PVCC Puma Press October 2002: Feature

From the rooftops of Harlem to the classrooms of Paradise Valley, Umar Sharif Self Defense, Tai Chi Chuan and Sociology teacher at PVCC, presents his students with a much needed challenge: to grow.

Blending teaching techniques that can be described as evocative, refined, innovative and altruistic, he continues to inspire those around him by being an open-minded example.

"If I have a mission, it is to till the topsoil of my students minds," says Sharif.

As a teacher, he presents himself as a catalyst, mirroring the "pure potential" he sees in each student. His perspective is illuminated through the analogy he draws, comparing a planter and farmer.

"I see myself as a planter rather than a farmer," says Sharif. "A farmer plants seeds in the anticipation of yielding a specific crop during a specific time in order to reap the benefits of it.

"A planter is less stressed than the farmer.

"A planter might throw some seeds on the ground and let nature take it from there. Later, maybe if the planter is walking on a hot day, he might run across the same tree that he planted and have it's shade to cool him."

Sharif realizes that you cannot make anyone learn anything, but you can plant the seeds of knowledge and personal experience, which may help to open one's mind to new ideas.

In return, he says, he receives a feeling of hope.

"In a world with so many dark clouds hanging over it, students give me hope when I see I've really gotten through to them," Sharif says. "You can see it on their faces or in their eyes when they say inside ÆI get it! I truly understand what you are talking about!'"

Sharif recognizes the opportunity a student has to contribute not only to him or herself but also to the surrounding world. This, he admits, is a double-edged sword. Along with hope comes the duality of despair he feels when a student drops a class, drops a commitment or, in other words, gives up.

"These are the people who are going to be in charge of things," says Sharif. "How they behave now is somewhat of an indication of how they will behave in the futureæ I try to focus on the hope part."

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In a world with so many dark clouds hanging over it, students give me hope when I see I've really gotten through to them
— Umar Sharif
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The mental attitude Sharif brings to his source of sadness is one of strength, independence and detachment.

"Though I realize it may affect my situation, I do not allow another's problems to affect me personally," he says.

For his students, Sharif has an increasingly Gestalt view that a class is not a fragmented beginning, middle and end. Rather, a class marks only the start of the student's own journey, leaving the middle and ending parts up to the individual and divine reality.

He puts vital humanism into a curriculum that unknowingly seeks it, amalgamating his radiating spirituality with teaching.

Sharif's spiritual philosophy is reflected immediately in his greeting. One might hear him say, "Peace be with you," "namaste," or "shalom" In the 20 languages from which he can now choose his greeting, the message is always "peace."

"I see myself as less of a religious person and more of a spiritual person," he says. "In religion I would be described as an eclectic, æ I recognize the thread of truth within many religions, and I try to show my students the value of a peaceful approach. I meditate and I practice Tai Chi Chuan," an ancient Eastern practice focusing on breathing, which he says contributes to his own peace of mind.

"It's no longer simply something I do. It is now who I am," he says.

What makes A.S. Umar Sharif a compelling teacher can be answered in a rhetorical question: "Why do so many heart attacks occur at 6 a.m. on Monday mornings?" Sharif asks. "[The victims] wake up to the stress of being unhappy in their chosen livelihoodæ I like my job! I feel blessed to be working here as an educator," he says enthusiastically. "This is the ideal situation."