.
.
.
Around the Globe
A snow globe collection tells a story of loss, resilience, and community.
At first glance, Rita Rajen’s 7th-grade social sciences classroom resembles a typical learning environment at NCS. The desks form a U-shape, sunlight pours in through large windows, and whiteboards with notes and important dates span two walls. But upon closer observation, visitors will notice a collection of nearly 200 snow globes. The collection tells a story of loss, resilience, and community.
Though similar in shape, the globes vary in design, each representing a different place and story. The collection is carefully displayed along tiered spice racks on Rajen’s bookcases. One section is filled with globes from across the United States, from Hollywood to Columbus to Baltimore. Another section contains globes from destinations around the world, including Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and Egypt, to name a few. And while many members of the NCS community have seen Rajen’s snow globes, few are familiar with the collection’s origin story—one that is deeply personal to her.
Growing up in India, Rajen and her family relocated to a new part of the country every few years for her father’s job, sparking her interest in travel. “India is where my love of collecting memories from places I visited began.” Later, Rajen married her husband in 1977, and the newlyweds moved to Kuwait where they had two children. She taught geography at a local high school and continued to explore the world.
In 1990, 13 years later, Rajen—committed to instilling a love of travel in her own children—took the family on vacation to the U.S. After spending a day at the Grand Canyon, Rajen and her family received devastating news. Iraq had invaded Kuwait, catalyzing the Gulf War. “We couldn’t go back,” she recalls. Their life savings, once held in Bank of Kuwait accounts, were seized. “We were stranded in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar country, with no money and two young children,” she says. Eventually, the family made their way east, and Rajen found a job teaching history with a focus on geography and culture at Sewickley Academy outside Pittsburgh.
A Snow Globe Tradition
“From nothing, we built up everything,” explains Rajen. For several long, exhausting years, she and her husband grieved for their home and rebuilt a life. Eventually, Rajen was able to resume traveling. She visited cities in the U.S. and around the world, buying snow globes as souvenirs. For Rajen, the snow globe was the perfect keepsake. “I love to learn. I love to share with people. And I like to collect stuff,” she says.
One by one, Rajen brought the globes to school to show her students. “I love[d] collecting stories and bringing them to the classroom,” she says. Her students soon began contributing to the collection themselves, bringing Rajen snow globes from their own families’ travels. “It started a whole tradition,” she says. Whenever Rajen received a new globe, she wrote the name and graduating year of the student who gifted it on the bottom. “I told my students, ‘You will always remain in my classroom, even when you leave,’” she says.
The Collection Grows at NCS
In 2005, Rajen and her snow globes found a home at NCS where the assortment has continued to grow. Today, 25 years after she bought the first globe, Rajen’s students still insist on adding to the collection. “I think the kids drive the parents nuts when they travel somewhere and can’t find a globe. Not every place makes them.” As a result, not every item in her snow globe collection is, in fact, a snow globe.
When one of Rajen's NCS students visited South Africa with her parents, she struggled to find the round, liquid-filled trinket. After a drawn-out search, the parents convinced their daughter to bring Rajen a uniquely South African souvenir. The student returned to NCS with a six-inch-tall ostrich egg adorned with an antique map printed on its shell. Rajen proudly displays the egg amongst the globes.
She appreciates her students' desire to add to the collection. “I just love that the kids are interested and that they want to have a piece of themselves in my room,” Rajen says. “The students are engaged, and they are still connected to me. It gives them joy; as much joy as it brings me. It’s very powerful.”
Rajen’s former student Arya Balian ‘22 says, “While studying the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire, every 7th-grade student gets the chance to gaze at Ms. Rajen’s endless array of snow globes. Small and large, wide and thin, Ms. Rajen has just about every snow globe you can think of—representative of the wide range of topics we learn in Medieval History. Ms. Rajen was a truly amazing teacher who kickstarted my interest in history. To celebrate this, I made her a personalized snow globe with a picture of the two of us! I will forever cherish the memories I made in that classroom five years ago and am honored that I get a place on Ms. Rajen’s iconic snow globe wall.”
Rajen’s long-standing system of labeling the globes with the students’ names and graduating years has helped her reconnect with former pupils. She recalls a chance encounter with a long-term substitute teacher at an NCS assembly. The man approached Rajen after the program and asked if she remembered him. He turned out to be one of her 6th-grade students from Sewickley in the early 2000s. “I brought him to my classroom, and I showed him the snow globe he got for me in Florence,” she reminisces.
Snow Globe Learning
Rajen often uses the globes to bring course material to life in her Medieval World History classes. “Sometimes we like to categorize them,” she says. “We will put all the Asian cities together or all the African cities together. Or I’ll ask them to identify a building.” During the height of the pandemic, Rajen taught from home via Zoom and did not have access to her collection. “It was a big loss for my classes because you never know where the discussion will go, and [in my classroom] I’ll quickly jump up and say, ‘Hey, look at this,’ or ‘Let me show you this,’” she says. Rajen laments that the students in those classes did not experience her teaching with the globes.
After losing everything more than 30 years ago, Rajen is clear about what is important in life, and she uses her globe collection to impart this wisdom to her students. “Occasionally, a globe breaks,” she says. “And I always tell my students, ‘Things are not important. People are important.’”
Written by Natalie Moran, this story originally appeared in the spring 2022 issue of NCS Magazine.
