Chief of the Office of Educational Access DeWayne Street invited Leander High School Instructional Assistant and Job Coach Ramona Kar to speak about her journey and the significance of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
This On the Street: A #1LISD Journey podcast series serves as an opportunity to continue the conversation around educational access and to highlight our efforts around increasing cultural competency for Leander ISD staff. Our work is about bringing people into the conversation.
Episode 9 – Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Ramona Kar
DeWayne starts by asking about Ramona’s background and what attracted her to Leander ISD (00:52).
Later, DeWayne and Ramona have a conversation centered around:
- Ramona’s transition to the U.S. (03:55)
- Advice she’d give her younger self (07:27)
- Why celebrate AAPI Heritage Month? (11:25)
- Closing (14:40)
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Below, you will find a transcript of the episode.
Conversation
DeWayne Street
Hello, friends. I am pleased to be here today with Ramona Kar, Instructional Assistant and Job Coach at Leander High School. As we observe Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I have asked her to join me for a conversation that I’m sure you will find both engaging and illuminating. With that being said, please join me in welcoming Ramona to On the Street.
Ramona Kar
Thank you so much for inviting me to this conversation to mark the Asian American Heritage Month.
Street
No, we are pleased to have you and we so look forward to our conversation. And thank you again for being our honored guests today.
Kar
You’re most welcome. I am honored.
Street
Well, Ramona, I look forward to it. So with that being said, if you’re okay, why don’t we just get started?
Kar
Sure.
About Ramona’s background and what attracted her to Leander ISD (00:52)
Street
Okay. So can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey in Leander ISD, and particularly what attracted you to Leander ISD?
Kar
So I was born and raised in Mumbai, India, a bustling city of over 22 million on India’s west coast. I am very nostalgic and feel very enriched about the more than a quarter decade of my life in Mumbai where I did my high school, my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and worked in three different jobs, alongside people from different faiths – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Zarathustrans; different languages – English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Urdu; different cuisines; and different cultural traditions.
I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating all the different religious festivals. In fact, in the last week on my last public transit trade in Mumbai, I recall feeling really sad that I would miss all this multicultural fun.
Street
I believe that.
Kar
And being part of that fabric.
Street
Yes.
Kar
So I moved to Portland, Oregon in 1992 and to Austin in 1998.
Street
So you remember Austin before it got …
Kar
Yes, yes. In fact, when I came to Austin, I was a little disappointed because I loved the Douglas Firs of Portland.
Street
Yes. So when you came here, Austin had not become Austin yet? Totally understand.
Kar
And my career has spanned five different fields – social work, public relations, alcohol and drug counseling, technical writing. And since 2005, job coaching in Leander ISD’s Special Education department, specifically on the Leander High School campus.
Street
Which, when you and I were talking before, you said you’ve not only only worked at Leander High School, you’ve only wanted to work at Leander High School.
Kar
I only want to work at Leander High School.
Street
So please, please tell us why. What makes that place so special?
Kar
So just a little background.
Street
Absolutely.
Kar
The job coaching job description is what attracted me to Leander ISD, because I wanted a part-time position and there it was. I felt very enthused about, you know, working with students with special needs, helping them build employability skills, helping them find jobs.
Street
Which is so important.
Kar
Create meaningful outcomes, etc.. My first few years at Leander High School confirmed for me that the warm, welcoming vibe and the service-oriented and student-centered environment is where I always wanted to be. There’s just something about Leander High School that just gets you. I feel blessed that all my supervisors over the last 19 years have been so supportive, flexible, kind and encouraging.
My coworkers have always been the best ever. And the vocational teachers I worked with – absolutely excellent.
Street
Wow. So you are truly emblematic of what we say when we say about Leander, “It’s different here.”
Kar
Yes, yes.
Street
And it’s the people, the campus, the leadership, all of those things.
Ramona’s transition to the U.S. (03:55)
Street
And so going back to your time in Mumbai, you said you miss the bustling city life and the diversity. So was there a significant transition when you came to the states?
Kar
There was a very significant transition because my first memories of Portland were cats. There were only cats around in the apartment complex. There were no humans. Everyone had gone to work. It was so quiet.
Street
Yes.
Kar
I was not used to that. It took me three years to adjust to life in this country. Took me a whole three years. But one redeeming feature that Portland has is their public transit.
