FACULTY PROFILE: AWA DIOP • 21
Awa, who has devoted the last five years to enriching CSW students’ understanding of language, can trace her fascination with different languages and cultures to when she was just four years old. As a young child growing up in Senegal, Awa spoke Wolof and French. She was introduced to Spanish through the Cuban-influenced music piped through her parents’ stereo. “I remember moving to the rhythm of the music and singing along to the Spanish, which I didn’t understand then,” she said. “I just imitated the sounds I heard.” She attributes her decision to study several languages, including Spanish, to this early love of foreign language and culture. While languages swiftly found a place in Awa’s heart, a passion for teaching was not far behind. Throughout Awa’s youth, she learned from teachers whom she admired and who influenced her greatly. “I was always impressed with their intellectual ability,” Awa said of her early educators. “I was impressed with their ability to motivate me and push me toward my goals.” However, one of her greatest motivations toward teaching came from an unlikely source — a teacher who treated her aspirations with contempt and racial prejudice. “I shared my dreams of becoming a teacher with this teacher and I was told that if I wanted to work at a school, I should become a cook,” Awa recalled. “When I spoke of wanting to go abroad and become fluent in English, he made it clear he thought the only reason I received good grades in English was because my English teacher was also black.” His words stuck with her, pushing her deliberately and more forcefully toward her goal of becoming a teacher. “I took the negativity and it fed me, and gave me stamina to prove him wrong,” she said. After earning her masters degree at Syracuse University, Awa began her journey at The Cambridge School of Weston. Though Awa originally had reservations about teaching in a high school, having only taught university students before, she quickly warmed up to the world of CSW and its students. Awa learned that CSW is “a place where students are really pushing back.” In her very first class at CSW, Awa was challenged by her students, who frankly told her the syllabus she had planned did not fit CSW’s way of doing things. Awa still stood by her guidelines for the class, but warmed up to their
boldness. Over the years, she has become accustomed to the unabashed way in which CSW students share their opinions. Awa also credits her fellow faculty in the languages department for supporting her and helping her acclimate to CSW. “I formed relationships with teachers and developed my own relationship to the school and its philosophy of being,” she said. “I became more comfortable and I was able to teach the way I wanted to teach.” Awa relishes the chance CSW gives her to approach the material in her own way, and she is thankful for opportunities to create deep, meaningful bonds with her students. “I really love my students,” she said. “I love their creativity and their curiosity. There will be days when I have this perfectly structured outline of how I might teach, but none of it ends up happening the way I thought. Someone will ask just one question that will lead the whole class in a completely different direction. There is a richness in that.”
“I love witnessing my students discover a new personality within a new language. It’s like seeing little flowers bloom.” The most powerful moment in the classroom, for Awa, is seeing how students grow from using their acquired language skills. “I love witnessing my students discover a new personality within a new language. It’s like seeing little flowers bloom. As students master the language they discover new aspects of their personality that are only expressed in that language.” This year, in addition to working in the languages department, Awa has taken on the roles of dorm associate and international student advisor. As a dorm associate, she lives on campus and interacts more directly with boarding students, many of whom are international students. As the international student advisor, she helps students whose homes are outside of the United States navigate the transition to life at CSW. “I’m looking forward to this year, this new life on campus, and a new balanced energy.”