Back
At first glance, Rita Rajen’s 7th-grade social sciences classroom resembles a typical learning environment at NCS. The desks form a U-shape, sunlight pours in through large windows, and whiteboards with notes and important dates span two walls. But upon closer observation, visitors will notice a collection of nearly 200 snow globes. The collection tells a story of loss, resilience, and community.
Though similar in shape, the globes vary in design, each representing a different place and story. The collection is carefully displayed along tiered spice racks on Rajen’s bookcases. One section is filled with globes from across the United States, from Hollywood to Columbus to Baltimore. Another section contains globes from destinations around the world, including Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and Egypt, to name a few. And while many members of the NCS community have seen Rajen’s snow globes, few are familiar with the collection’s origin story—one that is deeply personal to her.
Growing up in India, Rajen and her family relocated to a new part of the country every few years for her father’s job, sparking her interest in travel. “India is where my love of collecting memories from places I visited began.” Later, Rajen married her husband in 1977, and the newlyweds moved to Kuwait where they had two children. She taught geography at a local high school and continued to explore the world.
In 1990, 13 years later, Rajen—committed to instilling a love of travel in her own children—took the family on vacation to the U.S. After spending a day at the Grand Canyon, Rajen and her family received devastating news. Iraq had invaded Kuwait, catalyzing the Gulf War. “We couldn’t go back,” she recalls. Their life savings, once held in Bank of Kuwait accounts, were seized. “We were stranded in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar country, with no money and two young children,” she says. Eventually, the family made their way east, and Rajen found a job teaching history with a focus on geography and culture at Sewickley Academy outside Pittsburgh.
A Snow Globe Tradition
“From nothing, we built up everything,” explains Rajen. For several long, exhausting years, she and her husband grieved for their home and rebuilt a life. Eventually, Rajen was able to resume traveling. She visited cities in the U.S. and around the world, buying snow globes as souvenirs. For Rajen, the snow globe was the perfect keepsake. “I love to learn. I love to share with people. And I like to collect stuff,” she says.
One by one, Rajen brought the globes to school to show her students. “I love[d] collecting stories and bringing them to the classroom,” she says. Her students soon began contributing to the collection themselves, bringing Rajen snow globes from their own families’ travels. “It started a whole tradition,” she says. Whenever Rajen received a new globe, she wrote the name and graduating year of the student who gifted it on the bottom. “I told my students, ‘You will always remain in my classroom, even when you leave,’” she says.
The Collection Grows at NCS
In 2005, Rajen and her snow globes found a home at NCS where the assortment has continued to grow. Today, 25 years after she bought the first globe, Rajen’s students still insist on adding to the collection. “I think the kids drive the parents nuts when they travel somewhere and can’t find a globe. Not every place makes them.” As a result, not every item in her snow globe collection is, in fact, a snow globe.
When one of Rajen's NCS students visited South Africa with her parents, she struggled to find the round, liquid-filled trinket. After a drawn-out search, the parents convinced their daughter to bring Rajen a uniquely South African souvenir. The student returned to NCS with a six-inch-tall ostrich egg adorned with an antique map printed on its shell. Rajen proudly displays the egg amongst the globes.
She appreciates her students' desire to add to the collection. “I just love that the kids are interested and that they want to have a piece of themselves in my room,” Rajen says. “The students are engaged, and they are still connected to me. It gives them joy; as much joy as it brings me. It’s very powerful.”
Rajen’s former student Arya Balian ‘22 says, “While studying the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire, every 7th-grade student gets the chance to gaze at Ms. Rajen’s endless array of snow globes. Small and large, wide and thin, Ms. Rajen has just about every snow globe you can think of—representative of the wide range of topics we learn in Medieval History. Ms. Rajen was a truly amazing teacher who kickstarted my interest in history. To celebrate this, I made her a personalized snow globe with a picture of the two of us! I will forever cherish the memories I made in that classroom five years ago and am honored that I get a place on Ms. Rajen’s iconic snow globe wall.”
Rajen’s long-standing system of labeling the globes with the students’ names and graduating years has helped her reconnect with former pupils. She recalls a chance encounter with a long-term substitute teacher at an NCS assembly. The man approached Rajen after the program and asked if she remembered him. He turned out to be one of her 6th-grade students from Sewickley in the early 2000s. “I brought him to my classroom, and I showed him the snow globe he got for me in Florence,” she reminisces.
Snow Globe Learning
Rajen often uses the globes to bring course material to life in her Medieval World History classes. “Sometimes we like to categorize them,” she says. “We will put all the Asian cities together or all the African cities together. Or I’ll ask them to identify a building.” During the height of the pandemic, Rajen taught from home via Zoom and did not have access to her collection. “It was a big loss for my classes because you never know where the discussion will go, and [in my classroom] I’ll quickly jump up and say, ‘Hey, look at this,’ or ‘Let me show you this,’” she says. Rajen laments that the students in those classes did not experience her teaching with the globes.
After losing everything more than 30 years ago, Rajen is clear about what is important in life, and she uses her globe collection to impart this wisdom to her students. “Occasionally, a globe breaks,” she says. “And I always tell my students, ‘Things are not important. People are important.’”
Written by Natalie Moran, this story originally appeared in the spring 2022 issue of NCS Magazine.
-
-
Rita Rajen poses next to her collection.
-
Rajen’s former student, who later worked at NCS as a substitute teacher, gave her this snow globe from Florence.
-
Rajen's snow globe from India—her birthplace.
-
