"From a very young age, I’ve always had a bag with me
As if from a young age I realized that home
Was never going to be a place
But my family
And the things I carried in my bag
Are what made up home.
So everywhere I went I had a bag
As if the bag carried memories I didn’t want to forget
Like
Sitting around the fire in Zambia
Under the night sky
Telling stories with the neighborhood kids
Like
Tasting snow for the first time in Tennessee
And realizing that it wasn’t rice falling from the sky
Like
Living in homeless shelters in Minnesota
Those were hard times for my parents
But as a child all I cared for was the warmth I felt
As my 8 siblings and I squeezed in one bedroom
The laughter we shared in the small living room
As Papa and Mama told stories
While waiting for the nsmina and sombe to finishing cooking
On the stove
And through all of these memories
I had a bag as if I was taking notes of these memories
Stuffing them in my bag
So that the next time we have to pack up
And find a new place to live
All the memories of the places I’ve been to
Were right there with me in my bag
Even as an adult, I always have a bag with me; I now carry many bags because the older I get the more room I need to fit all my memories. These bags carry with them memories and lessons of all the places I’ve been to, all the places I’ve called home. If you walk a mile in my shoes you’ll learn that the memories in my bags are what make me who I am today. The good and bad memories have given me the strength to walk miles in my shoes. And January 2021 I took my bags with me, away from my family, my first home, to complete my Masters at Stanford and start my journey as a middle school teacher in Oakland California. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, but I never thought that I would be teaching miles away from my first home, nor did I think I would be teaching in a pandemic. Walk a mile in my shoes and you’ll understand how hard it is to teach with a mask on, to create joy in your classroom and a space where students can feel safe while dealing with so much uncertainty. This hasn’t been easy, but I know that the miles I’ve traveled in my shoes, the memories that I carry in my bag, prepare me for this journey. "
-Atosha Rypa