. I quickly had to overcome this fear because my new reality included commuting to City College. After overcoming this fear along with getting my school ID, I was ready to start my new journey at CCNY.
    
City college has really great students that attend it. My first semester of City College I made some great friends that I’m still in contact with, till this day. All the students are all so down to earth and genuine. They are funny, politically woke, and diverse. The students are all friendly and easy to get along with. This is definitely one of my favorite parts about this school. My biggest concern as a transfer student was that I’d struggle to make friends. This college made it very easy for me to make so many friends who are understanding and helpful. Every semester I spend here, I meet a great group of students who not only offer me advice but encourage me to be the best version of myself that I can be. They make the school feel like a second home. They make this school a judgement-free community. It is so easy to relate to them because so many of them have experienced similar things that I have experienced. They are all creative and very talented. City College students encourage one another rather than compete against each other. I absolutely love the unique students that occupy this school.  
    
City College also contains thoughtful, genuine and great professors. For the most part, all the professors I have had, were enjoyable. Professor Carolee Bongiorno changed how I want to teach my classroom in the future. She was so sweet, thoughtful, giving, and amazing! If I could take her again, I would. I also have nothing but kind words to say about Professor Randy Brozen. These professors made me fall in love with my major even more. They make me feel so certain about my major and career choice. They made me feel like every assignment I handed in, was worth all the work I put into it. My creative writing professor is also a lot of fun. Professor Keith Gandal makes our writing pieces come to life which has been encouraging and motivating me to write more. I am learning about how to better my story-telling through plays, poems, short stories, etc. Professor Okpo has such a patient and kind heart. I am beyond appreciative of his patience because math is not my strong suit. Okpo will teach us multiple methods, so that we can find the right one that we feel most comfortable with. I have never enjoyed a math class more than I have with him as a professor. The list only goes on and on. All these professors make sure to put their student’s needs first and work around it, all while still meeting curriculum. They make themselves available for their students and are truly dedicated to them. It warms my heart and makes me feel safe, secure, and confident in my education.
    
The campus architecture and greenery is enough to make me feel at peace. There were so many times where I’d feel stressed about something and one step outside onto the campus, just instantly made me feel better. City College became a safe haven for me in the most unexpected way possible. I never saw myself getting attached to a CUNY because I thought that they didn’t offer their students a genuine community. However, City College pleasantly surprised me. I am a proud member of this college and I always recommend it to my friends. It easily became a second home for me, it became my safe haven.

City College to me means opportunity. The opportunity to succeed, the opportunity to move forward, the opportunity to be exposed to new people and things and the opportunity to follow my dreams. College to me has always been something of importance. I always knew I wanted to go to college, graduate and establish myself in a career. When I thought about college as a kid I thought you were supposed to dorm and be on your own, but that was the complete opposite of the schools I had in mind. I applied to Fordham, all the CUNYs that were known for having excellent education programs, Hunter, City College and Queens College, Manhattan College and St John's University. I chose to stay at home because at the time it was what worked best for me, and my acceptance and eventual choice to attend City College is also what worked best for me.

I took a tour of the campus and honestly it felt like I was transported to another world. When I saw the buildings, like Sheperd Hall, the grass lawns, and the students walking and gathering together it felt like I had gone away to dorm. The surrounding area was also something new for me, and it was exciting to think about how I would be exposed to this new place just a quick train ride away. All of the people I spoke to prior to making my choice of attending City College were so enthusiastic and kind. Everyone spoke from their heart and showed me that they were proud to be a student there. These interactions gave me the last push I needed to finalize my decision, and I knew that I would be happy with where I had chosen to go to college.
    
