Tribute to Doris Lessing – Oh Christ

October 22, 1919 Kermanshah, Iran

Died 17, 2013

She was a British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer.   She wrote The Golden Notebook and The Grass is Singing.  Doris Lessing was a Nobel Prize-Winner in Literature, Somerset Maugham Award and many more.  Lessing was born in Iran and raised in Zimbabwe, the setting of her first novel The Grass Is Singing.

Lessing, who produced 55 works, including poetry, operas and short stories, was 94 years old. 

"Doris's long life and career was a great gift to world literature, She wrote across a variety of genres and made an enormous cultural impact. Probably she'll be most remembered for The Golden Notebook, which became a handbook to a whole generation, but her many books have spoken to us in so many various ways. Doris has been called a visionary and, to be in her company, which was a privilege I had as her editor towards the end of her writing life, was to experience something of that. Even in very old age she was always intellectually restless, reinventing herself, curious about the changing world around us, always completely inspirational. We'll miss her hugely."

Nicholas Pearson,  editor at Harper Collins.

When given the Nobel Prize in Literature she said “Oh Christ” my kind of lady, I could not have said it better myself.  She, will be missed especially her ability to say it how it is…..

By Elizabeth Koukladas.

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

Catch the Brazilian Beat!

When I hear the words Rio De janeiro, I conjure up images of brightly colored materials flying through the air, the country’s most outrageous and flamboyant costumes, rhythms of the Samba bounding through the streets and beautiful Brazilian dancers breezing past. This combined with the 2016 Olympics, I feel is shaping up to be taste of heaven. Just 993 days, 3 hours and 11 minutes to go.

We are all eagerly awaiting the 2016 Olympics, to be held in the marvelous Rio De janeiro. Brazil is keen to be fully prepared for the event. With the magnitude of the olympics, a snowballing energy sector and a rising middle class, the Brazilians are now flocking to take English language classes, in order keep up with growing global economy. 

It’s strange to think that a country once rated at the bottom of the list for English proficiency (in a 54-country survey), and occasionally referred to as ‘closing its doors to outsiders’ now has millions of its citizens no longer treating English classes as a privilege for the rich but as a commodity.

The hard work the Brazil is putting in now, will pay off. The 2012 London Olympics was an incredible event. I think I can speak for the majority of the nation when say we were left with a feeling of national pride and of course, utter awe for the competitors. Hosting the Olympics brings jobs, money, visibility and excitement to a country and can also perform wonders for its tourism industry.

I hope I manage to get some tickets for Rio!

AmberWilliams

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

Three Generations of Battling Greek Divas!

Last month I dragged Amber to the Greek Festival in Temecula, CA. I had to make promises of great Greek food and loads of Greek dancing to entice Amber to come with me, it was not a hard sell, as soon as I said Greek food she was sold. 

One of the reasons we went to Temecula was to see my cousin Kathleen, I hadn't  seen her or her family for several years.  I had a chance to talk with Kathleen’s daughter Arlee, about going to school and what she wanted to do with her life.  She’s a bright sensitive girl who has her whole life ahead of her. She told me about how she wanted to sing in perform, it’s not a surprise that she has the singing gift,  it is on my mom’s side, and Kathleen is my cousin on my mom’s side.  Which made me think about my 10 years of singing opera professionally. My mom is beautiful singer too, but my mom never had the chance to sing professionally.

It got me to thinking about our 3 generations and how different life has been for all 3 of us.

Arlee has options for her future, that my mom and I never had.  I had to fight for the singing career I had because of social pressures at the time, and the traditional Greek family expectations. My life should have been a job, marriage and a few Greek babies but I had other ideas!  My voice was a great gift and I wanted to sing.  My mom on the other had, had to make huge sacrifices and missed out on what would have made her very happy.  Don't get me wrong, mom was glad she married my dad and had two Greek babies but she missed out on using her gift to support her family. My Grandfather was dying of tuberculosis  so my mom took on responsibilities, that, as such a young person, she should never have had to do.  It was different for immigrant families in the 1930’s – 1950’s; they only had dreams of a grand life, because the reality was that they had to support the family from a very young age. 

