Same Sun Here Reflection

Earlier this semester I was asked to read the book Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani as part of a common read across the entirety of the Saint Michael's College Education Department. The book was about two young adolescent pen pals, who, though came from very different backgrounds, seemed to find common grounds. Eventually, through their letters, the two become best friends. After reading the book and discussing it in our classes, we were asked to attend one of three events on campus pertaining to the book. The event I decided to attend was the author talk, where one of the authors, Neela Vaswani, described the process of writing the book and answered any questions the audience had. It was incredible getting to see her interact with the audience and answer everyone's questions. Hearing her describe the process they took in creating this book was very intriguing to me. Towards the end of the event, she even took the time to discuss how this book could be implemented into our classrooms someday and used to teach lessons.

This event and book as a whole are reflected in the Saint Michael's Education Department mission statement. Part of the mission statement reads, "Our graduates are change agents committed to social justice and sustainability". In the book Same Sun Here issues such as bias based upon appearance, social status, and race are addressed. Another important issue that’s brought up throughout the entirety of the book is problems dealing with the environment. More specifically, Same Sun Here mainly addresses how mountain top removal not only effects the environment but also people’s homes and their overall lives. Though these issues are addressed in the book, they are also real issues that are present in the United States. As a future educator it is important for me to not only recognize these issues myself, but also find ways in which I can help my students identify them as well. Together, it is our job and my hope that we can make a difference. In order to do this I need to find ways in which to make sure each of my student’s has equal opportunities in their learning no matter what their differences may be.

As a future educator, I was able to learn a lot through Neela’s discussion on how this book could be implemented into the classroom as well as my class discussions on the book. For example, in one of my classes I created a mock lesson in which one could ask their students to take a deeper look at one of the main problems addressed in Same Sun Here. From there, students could then take that issue and go out into the community and find ways in which to make a difference. During the event Neela brought up the fact that her and Silas come from very different backgrounds, but despite those differences, they were still able to merge both of their ideas together in order to create one book which addressed issues that they were both passionate about. Similar to these discussions, it is my goal to create a math classroom which ties in other subject areas. I feel that this is something that doesn’t often happen in math. Because of this, I want to try to find ways to show that not only can it be done, but it can be done effectively in a way which benefits all learners.

The portion of the event that interested me most was the discussion about how the two authors went about writing the book. Neela and Silas collaborated with one another by each taking on their character's roles and writing back and forth to one another as if they were actually pen pals. Neela explained to her audience that this allowed for a raw experience in which they hoped would be reflected in the book. After both authors came to the conclusion that the book was done, they took their work to their publisher who told them that their characters, Meena and River, agreed with one another too much and that there was a lack of conflict throughout the book. The two writers then went back and inserted some more conflicts into the book. For example, Neela added a part in which Meena was discussing shaving her legs. Silas then had River respond in a way which showed distaste and even a bit of disgust that she would share that information with him. Through learning about the writing process both authors took, I can see the benefits of such a collaborative process. This is important to me as a future educator as I will have to collaborate with students, other teachers, parents, and many others. It is my hope that I can take all of the lessons I have learned through the book itself, classroom discussions, and Neela’s event into my future as an educator.