WESTFIELD – “Don’t follow your dreams… chase them.”
The phrase may sound cliché but its message has worked for West Springfield native Katherine Kraver, a 2012 Westfield State alumna. Kraver is a first grade teacher in her hometown, has traveled to five of the world’s continents and published her first children’s book, “It Was Just a House.” The story is about the hardships that refugees face every day in warring Middle Eastern countries.
Kraver’s new book was inspired by her time in Jordan on a J-Term course with Professors John Paulmann and Max Saito of the communication department in the summer of 2012. Westfield State’s J-Term study abroad courses take place over a two- to three-week period, exposing students to a new and diverse setting while earning college credit.
“I wanted to take the course because I knew it would be a great experience,” said Kraver, who didn’t need the course to graduate. “I’m a huge endorser for taking trips. I will tell anyone that if you can take a trip or a course through Westfield State, do it. It will change your life.”
After taking several trips following graduation, Kraver had different stories about new cultures, experiences, and encounters with people of the world.
“I kept on coming home and telling everyone these stories,” Kraver said. “One of my coworkers said, ‘you need to write a book! Everything you do is so interesting.’ And I thought, ‘who wants to read about me?’”
Kraver was inspired to not share her personal story, but the stories of those she encountered.
“I got this idea about writing a book on an impacting experience from each country I visited,” said Kraver. “I wanted to write each book from a child’s perspective, making them relatable to the children who would go on to read it.”
Kraver encountered several refugees during her J-term in Jordan but she remembered one woman’s story that would go on to shape the message of her book.
“A mother shared that she was so grateful to be in the refugee camp, even with the substandard conditions,” Kraver said. “I remember her saying, ‘It could be worse.’ This moment made me re-evaluate everything up until that moment. I looked around and saw a blanket as the roof, dirt floors, cement walls, little to no furniture, limited food, and her response was, ‘It could be worse.’ This sort of mentality was something I wanted to communicate in my book: the hopefulness and optimism of these individuals who have endured things we cannot even begin to imagine.”
Kraver’s former course leader professor John Paulmann believes that she is becoming a great teacher and admires the way she strives to open the world to young students.
“I think Katherine is a kind of rocket ship with tremendous energy and well-thought-out direction, to create for her students an inter-cultural global positioning system,” Paulmann said. “Katherine has a gifted sense of care and compassion for people having a hard time. Whether she is visiting Haiti, Costa Rica, Africa, or the Middle East, Katherine has ‘an ear’ for the human story, the story of struggle, and loss, and recovery.”
Some of Kraver’s own students have come to West Springfield from refugee camps and countries in war. Through her travels and new book, she feels that her bond with students has become stronger.
“I’ve had these students read my book and say with tears in their eyes, ‘this is exactly what I’ve been through and I feel like people don’t understand me,” Kraver said. “Your book will help teach people who I am and what I’ve been through.’”
As a young student, Kraver said that she struggled with understanding national and global events. One of the largest hopes for her book is to teach young people about the importance of knowing what is happening in our world.
“You don’t truly understand a person until you see what they’ve experienced,” Kraver said. “It’s hard for people to do that when it comes to war, especially. After reading my book to a local kindergarten class, they asked me if what could happen in the book could happen in America, to which I replied, ‘no.’ It will put our freedom and country in perspective to them if they understand the hardships that are happening across the globe.”
Kraver is also a strong believer of the “everything happens for a reason” mentality. Although she studied elementary education while at Westfield State, she minored in creative writing.
“I didn’t know it was going to lead me here,” said Kraver. “I loved writing but I never thought I would be where I am now.”
When asked if she had any advice for Westfield State students aspiring to be authors, Kraver immediately thought of words from her father.
“My dad always said, ‘you don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for.’ I think that’s so true,” said Kraver. “You can say, ‘I wish to write a book’ or ‘I wish to be an author,’ but that’s not just going to happen. You have to get out there, do your research and work for it. It’s so cliché but I’m here now and I’m telling people, it’s absolutely possible. You have to work so hard but if it’s something that you ultimately want, you can achieve it.”
Katherine Kraver’s first official author appearance will take place at a book signing on Saturday, December 13 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at West Springfield High School. Visitors will have the opportunity to make care packages for current refugees. Proceeds from Kraver’s book will also go towards sending food and supplies to those in need in the Middle East. To find out more on Kraver’s upcoming books and author events, visit her official website at katherinemarykraver.com.
