The following is Part 6 of a multiple-part series. To read previous installments in this series, please visit the following articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

On December 8, 2020, January 19, 2021, March 16, 2021, May 18, 2021, and July 20, 2021, SPICE posted five articles that highlight reflections from 41 students on the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” Part 6 features eight additional reflections.

The free educational website “What Does It Mean to Be an American?” offers six lessons on immigration, civic engagement, leadership, civil liberties & equity, justice & reconciliation, and U.S.–Japan relations. The lessons encourage critical thinking through class activities and discussions. On March 24, 2021, SPICE’s Rylan Sekiguchi was honored by the Association for Asian Studies for his authorship of the lessons that are featured on the website, which was developed by the Mineta Legacy Project in partnership with SPICE.

Since the website launched in September 2020, SPICE has invited students to review and share their reflections on the lessons. Below are the reflections of eight students. The reflections below do not necessarily reflect those of the SPICE staff.

Aime Chao, California
The American Dream is a set of ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and equality. These ideals are not necessarily the reality; for example, my Japanese American grandmother was unconstitutionally incarcerated during WWII. Yet, the same ideals made it possible for my family from East Asia to build a life in the United States. The juxtaposition of the American Dream and the facts on the ground unveils the characteristic of America that distinguishes what it means to be American—that everyone has a voice. I am growing up in a time when my country is increasingly polarized, and it can be challenging to identify or be identified with being American. However, the perseverance involved in bettering our future by bridging our reality with our ideals makes me proud of my identity as an American.

Jiahao Guo, Ohio
America is divided. And the division breeds inequality. But there is an often-ignored divide, a geographical one: Rural America vs. Urban America. As an Ohioan, the stark differences between the two Americas are apparent, encompassing all aspects of life, regardless of race or culture. Compared with urban America, the average income is much lower. Infrastructure is ignored. Education opportunities are far less accessible. And rural America is often forgotten or even dismissed by the rest of the country. There’s even a term for this: Flyover States. States so unimportant you can just fly over them. I am constantly reminded of this divide. Some say that this is just a fact to be accepted. But in the land of opportunity, we must do our best to bring about a more equal landscape.

Noah Kurima, California
America is a unique experiment. Our founding fathers concocted a country not based on race but on the unfathomable-at-the-time ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity. To me, to be an American means to aspire for these ideals during smooth sailing, but also when faced with adversity. There is so much noise right now—the pandemic, school shootings, the recent rise of racial hate and violence. But we must look around and observe the appalling abuses of authoritarian regimes around the world. We must acknowledge the immense power of our rights and freedoms, as well as their vulnerability. We must be willing to spend the long nights in the laboratory that is our democracy, avoiding corrosive missteps and working to perfect the seemingly volatile formula for liberty and justice for all.

Riya Narayan, Tennessee
The American Dream is the idea that our country fosters equality, peaceful opportunity, and the freedom to pursue life. It is through this simple notion that millions of people immigrate to the United States every single year, and it’s why my family immigrated here in 2011. What does this American Dream stand for? For me, it symbolizes the peaceful unity of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and identities. It represents the sharing of ideas and a drive for positive change. For my family, it represents a world of opportunity. My parents and I became American citizens in May 2019, and ever since, we have worked to uphold this purpose: to be a vessel for the innovation, creativity, and equality our country brings for the betterment of others. This, for me, is what it means to be an American.

Jack Pelster-Wiebe, Minnesota
I have a complicated relationship with America and American-ness. I am not legally a citizen, but I am a white person who’s lived in the United States for the majority of my life. I also speak English with an American-adjacent Canadian accent, and so I’ve rarely been treated as though I don’t belong here. But still, I am not an American. When I think about what divides my American friends from me, I find largely nebulous contradictions that can’t apply to everyone. Then maybe there is no one defining characteristic of an American, nothing that makes them any more or less citizen than the neighbors around them. It’s up to each person to define themselves what makes them American, decide whether they want to tie themselves to the land, border, culture, or whatever feels like “America” to them.

Kevin Phan, Hawaii
I believe it is the cultural practices of every nation that make them distinct. It is what makes the German people German. It is what makes the Chinese people Chinese. Our culture is what makes us American. One doesn’t need to enjoy every single tenant of American culture, but rather enough of it to where it has a strong influence in our lives. People around the world can enjoy things like the NBA, the Kardashians, and Taylor Swift, however, it is only Americans who are able to enjoy those things and more. Thus, it is not an appreciation of our history, nor our citizenship that make us American. It is the love and interests that we culminate through exposure and experience that makes us a part of this nation.

