The Chalk Beat – Hayleigh Colombo
“Easter Day, a North Central High School sophomore, was named after the religious holiday. But when she first arrived from a Thailand refugee camp about 10 years ago, the Burmese student’s name was mistakenly recorded as “Ea Star Di” — a mistake that has stuck with her all throughout her school career. Day said the mistake essentially has made Ea Star Di her official American name. It’s a surprisingly common error and an example of the confusion and chaos that most English language learners experience during their transitions to living in United States. “I was nervous, confused, and I didn’t know what was going on,” Easter Day said of her first few weeks at Nora Elementary School. Such errors also show the troubling level of cultural misunderstanding that immigrant students face at school. Would an American-born student’s name remain that badly jumbled for a decade? Almost certainly not.”(more)