Arlee and I are very lucky, we are able to decide who we want to be everyday.  We are lucky to be part of a modern society in which we can reinvent ourselves everyday, if we wish.  As for my mom, I hope she doesn’t have regrets because I love her and I am proud of the great mom I have, and the sacrifices she made for her family. Without her sacrifices my brother and I wouldn’t have had the chances we had of following our dreams.  I have a four-year degree from California State University Long Beach in Vocal Performance, I was a New York Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist and still a member of the union American Guild of Musicians (that’s like SAG, in the opera world), what can I say, I got to follow my dream…

Elizabeth Koukladas

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

Team Austria slip into their lycra superhero onesies, and begin rescuing the universe…one solar panel at a time!

Elizabeth and I took a Sunday afternoon trip to Huntington Beach, CA. We were sitting in the sun and treating ourselves to some delightfully average, free Mexican food in happy hour, when three gorgeous men asked to share our table! We immediately said ‘yes’ of course. Now, if there is one thing you should know about Elizabeth, it’s that she is outrageously sociable, a real social butterfly. She loves talking to people from all walks of life, and is constantly striving to make people feel welcome in her country. We literally cannot go anywhere without coming home with the particulars on yet another stranger's life story. This however, does always make our outings fascinating. It reminds me of the time we were given a bag of Gold and a bag of Platinum, from a gentlemen who owned a Gold mine in Nevada…but that’s another story. So, as predicted, Elizabeth got chatting to the charming young men.

The guys had just won 1^st place in the The Solar Decathlon; the world’s most challenging sustainable building, university-level competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. To my amazement, one of the Austrian competitors was only 16 years of age (very different to what I was achieving at 16). It’s not every day you meet people like this.

The DOE selected twenty university teams to compete in the Solar Decathlon 2013, which was held in Irvine, California. During the week-long competition, twenty homes are designed and built by student teams. These student teams have been working on their projects for the competition for two years.

 “The Solar Decathlon is inspiring and training the next generation of clean energy architects, engineers and entrepreneurs, and showing that affordable, clean energy technologies can help homeowners save money and energy today,” said U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “Congratulations to the Solar Decathlon 2013 competitors – your hard work and creativity is helping to build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.”

The DOE today began the process to select collegiate teams to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015. Colleges, universities, and other post-secondary educational institutions can submit. So, if this article has your togs turning and butterflies in your belly, I suggest you get involved for the 2015 competition as soon as possible!

It was eye opening and a true pleasure to meet the talented Austrian team. Bearla International Studies wish them all the best in their future endeavors and hope they loved their trip to the states as much as I have. 

Amber Williams

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

Pizza and the future of the United States work force

Amber and I recently had dinner with two friends of mine: Kelly and Laura, we went to the ‘rated best pizza in all of American’ Michael’s Pizzeria, Long Beach. The pesto pizza with the artichokes and potato pennies is divine.

We were talking about Bearla International Studies and the different schools we have had the pleasure of working with. Kelly brought up the topic of us working with the high school students at her school.  She said the first people to go were the counselors in the budget cuts, and that seniors do not have anybody to guide them.  She suggested working with the students in low-income schools because they are not being supported; they need guidance and someone to believe in them. They are hungry to move up in the world, and are crying out for proper guidance. She told us the story of an educational presenter, who gave a speach to the students recently; she was surprised at how the kids were focused on what the presenter was saying and were really listening to the advice being given.  This reminded me of my high school years and my counselor Mr. Ingram he was tall, big belly, ten millions years old and a southern gentleman.  I remember he had a thing for the popcorn kernels.  I also remember asking him for help to get to university, and he pulled out my file threw it on the desk and said 'you are not university material, you will never go to university or educate yourself, you are better off getting married and letting a man take care of you'. It took me years to 

brush off his

statements, but at 27 I went back to school and now have an undergraduate degree in music from CSULB and a MBA in Finance, from Argosy University. I hope to one day, have him call me 'Dr Koukladas', awkward for someone that did not see the potential in me 'Dr.  Elizabeth' is fine with me…..

Kelly, is right, we have a wealth of untapped resources: our young people, we have given them unobtainable or unrealistic expectations of the world without the appropriate and essential guidance and support.  This wealth of work power is there to be groomed for the United States future but who will help?!

Elizabeth Koukladas

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

Adoption and Fostering: The impacts on a child’s education.

