Thriving More than Helping

     In Puerto Rico, as stated in Cooper's Chapter 8: Helping, has been a major problem trying to inculcate other customs or languages. The island natives tend to unite against any other unknown circumstance that might make them feel uncertain. The chapter deeply discusses the problem faced when teaching English, the students just united and helped each other. More than being a cultural characteristic, helping the classmates was about sticking together against the unknown language. The English dialect was tough for the students and it was just a strategy found to pass the classes.

Puerto Rican community united full of pride.

     Frustration from being stuck in a place and being told that progress was limited, made Puerto Ricans want to flourish with bigger desire. It was discussed majorly the frustration the professor had, when trying to teach the language and Puerto Ricans just did what they thought was right. Helping each other wasn't wrong, but when learning it is something done out of lack of knowledge. They needed patience and hope. The school teachers were also just trying to succeed and Cooper exposes this problem back from the previous chapter. The education is something learned by one being and not collectively, because each person needs to educate in order to prosper as a whole community. 
     Maybe the way Puerto Ricans acted close-minded was something that led Americans to believe we were incapable of learning. They didn't realize that they were being stubborn and needed to understand our fragile position. The United Stated was a territory with power that could take away anything from us, and the island just needed understanding. The people that believed in us were the ones that kept teaching English. Those people that had hope in our welfare and not about what they could exploit from us. 
     The island now stands in a place were a vast majority of the population is well educated in comparison to that time were Cooper was teaching. The elementary technique of helping classmates was because of the will teachers had to see students bloom. No teacher had the intention to affect negatively the education in Puerto Rico. That is something were we could see again the fact that Puerto Ricans united against the unknown. Teachers, as students were merely natives from the island wanting to thrive. As a Puerto Rican, I see that beyond helping it was a way to strengthen the culture against the unknown.