JENNIFER KASSEM RICHARDSONMy Story

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It all began with the union of these two people, Hikmat and Mariam Kassem. They came to the United States at a young age from Lebanon. My dad came with his brothers in hopes of finding work to help support his family back in Lebanon. My mother’s family fled during the war in hopes of a safer life. Their marriage was arranged when my dad was 25 and my mom was 16. My mother was forced to drop out of school by her family and my father had been forced to drop out of school so that he could work and take care of his family. They immediately decided their own children wouldn’t be forced to do the same.

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Just two years later, my parents had their first child, Jennifer Ann Kassem. And so, my story officially begins…

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I immediately got to work on my education. This desire to read and motivation to learn never drifted away from me. In fact, I think it only grew stronger and made me more passionate about my education.

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Just a few years later, my sister would be born. It was this day that my motherly instincts began and my love for children developed. Summer Selma Kassem changed my life forever this day. I learned to be a sister and a friend.

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I loved taking care of my sister. I begged to feed her, change her, and wanted to play with her every waking minute. Sometimes, she didn’t care much for what I was trying to do. I didn’t let that bother me. I believe this is when I learned to become the very patient person I am today. It is this patience that I use each day in my classroom.

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And then there were three… Amanda Renee Kassem joined the Kassem family and life was so much sweeter because of it. The bond between three sisters could not be stronger. We are a team, there for one another in times of need and times of joy.

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My mother was a stay at home mom and so my first experience with school was on the first day of kindergarten. I had long awaited this day. I was ready to read and write. I took school very seriously from day one, I was a girl on a mission.

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My parents were runners and I just had to do whatever they were doing. I ran my first road race in kindergarten. It was a one mile run and I wanted to win. This is where my competitive side first emerged.

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My running days didn’t end there… in fact, that was just the beginning. I continued to run throughout elementary school, joined the middle school track team, and found myself on the cross country team in high school. I was voted in as captain of the team my senior year. This is where my leadership skills were truly formed.

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My graduation from high school was one of the biggest events to occur in my family.  I was not only the first to graduate in my immediate family, but also the first from my extended family.  My parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents were all immigrants who came to this country at a young age.  They immediately got to work at trying to support their families.  School was not a priority, putting food on the table was the priority.  My parents always wanted a different life for me.  Starting in elementary school, my parents would always say "graduate from high school, go to college, then do that"  (whatever that was at the time).  When the day finally came that I graduated, my entire family was so excited, everyone came to watch me receive my diploma.  The morning of, my parents gave me a heart necklace as a gift.  With tears in their eyes, they told me how proud they were and how they have waited for this day my whole life.  My parents never had the opportunity to get a proper education, although they always wanted to, and they were so proud that I had accomplished this goal.  It has been 9 years and I still wear my necklace every day.  I never change it out for something different.  It reminds me of how much my parents love me and how proud of me they are. It also signifies the importance of my education.   

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In college, I decided to take my running to the next step. I completed 26.2 miles in the Chicago Marathon. I trained for many months and enjoyed every minute of that run. The sense of accomplishment was so overwhelming as I crossed the finish line that I cried. It wasn’t long, as you can see, before I started to smile and enjoy the moment. Running has become a part of my life. I run as many days a week as I can squeeze in. It relaxes me, releases my pent up energy, and gives me an excuse to eat ice cream. Since then I have run two half marathons and many, many 5 and 10 K races. I hope to run another marathon someday, I’m determined to beat my finishing time.

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It was during college that I met my future husband, Josh, a fellow Spartan. I always knew we would be married someday. He was everything that I could have wished for in a companion. We went on our first date on November 11, 2003. This picture was taken just a month later. We were inseparable after that first date and have been ever since.

Also, notice the necklace… that’s the heart necklace from my parents.

MAY 7, 2005

My parents have tried to hold on strong to the traditions of the Lebanese culture as they have raised us.  Education was always so important to my parents; they made sure my sisters and I were aware of how important it is to have a good education under your belt.  However, when it came time for me to choose a college our culture took precedence over my choice.  I wanted to go to MSU but that would mean that I would have to leave home and live on campus.  This was not something that my parents would even consider as an option.  In our culture, a woman lives at home until the day she is married.  Women don't go away to college or live on their own, it's unheard of.  I begged and pleaded with them but they would not have any of it.  Their argument was that there were plenty of excellent schools close to home that I could commute to, it was unnecessary to live on campus.  And there are plenty of excellent schools on the east side of the state; I just didn't want anything to do with any of them. 

I lost the argument my first year and ended up at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  I was miserable that year; the school was only 2,000 students larger than my high school and just wasn't where I wanted to be.  I hated the half hour commute and the fight for a parking space each day.  I also hated the commuter school atmosphere, I wanted to meet new people and spread my wings and I just didn’t' feel like I could there. 

So, without asking for permission or even telling my parents, I applied to MSU, got accepted, scheduled my classes, and went to the orientation.  I was deathly afraid of telling my parents because I knew what their reaction would be so naturally, I waited until the last minute.  Two weeks before my scheduled move in date I broke the news.  I told my dad first because he is far more easy going than my mother.  He actually took it quite well, he had seen some of the mail documents and had a feeling I was up to something.  He talked to some of his friends and they helped ease his mind that it wasn't so bad.  My mom on the other hand, completely lost it.  She cried and cried (which of course broke my heart and made me feel awful) and told me she couldn't believe that I was doing this to her.  What would she tell people when they asked where I was?  What would people think?  I for one, don't really care what people think and told her she shouldn't worry about it.  This didn't ease her mind at all and she decided to deal with the situation by not speaking to me.  For the remainder of my two weeks at home she avoided me at all cost; refused to talk to me or even acknowledge me.  I moved away without even being able to say good-bye.  Each of my aunts called me and told me what a horrible person I was and how selfish I was being. 

