Dear Sally,

As you may remember, one of my jobs is teaching students for whom English is not their first language.  You also may  be aware that the Asian academic calendar begins in April rather than in September.  That means that every year in the spring I get referrals from students from the International School of Brussels who come late in the year!  And need help catching up.

Last week I started working with a tenth grade students, a boy from South Korea.  He and I had an instant rapport.  He's very bright, clever, humorous and curious about the world.  In short, he is a joy to work with.  When he arrived for his lesson today, the first words he said to me were, "You've heard the news?"  "Yes," I said, "How horrible."  He went on to say, "I am so sorry that the shooter was a Korean boy".  I replied, "You must not take this personally, especially culturally, because it could have been someone from any country".  He then said, "I had been planning to apply to go to university in the States.  My family lived in San Jose, California, for three years.  And I remember my education there very fondly.  Now I am afraid that they won't accept a Korean boy, that everyone will hate me there, and might even try to kill me".  I was aghast.

Granted, he is a tenth grader and has plenty of time ahead of him for this to pass and for him to gain a new perspective.  Still, it was remarkable for me to have had this first hand account in reaction to the horrible events on Monday.  Americans might think that this tragedy has only affected them!  But this seemed to me to point out that the world is small indeed.

As the BBC reported today, the South Korean President, Moo-Hyun Roh, was quoted as saying, "This event has sparked a collective feeling of guilt in South Korea."  I think what my student shared with me clearly illustrates this point.

I am so pleased that the TLT Group is making this effort to support Virginia Tech in its time of grief.

Katherine Brewster