As a young immigrant from China, Kevin faced many challenges while transitioning, the language barrier being one of the most difficult. When he shared with me about how he could not communicate fluently with his classmates nor understand his teachers in class, I really resonated with his frustration because I came as an immigrant to the U.S. myself seven years ago.

“Mrs. Disha, I don’t see your whole face. Something is wrong with the screen.” This is what one of the students said to me one day when I didn’t want him to see that I was eating a quick snack. “Oh it’s fine, I am here for you.” I said, as I finished my snack and adjusted the screen so he could see my full face. My other two students joined in smiling and waving with both their hands as they logged in.