Elizabeth and I went to meet up with one of her past students, Matt, in order to get him on video admitting he was in pure awe for the way in which Elizabeth works, and how her advice has shaped his career, which Elizabeth loved to listen to! We took a walk around a few coffee shops, and drank way too many coffees in the process. We finally arrived at Hot Java, Long Beach, which was quiet enough and also had enough light for filming. Hot Java, if I may add, for all the coffee lovers out there, the coffee was truly fantastic.  I do fancy myself something of a coffee connoisseur.

It was the first time I had met Matt, but I instantly liked him (not something I could say for all of Elizabeth friends). Matt was very easy to talk, and very interesting too; Matt has been working as a counselor, a job he is extremely passionate about. Matt began telling us that he is working towards his Ph.d, then all of a sudden, his face lit up and he told us how he is in the process of adopting a little baby girl and boy soon.  The process and experience of adoption is something which I have always been interested in. I love to hear stories from parents who have adopted, there is something so fascinating and so touching about it.

Over our 20^th cup of coffee Matt was sharing his thoughts the how many children are denied the right to an education, or they experience such a traumatic and disrupted childhood, that a quality education can be overlooked. In fact 67 million children of primary school age worldwide do not go to school (UNESO). Matt was giving us insight into the common barriers to a successful education for foster children: More than half of all children in foster care suffer from serious health problems, developmental delays and other disabilities that can compromise their educational growth.  Lack of continuity of educational services, and lack of parental participation in their school lives are all challenges that foster children face through their school years. It is reported that every 26 seconds in the US a high school student drops out of school and over 900 million people worldwide are unable to read or write. Matt had a look of desperation on his face as these statistics were spluttered from his mouth. By the time he departed, he left us with an air of excitement and honor. He was honored by the fact he was able to take on these children as his own, to give them the opportunities and education which they by law, have a right to.

Global Illiteracy drives extreme poverty, undermines democracy and fuels terrorism. The source of this global problem is intertwined within the structure and attitude of modern society. Something that will take time to fix but for now, lets be grateful that there are people like Matt in the world, who genuinely wants the best for humanity and society as a whole. 

Amber Williams
www.bearlainternationalstudies.com

A drama queen’s reenactment: Flourish and adapt in a modern society.

Being such a drama queen as a child, I had first hand experience of Stage schools.

I remember one bright day spent in drama school during the summer. We were rehearsing for a big production, which we were performing in a couple of weeks. It was lunchtime and a couple of us ‘part timers’ thought it would be fun to sneak round the back of the stage and into the ‘full timers’ classrooms on the first floor. Sneaking into the classrooms had the same excitement I can imagine you would feel, sneaking into Elizabeth Taylor's Broadway dressing room. We ran our hands over their beautiful diamond encrusted costumes and found old battered ballet slippers lying on the floor next to stacks of discarded exercise books.

We picked up the exercise books and began to flick through them, whilst keeping a steady eye out for anyone who might catch us. It was as I began to flick through the books, when I realized how spelling basic words like ‘bus’ was such a struggle for these young performers. Although they caught my imagination on the stage, they had very little reading and writing skills off the stage. After months of nagging my mum to go ‘full time’ I finally realized why she was so against it!

It wasn't until a few years ago that I remembered this day; I had just been watching a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson:Bring on the learning revolution. This was about how we desperately need to revolutionize the curriculum, from an industrial model to an agricultural model. The message was that subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science are seen as vital subjects in the eyes of the curriculum the world over. Whereas subject such as Art, Music, Dance and Drama are more often than not, depicted as less valuable. Therefore, we are not allowing our children to develop the way they are naturally supposed to, that we are effectively crushing their creativity; a topic I very much agree with. However in making this link, I realized that although we need to ensure subjects involving the arts and performing arts need to be nurtured, so that we do not alienate and crush our children’s dreams. We also need to acknowledge that a proportion of performing arts centers may be taking this to the extreme, and not putting enough emphasis on basic literacy skills. Combine this with the acknowledgement that many of the performing art careers are quite often short term; these students need a full skill-set in order to have something to fall back on should their careers not go quite as planned.  Among the most-repeated claims is that the average U.S. worker will have many careers—seven is the most widely cited number—in his or her lifetime. Could this perhaps be put down to the fact that their school curriculum was too regimented, could these people still be searching  for their career calling, which may have been repressed in school?

The real challenge is finding the balance between allowing our children to explore their passions, and educating them with the fundamentals, not just survive but flourish and adapt in a modern society.

By Amber Williams

www.bearlainternationalstudies.com