My first day at City College was nerve wracking but also so exciting. I had no idea what to expect, but it was helpful knowing I had a few friends from high school who were also attending. Stepping into the NAC building and being able to receive my ID made me feel like a real college student. I remember seeing a bunch of busy students working in the library and people eating around the cafe area and thinking to myself I am going to fit in just fine.  The atmosphere of a college classroom felt different, everything was more laid back and everyone was mature. I was nervous about being with new people and possibly not making friends, but I actually connected quickly with a few people in my first class of the day. These connections helped me feel very relaxed and even more excited for the rest of my first day. I enjoyed the fact that I could create my own schedule and pick out classes that interested me. I also enjoyed how free flowing everything was, as opposed to high school where things feel more strict and limiting. I appreciated that the professors were very understanding and made our classes quite enjoyable. Being on campus and interacting with so many different people was wonderful. It was a whole new experience for me and I felt like I was being welcomed into this community with open arms and a multitude of opportunities.
    
In terms of being an education major I feel like the courses I have been able to take so far have been interesting and introduced me to concepts I have never really thought about before. We are always engaged in discussions about different theorists, and different ways to implement a diverse and engaging curriculum in the future. The professors are so kind and understanding of what we may be going through in our personal lives. They are also well experienced in the field so they always offer great insight into how things could look and share their experiences over the years. The education department is very helpful when I have questions about moving forward and I feel strongly supported by this community in particular. I am excited to continue in this major and move up in the content of the education courses because I know I will be prepared for my future work in a classroom setting.
    
Fast forward to today I am in shock that I am about to go into my Junior year. It feels like time is moving so fast, even more so because of the pandemic. I genuinely miss being on campus and having that real college student feel. I do understand though that safety comes first, and I appreciate how hard our professors have been working to create a comfortable and fun classroom environment over zoom. The pandemic was a shock to us all, and I think City College has been handling it well. The fact that they have been working for over a year now to create new protocols and think of the safest ways to allow students back on campus, shows how much the community cares. I knew I had made the right choice choosing City College and the experiences I have had thus far as well as the effort and support the educational community demonstrates solidifies that choice.

Our parents pressure us to succeed in life. But how do we succeed in life? We all have
our definition of success. Success to me happens to be graduating from college with a
Bachelors’s and a Masters’s and making my parents proud. As a senior in high school, my
parents were pressuring me to get into the best colleges. I had no clue what I wanted to study.
Nervous and scared for what the future was filled with. I panicked because I was overwhelmed
with the questions asked on the financial aid application, college application, family reunions,
etc.

I did not have a college in mind because I was still unsure what career field I wanted to
study. We enter college in our late teenage years, and these are the years to venture out and try to
learn new things. I joined City College with an undeclared major; after my first semester, I
decided to major in Biology. After taking Bio and Chem, I realized that I was not happy with the
material. I decided to take an education class because I was curious about teaching, and it turned
out great for me. I loved the class because I was very invested. When I had to do fieldwork, I
was delighted with seeing the children learn and laugh in class. I knew I wanted to become a
teacher. City College became my sanctuary because, just like my classmates, we were confused
and uneasy about our future and panicked about major, minor, and finding a job. We are still
learning and understanding ourselves. City College gave me a variety of options to major in, and
without the help of my professors and counselors, I would not have found my interest in
becoming a teacher.

Dear Future Influencers
by Jocelyn Herrera

Hello!
I see you are still growing
And your mind is still flowing
It's a good thing
So keep unloading

Those ideas are unique
But you will get a lot of critique
And feel stuck
And think your ideas are junk

But you have to stay strong
Because it won't be long
Stick with it
And commit

You can make the change and dont ever stop
Not even for the cops
You are a leader
Believer
And dreamer

Your voice matters
Dont let the chatters
Bring you down
Even if you come from a small town
There are people waiting for you
It might just be two

But soon they’ll be millions
With many opinions
Remmember we got natural rights with the help from John Locke
People were in shock
Freedom of speech with the help from Mathern Luther King Jr.
People wished it happened sooner
I'll see you in a few years
It will bring me tears

Of joy
Everyone will enjoy
Future Learders I hope to be there
I'll have to think what I should wear

Today I stand in front of you
And you ask me what to do
Soon the roles will reverse

