Michelle Tabrizi-Ortiz

I attribute my success to drive — I am deeply driven, and I am committed to making a difference. I am constantly trying to find ways to help our country function better, because when you truly think about it, our social model is uniquely challenging. Nowhere else in the world — perhaps with the exception of Brazil, in small ways — do we have people arriving from every corner of the globe, bringing with them different languages, religions, and cultural beliefs, and yet somehow coexisting. That is not a simple dynamic to navigate.
What motivates me most is helping immigrant communities thrive. I taught at a college in the San Fernando Valley here in Los Angeles, where the student population was heavily Hispanic, and many of those students were trapped within their own communities because of language barriers. Regardless of where one stands politically on immigration, the reality is that without language skills and cultural competence, people cannot fully access the opportunities around them. They function within the boundaries of what they know, and I truly believe they would thrive if we placed greater emphasis on language acquisition and cultural competence — understanding what is appropriate and expected in various situations. Because we do not mandate or prioritize this, immigrant communities continue to struggle unnecessarily. That is what keeps me going — finding ways to help those communities break through those barriers.

The best career advice I have ever received is twofold: "Fake it till you make it" and "Teach what you know." People would often ask me, "Do you speak Mandarin?" and I would say no. They would then ask, "Well, how do you teach your students?" My answer was always the same — I teach what I know: what I have learned from my own professors and what I carry with me as the child of an immigrant.
At first, I questioned what "fake it till you make it" really meant. But over time, I came to understand it deeply. In practice, it means being willing to adapt in the moment — assessing whether students are understanding, and if they are not, finding a new way in. For example, I once took a group of students to Chipotle. Some of my Islamic students had never encountered pork before and did not recognize it on the menu. So we went out, I pointed to different items, labeled them, created visual references, and built a lesson right there on the spot. That is immersion-style teaching — and that is what I believe in. If I moved to Iran, I would become fluent in Farsi simply by living there. The same principle applies in the classroom.
That approach can be uncomfortable, because teachers are trained to pre-plan everything, and I am a structured person by nature. But learning to adapt, improvise, and trust the process has been the most valuable lesson of my career.

My advice is simple: volunteer in the field you want to enter, and spend real time in that space. Many people assume that because they speak English fluently, they can teach it — and I appreciate that impulse, because there are wonderful people volunteering at libraries and community centers who are doing meaningful work. But teaching English as a second language is not as easy as it looks. Immersing yourself in that environment before committing to it professionally will give you an honest picture of what the work truly involves — and it will make you a far more prepared and effective educator when you do step into the role.

The biggest challenge in my field is culture — specifically, the need for greater cultural competence. We have made meaningful strides in integrating cultures that have been part of this country since its early history, but newer communities present distinct challenges that are not always addressed effectively. Chinese culture, in particular, presents a significant contrast — the values and cultural norms are, in many ways, nearly opposite to American cultural expectations. When those differences go unaddressed in the classroom, they do not just create friction — they actively stop the teaching and stop the learning. Building genuine cultural competence, on both sides of the classroom, is one of the most important opportunities we have to improve outcomes for international students.

Integrity and professionalism are the values I hold most closely, both in my work and in my personal life. In a field built on trust — between educators and students, between institutions and families, and across cultures — the way you conduct yourself matters as much as what you teach. I hold myself to a consistent standard in every setting, because I believe that meaningful impact requires alignment between who you are in the classroom and who you are in the world.