I knew that my education was something worth being selfish over and refused to let them get to me.  It was 4 weeks before my mom finally decided to answer the phone when I called.  She came out to visit and decided it didn't seem too horrible but she still wasn't convinced.  It wasn't until my last year that she fully came around.  She started wearing Michigan State t-shirts and proudly rooting for all MSU sports.  She would tell everyone that her daughter was a Spartan therefore, she was, too.  I think it was a few different things that made her realize it wasn't so bad.  I continued to get good grades; I didn't get into any kind of trouble and was still the daughter she knew me to be.  On the day of my graduation, my mother cried again, but this time it was tears of joy.  She told me she had never been so proud of me.  She said that my ability to stand up for what I believed in and to accomplish my goals was something she hoped my sisters would also do someday.  Standing there in my robes, with my honors cords around my neck and my degree in my hand (fake at the time of course) was my proudest moment, as well.  I had proved everyone wrong, my family and my culture.  Respectable women fight for what they want and can be successful even when they don't follow the cultural norms. 

MAY 7, 2005

LEBANON

My whole life, my parents have told me stories about Lebanon and have tried to keep many of the same traditions. 

I had begged and begged forever for my parents to take me there so I could see this country that they speak so highly of.  When I graduated college my parents had another surprise waiting for me.  My graduation from high school earned me my necklace, which I cherish, and my graduation from college earned me a trip to Lebanon.  I was ecstatic to see what the country had to offer and most importantly, I couldn't wait to spend time with the many family members that I had never met.  (My dad came to the US with his brothers, his 5 sisters stayed in Lebanon and have never been to the US.)  

From the very moment that I stepped out of the airport in Beirut, I was in awe.  I could not believe the beauty what this country had to offer and was amazed at the way the culture had inspired everything I could see.  We spent a month in Lebanon that summer and traveled the entire country; there isn't a single sight that we skipped.  However, the part of my trip that left the biggest imprint was the time I spent with my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  

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I was sitting with my cousins one of the first days that we had gotten there and they were still ooing and ahhing at me.  My family that stayed in Lebanon is quite poor and they were amazed by all my things that I consider to be normal but were very fancy to them.  My necklace was one of those things.  I told them how proud my parents were of me and how they had given me this gift.  My cousins told me a lot about their life and how they managed to survive.  My aunt, their mother, had 5 kids.  All of the children had to work to help support the family.  They work long hours and only get one day off a week.  When I did the math to figure out how much they made per hour in dollars it came out to around 50 cents an hour.  Every paycheck they earned went directly to rent, groceries, utilities, or other necessities.  They didn't go out shopping just for fun, go out to dinner, go on vacations, or even buy each other gifts.  Their money has to be spent cautiously.  In my mind, living like this would be so hard, and I imagined that I would be miserable.  But my family is not like that at all.  Having survived the war when so many did not they are just happy to still be alive.  They are thankful for the small things that they do have and live each day to the fullest.  They don't ever complain and appreciate all the things that life has to offer. 

When I came back to the US after that trip, I came back with a new outlook on life.  Money and material things are not important.  I never considered myself to be a materialistic person but my eyes were definitely opened during that trip.  I have learned to truly focus on what is important in this life and don't allow things like money determine the amount of happiness I will have in my life.   

ELLIOTT ELEMENTARY, WAYNE WESTLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

After graduating from MSU with a degree in Psychology I immediately went back to school for a degree in elementary education. I knew that was where my heart really was. My love for learning, children, and education would be best put to use as a teacher. I was very fortunate and was offered a position right after graduation. My first year of teaching was an amazing experience. I learned so much that year about myself, about teaching, and about the world we live in.

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Josh and I were living an hour away from one another during my first year of teaching. I was in Canton and he was in East Lansing. Both of us had just started our careers. We knew we couldn’t live that far away from one another and decided someone needed to make the move so we could take the next step in our relationship. I applied to some schools in the Lansing area and before my first year came to an end I had scored an amazing position with Haslett Public Schools. I taught second grade my first year there and loved every minute of it.

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It wasn’t long after I moved out to East Lansing that Josh popped the question. It happened at the Cider Mill on a day when I least expected it (as you can tell by my greasy ponytail). The Cider Mill is one of my favorite places on Earth. I try to go every weekend during the fall before they close for the season. Josh proposed to me amidst the apple trees. It was perfect.

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Josh and I were married on a perfect day in August. On this day, I became a wife. I changed my name but kept my maiden name as my middle name. I consider it to be a very important part of who I am. It reminds me of the struggles of my family and my journey that has created me who I am today. I am now Jennifer Kassem Richardson.

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After my second year of teaching, I was laid off. Fortunately, I was called back to a part time Kindergarten position. This was a completely different experience for me. I was nervous initially because I had no experience in a kindergarten class before but I found that I really enjoyed it. I was amazed at the amount of growth they make. Next year, I will be going back to full time and will teach second grade again. I will definitely miss my little kindergarten friends.

I am a daughter, sister, friend, student, wife, and teacher. I am patient, determined, focused, competitive, motivated, and proud. I am all of these things because of the people, places, events, and experiences that have been a part of my life. Each day when I teach my students all they need to know about reading and writing I show them how to use these traits for their own benefit. Be patient when something doesn’t come as easily as you’d like it to.

My Parents

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My Husband

Be determined, focused, and motivated to continue to learn and reach your goals. Be competitive with yourself and push your abilities to their full potential. Be proud of what you do. Find the joy in learning, don’t give up, and don’t lose sight of what is most important in this life. These are lessons I have learned from my experiences and I hope that they will help my students to be successful in their own lives.