But not for the worse
But for now you sit in my class
I know you will pass
Keep doing the hard work
It will pay off

I am your teacher

What City College Means to Me
By Yanmei Hu
When I stepped into the campus,
the smells of books permeated all around.
When there is a gust of wind gently blowing,
it gently stroked my tender face.
This is where people grow up.
People painted flowers of life.
People sing about their experiences of life.
This is where dreams begin.
The creative possibilities are endless.
This is your safe haven,
there's a group of people here who are giving in silence.
They will take care of your vulnerability,
water the flowers of your dreams.
You like a child to absorb the nutrients of knowledge.
What they want to see,
you spread your wings and soar in the sky,
you go against the huge waves in the sea.
Who are they?
They are lights in the darkness.
They are the North Star that points the way.
They are the rains that moisten the earth in spring.
They provide cool shade in summer.
They are the hands of the working people in autumn.
They are the sunshine in winter.
They are great educators at our City College of New York

City College means so much to me. City College was my first pick when I graduated from high school and getting the letter that I was accepted will forever be one of the most important moments of my life. City College was where I went from a teenager to becoming a man. I’ve spent around six years here and changed my majors twice. First, I was a Mechanical Engineering major, then I was a Computer Science major, and now I’m a Psychology major. I came into college as a Mechanical Engineering major because family and friends had pressured me into that path of life when I was so unsure of myself and the world around me. During my time in City College, I was able to interact with hundreds of other people that were from all walks of lives and I was able to explore all kinds of subjects, like philosophy, logical reasoning, theatre, art, and psychology. City College was also a place where I could get away from all of the pressures of life and just focus on myself and school. When I entered the NAC, all that was on my mind was my next class or what I would have for lunch. City College was the place that facilitated my own metamorphosis. It was my cocoon. I’m still changing into the man I want to become but most of what I currently am is because of my time here.

Since I was able to comfortably explore my interests, even though it took years, I was able to find out what I was truly passionate about and that’s Child Psychology. Not only did I find my passion in life, but I also gained a much deeper understanding of who I am. I am a person who wants to help others and make an impact on their lives, who must feel passion for what their doing or else I will lose all motivation, who can wholeheartedly achieve what I’m going for and someone who never gives up. City College also guided me along my path to becoming an adult by showing me how the real world worked and that I had to become as autonomous as possible in the future. City College showed me the importance of having a safe space that you could go to when the world feels oh so scary. Since I had this safe space, I wasn’t afraid to explore the unknown, both in the outside world and in my own mind because I knew that there was always someone that could always help me at City if I got lost. It’s a place that puts just enough pressure on us so that we grow and because of that pressure, many of us will hopefully become successful in life, whatever our definitions of success may be.

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What The School of Education means to me is like a nest where I'm being prepared for the real world of becoming an educator. A place where I can always receive warm support. The absolute nicest people I've met inside are unlike any other college I've been to. The School of Ed has all my respects. I commend them for being so welcoming and accommodating. I remember when I first got to City College, I felt a little bit overwhelmed being in such a huge 36 acre campus. Finding my way to the Ed. Dept main office, was the most liberating feeling because I felt I belonged there. They had my back from day one. I can't count how many times I walked inside with concerns which were solved in the most cordial manner, whether it was for advising or general questions about education or just stopping by to say hello. I found my safe haven inside City College. Thank you School of Education! And Special thanks to Ms. Brozen and Alex for your care and devoted attention.

It is hard to piece together a life. Looking at where a person is in the present is easy. The world can measure and calculate current wealth, accomplishments, levels of happiness, and even idealized representations of success. But what created that life? What decisions, traumas, or simple personality traits led up to the current state of this being? What truly matters? The reasons or the results? What does society owe to people? Can ‘the public’ dictate the value of a life. Is my life worth less than someone else’s because of the trajectory it has taken?

