Passion and Productivity (CI 504 Project)

The following was a blog post made for my education course. Please enjoy. :)

I was on a bit of an anime binge recently, so here's a clip for personal entertainment. I've provided both the English and Japanese dubs to cater to your preferences:

ENGLISH

JAPANESE

I was born and raised on the Northwest Side of Chicago in a family of Filipino immigrants. Growing up, English and Tagalog were the predominant languages at home, but I never quite picked up the latter fluently. I attended a Catholic parish and school, St. William, which was only a few minutes’ walk from my house. The parish population was predominantly Mexican and Puerto Rican, so the Spanish language and Hispanic culture were heavily incorporated into Sunday services as well as the school curriculum.

At St. Will’s, I was part of a small class of 22 (some people transferred out and back in over time) which had a homeroom teacher who taught most of our subjects in the same classroom. We had a few other teachers which taught us music, computer basics, and physical education. It’s a very small school where it was very easy to put names to faces. That being said, my class was very collaborative in nature. Some of the Spanish speakers in our class would often group together and either work on assignments or chat. I recall one instance in which the teacher discouraged Spanish, but it still persisted until our graduation.

 

Our class had a lot of projects that were individualized; we had assignments with prompts, but we were able to use any topic or content that was available and interesting. An interesting text analysis activity I remember involved breaking down articles from either the Chicago Tribune or the Sun Times and breaking them down according to the five W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why); subsequently, we would present these stories in front of the class. I also recall other projects such as a fiction book report and my first research paper. During these assignments, I chose texts which caught my attention and which I devoured with a passion.

I have a few takeaways from looking back at my grade school days. The usage of languages other than English did provide my Spanish-speaking friends a means to approach course content in a unique way; it’s an application of one’s own perspective and identity to make a genuine contribution to the classroom. It’s kind of like how anime fans state their preference on how they watch anime, whether it’s Japanese with English subtitles or just a straight-up English dub; some people take in the stories better in their own language, while other opt to take in the original voices.

By the way, here's an example of what I'm talking about:

 

People process things differently based on factors such as language, personal interests, and stuff that they care about in general. Content is effective when it bridges the student to the classroom; genuine interest breeds genuine contribution.

The questions I would like to discuss on this post:

• Can you recall any projects during which you genuinely pursued?
• Have you or someone you knew made contributions to a discussion which were noticeably unique in the classroom?

Pursuit of a Dream, Pursuit of a Vocation

I drove home to the sight of emergency lights just down the street from my house this evening. There’s something about sights like this that often make me reflect on the state of the community around me. Of course, living in a city like Chicago, stuff like this is more or less commonplace.

I wonder what sort of situation happened there and who was involved in cases like this. At the same time, I think about what sort of conditions led to this moment. Being the over-analyst that I am sometimes, I can’t help but feel an urge to figure out and do something to better such conditions.

I guess it’s that inner urge to “make a difference”—as corny as it sounds nowadays—that drove me to pursue studies in education. I’d hope it would be the little I could at least contribute to the mess around me. Even as I majored in regular history for my undergraduate studies, I wondered what impact I could make with whatever career I pursued. At this point, I was aware of struggles that some of my fellow students were going through as well as other incidents back home in my neighborhood.

A friend and I helped repaint one of the buildings at a Catholic parish in Jamaica. Back when I had a flowing mane.

I was fortunate to have a lot of opportunities to serve those in need during my undergraduate years at UIC. At the St. John Paul II Newman Center--as it is called right now ;)--I volunteered for a few mission trips to places such as Jamaica and Appalachia, and I participated in a few service projects back home in the city. I thoroughly enjoyed these moments and the people I served, but after finishing my service trips, I longed to do more. I wanted to do service that was long-term, not just a day or two weeks. I now wanted to develop myself more in service and pursue a career in which I could help others and build up my community.

Today, I'm getting ready to begin my master's program this fall. I have committed to getting my degree and teacher's license, knowing that I will be preparing myself to serve today's generation of youth and giving them what they need to take on life and the world ahead of them. I now feel like I've discovered at least part of my vocation, and I'm both nervous and excited to see what God will have in store for me next.

A Much-Owed Update

Yep, this blog's still alive.

On a more serious note, I duly apologize for not having written in months. Unfortunately, school and work dominated much of my Lent and Pascha/Easter, leaving me little to no time to write. With the conclusion of my second online semester, though, I'm taking the opportunity I have to provide content on this blog.

A lot has happened since last post. I finally got accepted into the master's in teaching program at UIC, and I am also in the process of getting into the ROTC program at that school. I'm very much excited to start yet another chapter in my life and finally achieve my goals to become a high school teacher and an Army officer. In the meantime, I'm just about halfway through with my current online certification with George Mason University, and I will soon get ready to start my internship with the Smithsonian Institute this fall!

I had a wonderful Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha this year. Aside from at least one thing breaking per day in the church during Holy Week (and me almost tripping and setting myself on fire on Good Friday), I had a great time serving and praying at all the services. I'm currently in the process of seeking a spiritual director to help me discern my vocation, which I will hopefully delve into later on.

It's a bit of a short update, but I promise I have a lot of ideas developed during my little hiatus. Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook for updates! Thanks for stopping by!