Street
Yes.
Kar
So in the first week, I immediately enrolled in a volunteer organization, the Volunteers of America. I looked for opportunities to volunteer at the St. Vincent’s Hospital. So I became very involved.
Street
In the transportation hub. Gave you an opportunity to get out.
Kar
I did not … no driving at that point.
Street
And so then you moved to Austin?
Kar
Yes.
Street
And when you got here, what was that transition like?
Kar
That transition was difficult also because I had to look for another career.
So I didn’t know what I would do with my credentials, since Austin did not accept Portland’s credentials.
Street
No reciprocity?
Kar
No. So then I decided to go back to what I enjoyed doing, writing. And so I did a certification course in technical writing at ACC.
Street
And then you worked for DARS?
Kar
Yes, I worked for DARS, which is today. Texas Workforce Solutions.
Street
Outstanding. So you talked about growing up in Mumbai and I have a question around that: What is your best or your greatest childhood memory from growing up?
Kar
So my parents were born and raised in Goa, which is a neighboring state, to the state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, and Goa is a neighboring state. And my best memories relate to a specific vacation memory in Goa. We used to travel by ship or by bus.
An overnight journey to reach Goa. And Goa is a very hilly place. And so I remember visiting my aunt. In order to visit my aunt, we had to climb a hill. It was like Sound of Music. So we had to go to the back door, open it, cross the courtyard, and then a family of four and my uncle would climb this big hill.
And on our descent was my aunt’s home. So it felt very adventurous, here we were alone on these hilly slopes. No one around. And it was so exciting to know that after we climbed the hill, we could visit my aunt. So that was just very adventurous to me.
Street
I love the reference to Sound of Music. I’m having a flashback to the last Ted Lasso episode. That’s just a personal note. But your aunt. What does she mean to you?
Kar
She was my dad’s oldest sister, and she was a stickler for everything. But she also was a very good cook. I look forward to after the dissent, enjoying the snacks. I enjoyed that. It was just something very different for me since life was very simple back then. We didn’t have many adventures.
Street
Yes. And this was one.
Kar
Yes. This was one. Yes.
Street
Thank you for sharing that.
Advice she’d give her younger self (07:27)
Street
And so when you … continuing with your childhood, when you look back, is there any advice that you would give yourself at 15 that now you know but you wish you had known when you were 15? I know you and I kind of talked about this offline, and we kind of had that in common because when I was 15, I didn’t enjoy being 15.
And I wish I had known some of the things that I know now back then, and maybe I would have enjoyed it. So is there anything that you would say?
Kar
At 15, I was in the 10th grade. We used to call them standards. I was in the 10th standard. And at 10th standard, you exited high school. I went to junior college. I was a nerd and my head was always buried in a text book. And I was very afraid that not studying all the time would not get me the grades that I wanted.
That was just who I am. So my advice to the 15 year old Ramona would be “get your head out of the textbook and live life.”
Street
Yes.
Kar
Don’t be afraid to accept a leadership position when it is offered. Don’t be afraid of getting out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid if you do not excel in something. Treasure every experience. Escaping the limelight was my default. I had several opportunities to lead a group or do something that I had not planned for, but I preferred to walk along the roads more traveled.
So I would say explore the roads less traveled.
Street
Take more chances.
Kar
More chances that are not terribly risky, but within my comfort zone. I’m not that adventurous.
Street
I think you and I have that in common. You know, people ask me, you know, “Am I, you know, a risky person?” No, I take calculated risk, but I never gamble. You know, And so I think we have that in common. And I look back on when I was 15, your advice would have benefited me as well.
I mean, I was afraid to a certain extent of being in the limelight because I didn’t think that I deserved to be there. I saw myself in deficit terms to some extent, but then also I didn’t think I could withstand the scrutiny of being in the limelight. So there were things that I did not pursue because of that fear that would have given me a more well-rounded experience as a student had I done that.
Kar
So that’s the pit that I fell into. I was always afraid of not doing well in STEM subjects, so I opted for liberal arts. And in the education scene then, if you opted for liberal arts, there was no going back. You had to stay within that groove. So my career was so lacking in STEM content that I could not really, I did not have many options after that, because I was so afraid that I would fall short. I wouldn’t have the smarts to do the physics, the chemistry, the biology. So I stuck with liberal arts because I was afraid of not excelling.
