December 17, 2003
Bolivia teaches Coonrod lesson
19-year-old Interlochen graduate spends seven months as English instructor
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Not only the stars look different in Bolivia, the whole world is changed.
Interlochen resident Rob Coonrod immersed himself in the lives and education, the art and culture of people at the Rio Colorado Agricultural School and surrounding town for most of the year. He moved from a life of comfortable privilege and ease, with outstanding educational and artistic opportunities, to live and work with people in a poor, landlocked and politically unstable country.
During his seven months there as a volunteer in mission for the United Methodist Church Global Missionaries, Coonrod witnessed a revolution, saw children as young as ten leave school to work in fields all day and shared crowded lumber trucks or buses with livestock during harrowing rides on steep mountain roads (one nickname: the Road of Death).
Through it all he experienced a warm and welcoming hospitality from the community surrounding the school. And discovered that the absence of modern distractions led to a slower pace of life - one with time for long talks over coffee or sodas, time for music or walks.
"People wanted to get to know me, they gave me big stalks of bananas or bags of grapefruit," said Coonrod, a 2002 graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy. "Since there was no electricity, except three hours a day, no phones or no television, it was a good time to get free of the whole way of life that can make people lazy."
Coonrod was in Bolivia to teach English as a Second Language to students in grades 7-12 at the school. He worked with 180 students at the boarding school, most of whom had no prior experience with the language. Turning 19 while there, Coonrod was younger than some of his pupils. He found, however, that his youth intrigued his students and also helped him bridge the cultural gap.
Coonrod also discovered the challenges of motivating reluctant learners, one of many teaching experiences that he believes will help him when he starts college, possibly next fall.
"Some had an interest in English but since some had never encountered English before and might never again in their lives, it was just a class to them," Coonrod noted. "The biggest challenge would be not just making them learn but making them know the importance of English as a Second Language: if they have a desire to learn it and be good at it they could have power and better themselves and their paychecks."
Having studied just a few years of Spanish in high school, Coonrod had a living Spanish as a Second Language experience. For one three-month stretch, he had only one other person, the missionary administering the school, to speak English with. Most of his time was spent communicating in Spanish and he mastered the art of the quick word look-up.
"I was always flipping through my dictionary," recalled Coonrod. "[Living there] was a really wonderful way to learn Spanish."
"In general, from my travels, one of the best ways to learn something is to live it," he added, also giving a nod to his alma mater. "Interlochen is a very culturally diverse place, I am sure that influenced me to love cultures."
An artist and musician, Coonrod has previously traveled in Ireland and the Czech Republic for ten weeks after high school graduation. Initially a classical guitar major at the academy, he changed to theater after his first year so he could broaden his creative horizons. His travels in Europe rekindled his interest in the guitar; this time a variety of musical styles captivated him. With sights set on a professional musical career, he said his composition style merges many influences and defies categorization.
Coonrod took an old acoustic guitar with him to Bolivia and there he absorbed a variety of new musical flavors, learning some traditional indigenous dances as well.
"I love playing and learning different music," said Coonrod, who ended up buying a new guitar while there. "Since I write music, it was a new event in my life so for that I had all these different thoughts and feelings and I believe I brought back a number of different influences."
Coonrod's father Michael, a classical piano instructor at the Interlochen Arts Academy, visited his son for 12 days in August. Traveling just after the revolution swept through Bolivia and installed a new leader, Michael Coonrod was thrilled to see what his son was experiencing. He, too, absorbed the significance of a different pace of life engendered by lack of modern conveniences.
"My most appropriate thought is we have such time constraints here, so much stuff and so much opulence," he said. "They have so little and I really enjoyed the wholeheartedness of the people."