The Importance of Education

We all talk about how education is so important and for many of us, our parents do not care what we do, as long we as we obtain our education in the process. A Bachelors Degree is a minimal standard in our households and we typically assume that all Indians that are in the 28-year-old age range at least have their Bachelors Degree.

At a recent Samaj I attended, I met many Indians who worked within educational institutions as Department Chairs or Deans of this or that University. Though I think it is great Indian people have such influence in our University settings, I am wondering if they can utilize their positions to better meet the needs of Indian students. I do not even know what the needs of Indian students are because no one has really sat down to identify them. It seems like someone should since we have so many of our people working in the University setting in positions of power.

At the college that I teach at, there is a Hispanic woman named Maria Banuelos who holds the position of Associate Vice President for Diversity and Community Relations. If you were to visit the Madison Area Technical College (MATC), without even knowing anything about the school, you would immediately feel the influence her work has had on this school because it is very welcoming to the Hispanic community. It's not like there are signs on the walls that say "Welcome Mexicans". It is rather in the intangible elements of the school. For example, many of the instructors there are Hispanic. In the hiring process of the school, MATC makes a very active effort to hire diverse faculty. I participated in the convocation for the school, which is basically a big meeting for all the teachers to learn how to be better instructors. I was very pleased to see how diverse the faculty pool is. There were a lot of Hispanic instructors, but there were also instructors of many other ethnicities. That made me feel really good about being a part of this institution.

Additionally, this college offers entire vocational programs where all the classed are taught in Spanish. The premise behind the programs is that individuals learn better in their native language, rather than in their second language, so although many of the students that are enrolled in these programs speak English, they are learning new skills in their native tongue.

Maybe similar initiatives are not made within the Indian community because we all try so hard to assimilate within the culture we are in. I remember as a child when my parents would pack an occasional lunch for me that was not the all-American peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I would be embarrassed. I did not want to eat roti and daal at school. My classmates made me feel bad for being different and teased me about how my food smelled. Now as an adult, I am a little mad that white people made me feel like that about my culture. So at work, I don't care if the masala in my lunch makes the whole floor smell like little-India. I am not going to let anyone make me feel bad about who I am.

Similarly when we expand the scope of that thought to various professions, I know that Indians that hold high positions in any office or profession worked very hard to get there. In the process, they had to face situations similar to what I faced as a child when my classmates made fun of my roti and daal lunch. Whether you are a man, woman, boy or girl, do not let white people make you feel bad about who you are. Look at the effect of that. We sit in these offices and pretend we are one of them, and we completely overlook the needs of our people who we could easily help if we took the initiative to do so.

Ms. Banuelos' work is a good model for us to follow. When she addresses any audience, she always begins her speech with "Buenos Dias," regardless of who is in the audience. It makes a very clear affirmation to pride in her heritage which then undoubtedly extends into her work. We have individuals in our community that demonstrate similar pride. Ms. Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi Company, often wears saris and bindis to demonstrate her cultural pride. That is great for global business, but I wish we can extend that same pride in the world of education.