Kasha Tyranski, Florida
“The frog is almost five hundred million years old. Could you really say... that America… will last as long as... the frog?” I can respond to Catch-22’s question with one word: yes. Perhaps not a physical America—but the essence of what it means to be American will outlive the frog. To be American is to be a quilt—a patchwork of struggles, triumphs, and dreams that transcend time. America is my ancestors joining za chlebem with whispers of hope hidden in their coat folds. America is speaking in Tajiki to Dushanbean students, describing the skyscrapers of the place I call home. America is opportunity, dynamism, reflectiveness, and reconciling the past and present. It means being part of a story greater than myself—one that will continue being woven, with or without frogs.

Andy Wattanaskolpant, Tennessee
The concept of being American is rooted in complexity, curiosity, and change. It is based on the notion that our uniqueness and individuality help to unite us. Indeed, our country has been marred by a history of injustice that still impacts us today, however, the fundamental idea of being American is the eagerness to push for change. Over the years, I have noticed the dynamic change happening in America—within the police system, the political environment, the food industry. There is no doubt that the rudimentary attitude of change is continuing to perpetuate inside the minds of Americans. I find myself realizing that utilizing love as the drive for change makes the fight all the more worth it. To love is what makes me most American.

The Economist included SCCEI Co-Director Scott Rozelle's newest book in their lineup of the best books of 2021. Here's what they had to say:

"Invisible China. By Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell. University of Chicago Press; 248 pages; $27.50 and £22

The biggest obstacle to China’s development is that rural children—two-thirds of the total—do terribly in school, argues this stunningly researched book. Many are malnourished, lack reading glasses or suffer from energy-sapping intestinal worms. If these basic problems are not fixed, say the authors, China will struggle to reach its goal of broad prosperity."

See the full list: https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2021/12/11/the-best-books-of-2021 

SPICE has been working with the Navajo Nation for ten years. SPICE featured Dr. Harold Begay in a webinar called “Indigenous Voices: Educational Perspectives from Navajo, Native Hawaiian, and Ainu Scholars in the Diaspora” on June 18, 2021. On the occasion of National Native American Heritage Day, November 26, 2021, SPICE invited him to share reflections on his life.

The Journey from a Community Trash Dump Scavenger to U.C. Berkeley

There was a youngster, a scavenger at an early age who had to rummage through the community trash dump for winter firewood and other discarded household items. This youngster from a single-parent home living on a traditional livestock economy on the Navajo Reservation, speaking only his Navajo language, entered school in his elementary school years and was able to attain nationally normed test scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the upper 80s and 90s. He initially spent his kindergarten and first grade years as a student running away along with other local school kids from a U.S. government boarding school. He was transferred to the local state public school, and beginning in second grade, his homeroom teacher stayed with him grade-to-grade (looping) through his high school years. He dropped out of high school but came back, graduated, and was recommended by an Arizona State Senator, as required for admission, and by his high school teachers, counselors, and principal, to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He instead enrolled at Arizona State University with “Honors at Entrance.” He dropped out of pre-med, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and spent time in the Vietnam War before being medevacked out of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968. He spent some four weeks in the Naval Hospital in Guam, another month in the Naval Hospital in San Diego, and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Casualty Company and is a disabled veteran.

After Vietnam and work in construction as an iron worker, he returned to college, graduated in three years with a B.A. in psychology and earned an M.A. in counseling the following year from Northern Arizona University. He then earned a Ph.D. in school finance and education administration from the University of Arizona.

He began work at the University of Arizona for four years, then moved out to the most disenfranchised under-resourced rural school sites—school sites with the most persistent student academic underachievement state-wide. He began the local community college branch, then Navajo Community College, now Diné College, for his community and surrounding area wherein he taught for a couple years. He worked at the lowest achieving district with the second lowest per pupil wealth in the county. Within the past five years, in concert with Stanford University, his district high school exceeded all the eight school districts’ math achievement in the county, including the school district with the highest per pupil wealth.

