Posted by Parth Patel and Erik Remsen
Parth Patel has just about finished up his Junior year at Rutland High School. This was his first year in Rutland having moved to Vermont last July. He moved from the city of Surat in the state of Gujarat in India. Surat is a city of over 4 million people on the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India.
His former school in Surat had both middle school and high school students. The school was smaller than Rutland High School, but the typical class size was 50 to 60 students. The high school students went to school from 8am to 12pm and the middle school students attended from 1pm to 4pm. At his school in Surat, the language of instruction was Gujarati. Additionally, he had language classes in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.
He recently worked with teachers, Hilary Poremski-Beitzel and Patricia Alonso, on an English essay about his experiences this past year and about gender issues in both India and the United States. Below are excerpts from that essay in which he reflects on his first year in Rutland and on the differing gender roles in India and the United States.
"I want tell you about my new experiences in my new country USA. I remember when I moved here to the USA, my first day it was so cold and rainy. My flight at the airport was just the only flight because there was really bad weather and a thunderstorm...
I live in Rutland, Vermont which is such a great city. Everywhere I see in my life, everything is green. The trees and mountains especially are my favorite. It is good to live in living things but this is so different from where I used to live because is not that green and not that many trees there. Where I lived, there was too many people and a lot of pollution...
I like to live in USA because in my country, India, and USA have big differences everywhere because of how the people think. The food, lifestyle and schools are so different. I think especially women’s rights are the biggest main differences...
In general, in the US a woman does not need men to support them. They can live on their own and have jobs and support their children without men. It is very different than India. Women have equal rights in everything in the USA and can make choices to do what she wants and what she likes. They don't just do the housework. Women also have choices to choose their life partner and that is very different. Indian women don’t have rights about marriage because no one asks the girl what she likes in a man. Parents of the girl look for the boy and if the family likes that boy then woman see that guy and that’s how marriage happens in India. In India, women’s roles are just do the housework, take care of the kids and do the marriage when the family says! Education depends when you are born and when you live and what your family thinks about education. Sometimes families like their daughters go take education but some families don’t think that and that’s why girls don’t get educated! And sometimes the girl when she takes education but the family does not want her to and she is in trouble with her family! But now the Indian government is making new laws and to try to help women to take education. People try to help other people that women have some rights and now people helping women to do what she likes. Now people are changing and change their thinking that way also that women have rights to go outside and do work and do what she likes. Now families are thinking about women rights because now women fight for their rights and what she believes.
These is not challenging me because I also believe in that men and women have equal rights in everything. Sometimes I see people judging others based on appearances or background. I just look one way: we are all human and we all live in this beautiful earth."
Many thanks to Hilary Poremski-Beitzel for accepting this blog post as a writing assignment and to Patricia Alonso for her assistance in editing and refining the writing.
Parth Patel has just about finished up his Junior year at Rutland High School. This was his first year in Rutland having moved to Vermont last July. He moved from the city of Surat in the state of Gujarat in India. Surat is a city of over 4 million people on the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India.
His former school in Surat had both middle school and high school students. The school was smaller than Rutland High School, but the typical class size was 50 to 60 students. The high school students went to school from 8am to 12pm and the middle school students attended from 1pm to 4pm. At his school in Surat, the language of instruction was Gujarati. Additionally, he had language classes in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.
He recently worked with teachers, Hilary Poremski-Beitzel and Patricia Alonso, on an English essay about his experiences this past year and about gender issues in both India and the United States. Below are excerpts from that essay in which he reflects on his first year in Rutland and on the differing gender roles in India and the United States.
"I want tell you about my new experiences in my new country USA. I remember when I moved here to the USA, my first day it was so cold and rainy. My flight at the airport was just the only flight because there was really bad weather and a thunderstorm...
I live in Rutland, Vermont which is such a great city. Everywhere I see in my life, everything is green. The trees and mountains especially are my favorite. It is good to live in living things but this is so different from where I used to live because is not that green and not that many trees there. Where I lived, there was too many people and a lot of pollution...
I like to live in USA because in my country, India, and USA have big differences everywhere because of how the people think. The food, lifestyle and schools are so different. I think especially women’s rights are the biggest main differences...
In general, in the US a woman does not need men to support them. They can live on their own and have jobs and support their children without men. It is very different than India. Women have equal rights in everything in the USA and can make choices to do what she wants and what she likes. They don't just do the housework. Women also have choices to choose their life partner and that is very different. Indian women don’t have rights about marriage because no one asks the girl what she likes in a man. Parents of the girl look for the boy and if the family likes that boy then woman see that guy and that’s how marriage happens in India. In India, women’s roles are just do the housework, take care of the kids and do the marriage when the family says! Education depends when you are born and when you live and what your family thinks about education. Sometimes families like their daughters go take education but some families don’t think that and that’s why girls don’t get educated! And sometimes the girl when she takes education but the family does not want her to and she is in trouble with her family! But now the Indian government is making new laws and to try to help women to take education. People try to help other people that women have some rights and now people helping women to do what she likes. Now people are changing and change their thinking that way also that women have rights to go outside and do work and do what she likes. Now families are thinking about women rights because now women fight for their rights and what she believes.
These is not challenging me because I also believe in that men and women have equal rights in everything. Sometimes I see people judging others based on appearances or background. I just look one way: we are all human and we all live in this beautiful earth."
Many thanks to Hilary Poremski-Beitzel for accepting this blog post as a writing assignment and to Patricia Alonso for her assistance in editing and refining the writing.
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