Letter From the Past Chair: Of the Past, the Present, and the Future

Karen Asenavage, [email protected]

The past…it is an interesting verb tense to teach and to live. It never ceases to amaze me that this seemingly easy verb tense can present so many difficulties for our students. Whether it's remembering irregular and regular, how to pronounce the three different endings, or whether one should use a simple past or a perfect tense, the past tense is difficult for non-native English speakers to use. Maybe it's cultural. It could be because some cultures acknowledge the past but are more focused upon the present while others live in the past and acknowledge the future. In any case, for this native English speaker whose life has spanned several cultures, living the past now is a learning experience.

I'm thinking about living the past because many aspects of my life have moved into the past tense over the last six months. After 12 wonderful years in the United Arab Emirates, I have returned to take up a position at the University of Pennsylvania, where my father was an alumnus and the city is my hometown. I'm reconnecting with old childhood friends and relatives I haven't seen in years, while daily receiving e-mails from friends and colleagues who are still working overseas. It's wonderful and yet slightly disorienting. Now, after two years, first as Incoming Chair, then Chair of the Christian Educators in TESOL caucus, I am the CETC Past Chair. Again, it's encouraging to have new strong leadership take over but also slightly disorienting. As a past leader, it means stepping back, allowing others to take over, and trying to gauge when, how, or if to offer help. As a past leader, it also means being a bridge between what was before and what is to come.

What has gone before for CETC is a remarkable legacy that spans decades under the able leadership of Wes Eby, Rita LaNell Stahl, Kitty Purgason, Cheri Pierson, Adelaide Parsons, Mary Wong, Nancy Zumwalt, and others. It was hundreds of Christian TESOLers becoming nearly 1000 members of an official TESOL caucus. It was the dream of a focused CETC mini-conference prior to TESOL in Long Beach becoming an international conference at Payap University in Chiang Mai under Brad Baurain and his team this past year. It is honoring Christian scholars, men and women of faith, like Earl Stevick, Tom Scovel, and Jean Zukowski/Faust. It is seeking out and developing leaders from among our ranks. It was and remains standing strong and responding with wisdom and love in the face of criticism about what we as Christian TESOLers believe and live.

Ahead, there is a strong leadership team with Eleanor Pease, Gena Bennett, Meredith Bricker, Michael Lessard-Clouston, Frank Tuzi and Andy Bowdler. Led by Kathryn Bartholomew, Seattle Pacific University will host a mini conference prior to TESOL 2007. We'll have opportunities to honor those who have gone before us and to mentor and encourage others to take up the leadership roles within CETC and TESOL. We look forward to more publications about what we believe and how we as Christian educators impact our classrooms and places of work. There is an exciting future ahead for the Christian Educators in TESOL Caucus.

Jesus tells to remember the past with a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12) and all that He has done for us on the cross (1 John 1:7), but we are also encouraged to look to the future straining towards what is ahead  (Philippians 3). Living between the past and the present, while looking towards the future can be challenging to us as Christians, educators, and leaders but this is as it must be and what makes our lives worth living. I would like to encourage you to be active in the CET caucus, learning today from those who have gone before and stepping up to take us ahead into the future.