He has been appointed as a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. He has published in refereed journals, and contributed chapters to two scholarly books. He has been honored by the Arizona State Department of Education with the “Certificate of Distinction Award” and “Stars of Arizona Education”; by the Arizona Gifted Education Association as “Gifted Administrator of the Year”; and by the North Central Association of Elementary and Secondary Schools with the “National Innovative Award.” He has turned down speaking engagements from several state education departments, school board organizations, and universities in countries including China, England, New Zealand, and Ecuador.

His school district has worked in collaboration with Stanford University for some 20 years and in the process has attained unprecedented academic achievement profiles for the school district. There is much more to this, but who is this person? The person is writing this brief bio for you so that you may get to know him a little better.
~Harold G. Begay, Ph.D.

The  Neue Zürcher Zeitung recently published an interview with SCCEI's co-director Scott Rozelle. The article was originally publshed in German and later translated to English. You can read the full article in either language online:

Full Article in German: Im Südwesten Chinas haben die Kinder Würmer im Darm

Full Article in English: Rural Poverty is the Biggest Obstacle to China's Rise, Says Economist

Education is widely considered one of the greatest investments a government can make into its citizens and economic prosperity. At the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), government officials are working with partner countries to improve the quality and reach of their education systems. The agency recently stood up the Center for Education, charged with achieving sustained, measurable improvements in students’ learning outcomes and skills development. In addition, education teams are embedded within regional bureaus and are responsible for assisting with country-level education programming. 

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to intern with USAID’s Africa Bureau, where I learned how the U.S. Government (USG) foreign assistance is programmed to support children and youth’s educational development. During my internship, I participated in numerous working groups that deepened my understanding of what education has the power to do for children and youth, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized.

One of my most meaningful assignments was helping to lead the USG’s Working Group on Education in Crisis and Conflict Settings. Through this experience, I learned that schooling is important for a myriad of reasons beyond learning outcomes and job placement. In conflict and crises zones, for instance, schools can provide children with physical and emotional protection as well as a greater sense of normalcy. 

For this group, I was responsible for encouraging participant engagement and organizing monthly meetings. I secured additional members, solicited member feedback, and crafted agendas based on participant input and events on the ground. Through this group, I was able to see first-hand how the USG is ensuring the continuity of education programming in some of the most difficult humanitarian crises zones—from Haiti to Afghanistan.

I was also able to take part in several joint research projects that USAID funded in collaboration with external partners. These research projects included: 1) a review of social and emotional learning outcomes for students in Africa, 2) an analysis of how education contributes to resiliency in Africa (and vice-versa), and 3) an examination of how violence against children is perpetrated within school systems and recommendations for prevention. I coordinated workflow between USAID and external partners for these research projects, compiled feedback, participated in working sessions on key findings, and observed field interviews. 

Most significantly, I distilled each of the final research papers into three two-page summary sheets for ease of reference for our team and future collaborators. Of the three research topics, I found the insight into social and emotional learning outcomes to be the most interesting. While I had conceptualized learning outcomes solely in terms of curriculum content, schooling is also paramount for developing students’ social and emotional competencies – from peer-to-peer dynamics to emotional self-regulation. These competencies, which schools, directly and indirectly, teach their students, are critical for helping individuals to manage shocks and stressors into adulthood.

Lastly, I helped to roll out two new initiatives within my team for USAID writ large. First, I helped launch a new USAID working group on promoting resiliency within the education system in Africa.  I worked with the lead organizer to finalize the participant list, develop the kickoff meeting agenda, and review the group’s statement of work and overall mission. Second, I assisted with developing an online training module designed to assist officers with safeguarding and protecting children’s rights within education programs. I coordinated with external partners to organize a two-week pilot testing of the training module – securing expert USAID officers to help pilot, creating and reviewing feedback forms, and taking the training myself.

From this training, I learned that schools are not always safe spaces that positively impact the lives of children.  At times, schools are the site of violence and abuse, particularly in crisis and conflict-affected areas and among the most marginalized. The training taught me how to identify signs of abuse and respond to and report situations of abuse. 

At the conclusion of my internship, I not only gained greater insight into education programming but also into my future career trajectory. I applied to the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Program (MIP) at the the Freeman Spogli Institute with the intention to focus on international security from a humanitarian, development, and human rights perspective. I envision my next job within USAID, the U.S. Department of State, or the United States Institute of Peace. Now that I have interned with USAID, I am certain that this is still the path I see for myself. Following my internship, I plan to apply to the Presidential Management Fellows Program, as well as directly to USG hiring agencies. I am confident that my time spent at USAID has prepared me well for this new chapter.