Preparing to hop into yet another cold shower, I reminded myself that I had only four days to go and that the chilly water could be a plus--a way to cool off after a day on the equator without air conditioning. Even so, I seriously considered leaving the Central American paradise a day or two early. Although I have traveled extensively, my three weeks of language and cultural immersion were resulting in exhaustion and good old-fashioned homesickness. As a professor who teaches social foundations of education in one of the top five states receiving immigrants, I'm always looking for ways to help my mostly white, middle-class female students understand and empathize with students of color and those whose first language is not English. So when my university offered me the chance to participate in a two-week Spanish language immersion program in Panama City, Panama, I welcomed the opportunity. To complete the experience, a colleague invited me to observe an undergraduate service learning program he had created in a Costa Rican city struggling with drug and prostitution problems. Although I had four years of high school and college Spanish, I'm far from fluent. I saw this as an opportunity to experience language and cultural immersion. Before leaving, my group spent four afternoons acquiring basic language skills with a professor who spoke to us only in Spanish. My primary research is with refugee students who are resettled in the U.S., and this small preparation reminded me of what many refugees told me they learned of English before departing for the U.S. Language, however, is but one challenge. Navigating a new culture, longing for acceptance, acclimating to new roles, and forging a new identity are other formidable tasks every newcomer child faces as part of resettlement. Added to these obstacles are often more onerous tasks, such as healing from major psychological or physical trauma, as is frequently the case for refugee students. ?POR QUE IMPORTA? Much research has demonstrated the critical importance of teacher awareness and understanding of diverse students in facilitating these students' achievement (Goldstein 1988; Igoa 1995; Irvine 1990; McBrien 2005; Suarez-Orozco 1989). Creation of such awareness includes cognitive knowledge, affective (emotional) shifts, and practice of new behaviors based on cognitive and affective learning. My students read excerpts from Kozol, Kohl, Freire, McIntosh, Tatum, and others. We watch Eye of the Storm on Eliot's brown eyes/blue eyes experiment, Books, not Bars on the inequitable treatment of youth of color in the juvenile justice system, and Children in America's Schools, a documentary based on Kozol's work in poor schools. We analyze case studies that contain issues with immigrant students, gay students, and social and academic inequities. Such activities provide the cognitive component for acknowledging diversity and the need for increased social justice. But experiences that can promote affective and behavioral change are more difficult to provide. Researchers have suggested such experiences can come from living and working among communities of color (Hartsock 1987); contact theory, or engaging in equal status relationships with people of color (Allport 1954); or drawing on their own perceived experiences of marginalization (Johnson 2002; Paley 1995). When teaching at a private Southern university, I required students to complete 15 hours of tutoring at an inner-city school or the refugee center where I conducted research, providing the kind of experience that Hartsock suggests. My students' journal entries reflected significant changes in their expectations, beliefs, fears, and awareness (McBrien in press). Working with K-12 students in such settings allows preservice teachers to understand children in ways that traditional school settings do not allow. But, even opportunities to work closely with immigrant students can't compare with a personal experience of being the other, the outsider, or the minority student. …