Volunteer Spotlight: Christopher Bui
Volunteer Spotlight: Christopher Bui
This month BIIN felt that a spotlight needed to be shined on our volunteers who everyday are the first point of contact for our students when they are in class. For this month, we had Christopher Bui tell his story, his experience and journey volunteering and participating in our ESL classes. To begin, Christopher Bui is one of our most prominent volunteers. His family and friends call him Chris for short. He was born and raised in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, specifically in Colleyville, Texas. Chris came to the Bryan/ College Station area around the Fall of 2022 to be a student and continue his studies at Texas A&M. He enjoys living here because of the diversity of people you can find in the area. Not only in the large student population, but also amongst the non-college student community in the Bryan/ College Station area.
At BIIN, Christopher participates in conversational English classes every Tuesday and Thursday. He sits in during these classes and helps students with their assignments as well as to practice their English. When asked about his first time volunteering he helped during a level 1 and 2 conversational English class. At first, he expressed how nervous he was about working with the teacher and the students. However, everybody was so kind and welcoming. All the students were very friendly and open to learning new things and listening to him. When asked what a regular class looks like when he comes to the classes, he stated a regular day during the conversational English class consists of the teacher passing out a paper, with a lesson consisting of a reading or fill-in-the-blank worksheet. From there, the volunteers and teacher assist the students with reading, pronunciation, and learning new vocabulary. The atmosphere is really relaxing and conducive to a strong learning environment. Asking questions when confused is welcomed and highly recommended! When it comes to the students, he enjoys most that the program allows him to meet new people from different backgrounds. There are many places where these students come from and you meet people from so many different countries. One of the clients that he has met through BIIN is Bernardino. Bernardino comes from Mexico where he was a farmer and grew vegetables on hundreds of acres of land. He is currently working on his U.S. citizenship and currently works in a factory. Bernardino always brings a warm smile to class and is always enthusiastic to learn and practice English. The work that he puts in every day to be a better person is extremely admirable. Despite the immense adversity he has gone through in life he manages to come to class every day ready to learn and share a smile. “I hope to one day mirror Bernardino’s enthusiasm and altruism in the future.” Bernardino has provided Christopher with a very important outlook on life that he hopes to mirror, and we are grateful for the help Christopher has given, and glad he has received new knowledge.
Thank you to our Spring 2023 ESL interns for interviewing and writing this story.
