Kadiatou

"I’m not just speaking to speak; I have something to say."

By Students of NYC

November 3^rd, 2023

"I learned English through word search puzzles. I was in kindergarten. A lot of English as a second language classes in New York City, respectfully, are made for Spanish speakers. I had just immigrated from Africa with my family; we spoke Fulani. I’d get pulled out of class, but just sit there. I’d look at the teacher like, I can’t understand you, you can’t understand me. But one day, there was a stack of papers at the front of the room, so I just went up and took one. The thing about me is I have a great memory. So if I see R-E-D at the bottom of the page, I’m going to find R-E-D in the middle. And I just kept doing it. My teachers noticed that I actually liked word searches, so they kept bringing me more. I started with the colors: red, blue. Then it would progress to the weather: sunny, rainy. Then more. Presidents. That’s how I taught myself English. If you give me a word search now, I still love it just as much. Any puzzles actually — anagrams, jigsaws — anything that tricks your mind.

In fourth grade, we had to write an essay. In my analysis I talked a lot about how one thing could lead to another and create a domino effect. How just one choice could lead to such a multitude of negative consequences. I don’t remember exactly what it was about, but my teacher kept saying that for a fourth grader to make connections this deep, it was really ahead of my time. She shared the essay with the class, and I remember they were all hyped. I always knew I was smart, but getting that recognition made it different. By sixth grade, I was on high honor roll. Now, I'm in six different clubs, and people might think I’m a leader, but I don't like to call myself that because we could all do it. It’s just about being empathetic to others. I'm always like, if I see you struggling, I'll help out immediately. Whenever people have trouble in the class, they go straight to me. They don't even have to ask the teacher. They just say, Kadi, do you understand?

This year I'm VP of Black Student Union. A lot of us come from different countries in Africa, so we always play around and say stuff like my country is better, my tribe is better, my language is better. One day, we were talking about the foods from our culture. There's always been a competition between Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria about whose jollof rice is better. And so we had an idea. It was in early November, too, near Thanksgiving, so we decided every person should bring a food from their culture and see which one is actually better. Because we always trash talk…but I never actually ate Senegalese jollof rice or Ghanaian jollof rice. And it turned out to be a sort of like a Friendsgiving-type thing. Even the teachers brought some. One teacher from the main office brought rice and beans from her culture — she was Hispanic. And the teacher who supervises the club is Trinidadian, so she brought oxtails. It ended up not even mattering whose food was the best. We all just sat around and ate and talked, which we don’t always get to do. It was nice.

I've never really gone to a school that had a lot of teachers of color, so I definitely feel like when I come here, I have my people. Ms. Bruton, she’s the type who is really smart, it’s like she’s one of us, but when it’s time to be a teacher, she’s going to be a teacher and teach. Ms. McCarthy — she left last year, but that was like my school mom. For a fact. She would always, always make sure I was good.

And then there's my science teacher, Mr. Dieudonne — he taught me online, and I never showed my face. But once we were back in person, he heard my voice and knew instantly. He was like, Kadi, that’s you! And we have just bonded since then. He knows how to joke. We go back and forth and it’s never disrespect. He always cares. He nominated me for this interview, and I didn’t even ask for it. He just thought of me. When I’m complaining, he acts like he doesn’t want to listen, but he always does. He might not have answers or be able to change things, but the fact that he listens means a lot. I really love my teachers here. They're supportive. They understand where I'm coming from, or when I start to get out of character or get rowdy or stuff, they know how to calm me down.