Street
Yes, I can totally identify with that. I was afraid of if I failed because I tried, I would confirm to the public the way I saw myself sometimes that I wasn’t good enough. And so that kept me from trying.
Kar
Exactly. Exactly.
Street
And so that would be the one thing that if I could go back, I would be a bit more like your word, more adventurous. Not taking a lot of risk, but I would pursue some things that … because my first love is aviation. I mean, since I was a kid, I love planes, love everything about them.
But when I was coming up, I didn’t feel that I had the math skills to go into you know, that discipline. And I look back, I should have pursued that. And not that I regret my choices because I’ve had a great career. But I often wonder if I would have been more adventurous, would I be piloting a 777 across the Atlantic right now?
You know, so I do wonder about that. Thank you for sharing that.
Why celebrate AAPI Heritage Month? (11:25)
Street
So in your opinion, why should the #1LISD family celebrate AAPI Heritage Month?
Kar
So since I’m from India, my perspective on this is India-centric.
Street
Totally appreciate that.
Kar
I have heard many stereotypical phrases, adjectives used when people refer to India, for example, exotic, very ethnic, delicious food, smart in math and science, very competitive. I agree that there are various factors that, you know, have given rise to these stereotypes. But during this Asian American Heritage Month, I would like to request the one LISD family to disconnect from these stereotypes and explore the vibrant soul of India.
It’s spiritual traditions that go back to 1500 B.C.. Its socio-cultural traditions. Its freedom struggle. In our current polarized world, my soul cries out for connections that unite. I hope that the #1LISD family feels inspired to seek these unifying connections in Asian American and other global cultures. I hope that enjoying the Asian American cultural richness will inspire a greater tolerance and respect for difference, lessen insecurity about cultures being different, and create a thirst to know more about the culture of our land nearly 9,000 miles away from the American mainland.
Street
Yes. Ramona, that’s beautiful. Because I think that we are so polarized right now, and I think a lot of that is driven by insecurity and fear. But the more you learn about people you consider to be different from you, the more you find that connective tissue and the more – and I love the word “thirst” – the more I learn about people, the more I want to learn about individuals.
And that becomes those bonds that unite us even in difficult times. And I think as adults, we have a responsibility to model that for the people coming after us. So I love what you said. And India is a country I have not visited. When I was studying abroad, when I was in grad school, it was one of the countries that I wanted to go to.
So I haven’t given up hopes of visiting.
Kar
I encourage you to go. And you’ll have to plan several trips because there’s not south, east and west – each very distinct.
Street
I believe that. I do. And so I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to travel to India. I know I even looked up a flight going back to my aviation love, the one of the longest flights in aviation is from New York to New Delhi, and it’s a modified Airbus A350.
Kar
When I took the Newark to Mumbai flight several times.
Street
How long was that?
Kar
Well, 16 hours.
Street
Yes. So I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait. So thank you.
But I totally agree with what you said: We have to find a way to look past our differences. We acknowledge that we’re all unique, right? But I think sometimes the word “difference” implies that we have walls up that we can overcome. You have a unique story, a unique culture.
And I love what you said. You don’t represent all of the AAPI community, but you do have a voice. And so part of what we try to do on our podcast is to illustrate the diversity of thought within communities as well. So thank you so much for that. Yeah.
Closing (14:40)
Street
So is there anything else, Ramona, you like to share with us? Because I think you really hit on how celebrating this month can benefit our families and our students. But is there anything else you like to share with us?
Kar
Well, just a final note expressing my gratitude. I’m so grateful that Leander ISD is so very welcoming of its multicultural student body and offers so many opportunities to discover new multicultural horizons. And I am proud to be part of #1LISD and proud to be part of the Asian-American diaspora, which includes people who have excelled and contributed to humanity in every field.
Street
No, I love that. And I love the word diaspora because it just encompasses … it shows people that it’s not just the region, it’s all over, right? So I love that use of that word.
And once again, we want to thank you for being our honored guest today. I’m confident that our listeners found value in our discussion. LISD is a great district and place to work because of the professionalism and commitment exhibited by practitioners like you.
Ramona, we are all better off because you decided to join the #1LISD family. So thank you again for being here.
Kar
You’re most welcome. And the honor is mine.
Street
Thank you.
