As a college, we were privileged to have had Anna Deavere Smith come and present excerpts from her tour: Glimpses of America in Change. This tour is a compilation of 14 short plays; Anna Deavere Smith plays each of the main characters. Each play is about one character that Smith has interviewed. Anna Deavere Smith chose to present six out of her 14 short plays. The ones chosen had very diverse characters: a man from Chicago, African Americans and Jews from New York, a Jewish family, an Asian woman from Los Angeles, an immigrant from Colombia, and a doctor from New Orleans. Smith presented these stories in a captivating manor; the stories were intriguing and unique in their own way. Between each story, Anna Deaveare Smith spoke of the importance of listening. She said that it is important to listen to the people around us because everyone has a story. She described listening as, “The music of silence,” and that it is, “About looking and feeling.” Anna Deaveare Smith finished her presentation in an encouraging way; she said, “Never believe that misery and despair have the last word.”
I was engaged throughout the entire time that Anna Deveare Smith spoke. She was a captivating speaker who spoke straight from her passion and heart. Anna Deveare Smith found it important to seek out for the truth; she also demonstrated how important stories are through her short plays. Even though I personally was not able to relate to the stories told, they definitely made an impact in how I was able to connect to them. The short stories told, were mostly of trying times. The stories covered topics like the relationship between races, struggles of immigration, and being forgotten in the midst of a horrific natural disaster. These topics were heavy but Anna Deveare Smith spoke of them in a way that told the story in a light that I had not heard and allowed my horizons to broaden.
My dad has always told me, “All people have on this earth is their story.” This statement has always stayed with me. While hearing Anna Deveare Smith speak, my dad’s words kept running through my mind. Here at college, so many people surround me; there is hardly a time when I am all alone. Even so, I have not taken the time to hear any of their stories. The stories spoken by Smith were powerful. It would be amazing if we would take the time to hear others’ stories and be vulnerable to share our own. I want to be able to make it an importance to be a listener.
During some practicums and tutoring opportunities in the local schools, I have already experienced students making remarks about their home life, or of how they moved to Goshen. These stories are still being shaped but what is important is that the students were sharing them in hopes that someone would be listening. I believe that a teacher’s role is to be a supporter by being a listener. In the future, I will be presented with many situations that involve a student sharing their story. I want to make sure that I am able to give each individual student my time through listening. During this time, student-teacher connections are made and that trust is a result of a having a listening ear.
