Fall 2023 @ Lehman College: December

We’re officially done. A whole semester has come to an end, which almost feels like a fresh start. LEH 250 is a specific course tailored to first-year students attending Lehman College. Even though I had to adhere to a particular schedule, it felt liberating and very much engaging this academic experience as an adjunct lecturer. It is with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart that I can finally confirm my second appointment at Lehman, teaching a similar course (LEH 352 - “Fashion Media & the Africana Experience”) under the School of Arts and Humanities.

Compared to my feelings and projections from August, I’m going through a phase of extensive gratitude and self- compassion. I’m aware that some sort of fear and self-doubt will arise next semester as well, but I learned how to sharply address my emotions and pour them into efficient reading and media consumption. Whenever I feel like I’m not qualified enough to stand for what I preach and live for, I gather my thoughts and reflect on my own experiences. Then I find out that yes, I fulfilled my credits through life experiences indeed. School of life is still school after all.

Nifemi Ashani on Zoom with the students presenting her story, academic journey, and networking expertise

Both supplementing this semester’s syllabus and drafting next semester’s lessons plans with literary texts and multimedia material allowed me to think about my own experience as a Black Italian international student in the USA. I can’t imagine going through another life other than this one, no matter the many times I think about the opportunities or the traditional experiences that my American peers went through.

This month I concluded the Educational Cohort at AMAKA Studio, the WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) program, where we focused on (un)grading practices in higher education, and the ATLAS program for Fall 2023. During one of the ATLAS (Anchored in the Liberal ArtS) meetings with faculty, Dr. Amanda Moody (doctoral lecturer at Lehman College and in Middle and High School Education department - TESOL) and grad student Amanda Almeida introduced us scholars a book that I quiet enjoyed: “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika L. Sánchez. This YA fiction novel was exactly what I needed to wrap up my reflections, notes, and emotions around this past semester.

Students at the ATLAS Conference

As a former non-American undergraduate college student I could see myself in Julia Reyes, the protagonist of Sánchez’s story. This book reminded me that I am worthy of every successful achievement in my career, considering the obstacles, insecurities, and fears I lived through while in high school back home in Italy. It is almost incredible that today I can say I was able to touch some people’s lives by teaching them how to feel free, inspired, and curious in their late teens and early 20s. Little did I know I could actually do this and knowing lots about myself while embarking this journey. Reading this ATLAS text while wrapping up my academic work for the year was overall enjoyable this month.

I started this semester being a bit worried about my lack of traditional credentials as a journalist, researcher, or fashionista, but I quickly noticed how my active intellect and humble beginnings are indeed the most transparent, relatable, and engaging tools in the classroom, Let’s see how next semester goes, 2024 looks promising.