Perspectives… | celebrating multiple points of view

In my visit at age 12, I took my role as self-appointed travel journalist for my 6th grade teacher, my friends, and father quite seriously. My letters to them are filled with rich details and descriptions of farm life, wedding ceremonies, holidays, and rituals. Many of the things I experienced were so new, and extra [...]

My next encounter was at age nine. Here is an excerpt, written in my newly acquired cursive handwriting, from one of my blue aerogramme letters (yes, we actually wrote paper letters back then!) to my Dad who couldn’t take as much time off from work as was needed for the long trip so he was [...]

I was one of these kids, traveling on summer vacations to my parents’ small rural villages in Tamil Nadu, India, every few years. Below, I chronicle my trips in developmental stages, and perhaps pediatricians and parents will be able to relate to some of their own patients/children’s perspectives in my story.
My first contact with India, [...]

Summer Vacation India: An Indian-American Pediatrician’s Personal Developmental Perspective
In the last few months many Indian-American children walked, crawled, or got carried onto Singapore Airlines or an Air India plane, thus starting a time honored- tradition of returning to India to meet and become acquainted with their relatives. This tradition started in earnest in the 1960’s [...]

Everyday at our house when we sit down together to eat supper we say what we are grateful for or happy about. Everybody gets a turn if they want. We just give our attention to whoever wants to talk and then we listen to them until they are done. Then we eat. My brother Richard [...]

Hi. It’s is Aja again. I’m kind of getting used to this blogging more and it’s kind of fun. My older brothers were talking the other night and they were saying how glad they are to have the kind of parents we have. Our parents have never said to any other kids that they can’t [...]

My mom just showed me an email somebody sent her called “Free Hugs”. It’s a story and a video clip about a guy in Australia who stood on a corner of a busy city street with a sign that said “Free Hugs.” At first I thought that it was a little strange, but then I [...]

Hi. It’s Aja again. I’m lucky because both my grandmothers are still alive and I get to see both of them and spend time with them. They are both lots of fun to be with and they are both so different. My Nana says it would be boring if we were all the same. Everyone [...]

Editor’s Note: Dr. Greene and I were first introduced to this week’s extraordinary Guest Blogger when we read her book, Three Grin Salad. Aja King, now 12 years old, has an amazing outlook on life and a gift of communication. Please join me in welcoming her. She’d love to read your comments on her posts [...]

Eliana is doing something. Earlier this year she interviewed Angelina Jolie at the Santa Barbara Film Festival (go to Santa Barbara Teen Press, http://www.sbmsteenpress.org/, and search for Angelina Jolie) and in response to Ellie’s question about what students today can do to make a difference in the world, Angelina said ‘Find something you really care [...]