Much to my surprise City College has been the place where I have been able to take the time to truly explore these ideas and questions and begin to formulate a personal ideology for how I believe the world can and should be. City College has made itself the place in my life where I have decided what path I am meant to take in life. City College is the institution where I finally discovered my life’s purpose.

I transferred to City College as a psychology major. The inner workings of the human psyche have always fascinated me. Though, as I drew nearer to completing the psychology major requirements, I felt empty. I knew I did not have the emotional bandwidth to handle a career so closely entwined with others whose struggles were overwhelming. I was floundering directionless, once again, going through the motions of seeking a degree for the promise of a better life, but with no clear future in my mind.

It was shortly after the early days of the shutdown, when I had a bit more downtime due to the closure of my restaurant job, when I began to seek answers. I scoured the CCNY website and addressed many questions about myself and the world when it hit me. The reasons I was so drawn to psychology all revolved around the great need to help others feel validated and understood. I pursued a career in psychology so I could have the tools to aid others struggling through crisis. That is when it occurred to me, why must we teach these skills and coping mechanisms after intervention is needed? Shouldn’t society prepare us for the world when we get older? This is where City College truly guided my journey.

My life’s purpose became clear through my experiences with my fellow CCNY students. Classmate after classmate would share stories of how the school system failed them. What made this failure so stark was the incredible diversity City College contains, yet, regardless of age, race, gender, or socioeconomic status, one through line remained constant, the feeling that the school system left (almost) every student unprepared to face life’s challenges.

City College put me into rooms with people so different from myself in countless ways, and that is what I am most thankful for. Through these differences the clarity in our shared humanity is what radiated through. I found purpose through the stories of my classmates. I found a cause I was deeply passionate for. I felt comforted by the similar experiences of my classmates and the encouraging words of the professors. This is where I discovered my true path was one toward teaching.

The joy I found while helping my peers’ study for midterms or navigate research projects made me feel whole. The passion I felt while discussing the inadequacies in our current school systems and the heartbreaking disparities in educational quality fired me up. I then knew I was destined to be that one good teacher that all the students shared stories about. I want to be the educator to care for their students, to truly invest my all into their growth and well-being. I want to give the next generation what mine did not have. An education system that looks at the entire child and teaches them in a way that fits the individual’s needs.

From the inspiring students and future teachers around me in CCNY’s school of education, I know that I am in good company. Together we will abolish standardized testing and create an American education system focused on equity and quality. Young minds deserve to be taught coping skills and life skills along with the fundamentals of math and reading. City College has given me the confidence to look at myself and my peers and feel excitement at our future to create a more loving and accepting world.

The questions I began with do not have clear cut answers, but City College helped me find one that answers them all: Every life is equally valuable, and that value is priceless. By investing in every human being as a vital piece in our world we become a more compassionate and ultimately better functioning society. Every life has meaning, and every person deserves to be treated in such a way. What City College means to me… It is the gateway for me to spread this message to as many young minds as possible in the future.

When I think about what City College means to me
I can’t help myself from drifting from nightmares to a dream.
It means all of the endless readings.
It means all of the long papers I must write.
It means more hours at a computer.
It means less hours doing what I want to do.
It means all of the tears of exhaustion.
But slowly, all of those thoughts are followed by the dream.
My dream to lead my daughters into the light.
My dream to one day hold the career I have always dreamed of.
My dream to grant my mother the wish she always saw her daughters fulfill.
My dream to break the stigma that single mothers are not able to make it.
My dream to prove that Latina women from the Bronx are in it to win in.
My dream to push myself and my barriers to places and positions that I never imagined I could.
City College’s School of Education is fighting to break all discrimination.
Discrimination against children, against color, against gender.
It fights to prove that education should be equal.
Education should be excellent.
Education should be fun.
Education should be full of love.
Education is the foundation of a future, of our tomorrow, and of our children.
City College means that at the end of the day all the hard work, the endless nights, the days I thought I could no longer keep going, happened for a reason.
Because we will come out stronger.
We will come out better.
We will be whoever we have set out to be.
And although it starts here, it will not end here.