Week 12 Insights and Reflections

I will post this instead of putting this on my portfolio not to brag but to thank everyone who helped me on this journey.

I was raised by educators who were in service for thirty (30) years. Contrary to what others believed, my parents were not fully hands on on us but they supported us in whatever decisions we three made. They were our strong pillars. I am every grateful for what they did to us and I will never allow anyone to break "our pillars".

To those who were not aware, I went to law school and left. I taught english to other nationalities and I had fun learning their culture through educational technology platforms. I joined various organizations and most of these were focused on the community. One which I love the most is the Move This World Pilipinas. Travelling on places while teaching peace education was by far gave me a lot of insights not just about the education system in our country but of the possibilities that we could offer to make a learning institution conducive for learning. It was not just that that I appreciated but the love that some of my Grade2 students whom I taught values education that moved me. It was a nice thin to receive appreciation notes first thing in the morning.

Young Centrist Union on the other hand has equipped me more knowledge on how we can use our diversity to make Philippines country a breeding ground of leaders with such integrity. It honed my leadership skills at the same time indirectly paved the way for me to meet the love of my life.

It was not just that. I taught art to kids under R Productions. It was memorable for me because I was teaching little ones to be independent and creative at the same time. I shared my talent as a missionary to different places. It was something special for me because my sister and I always wanted to be missionaries when God would permit us. Unfortunately my sister died, so my brother and I decided to make it a reality and let her legacy through us be felt by others through service.

I worked on different institutions. I took up graduate studies as I was hopeful it would shed me a light about the government.

I joined Teach for the Philippines and then left for some reasons but during my stay it made me a lasting impression. My mentor Ms. Ginny was very helpful. She was so supportive same goes with the 2017B cohort. By the way, I am just so proud that they will end the fellowship soon. I am also proud to what they have become -- catalysts of change by helping one student develop. One at a time as some would say.

I felt I made a wrong decision leaving the cohort. I cried every night until I came to the point when all I wanted was just to travel, and so I did. Along the way I am so grateful that I have met wonderful people. I got to be with my relatives whom I have not met since the moment I was born on this planet. I got to see a lot of wonderful places in the Philippines and realized that it has a lot to offer.

Moving on 2018, I have thought of finishing my thesis proposal for my master's degree but I felt it was not enough. I thought to myself that I needed much exposure to come up with a paper on public policy focusing on the public schools. But I ended up enrolling myself with the course Professional Education or as they call it in our university, Certificate of Teaching. I said to myself that I will only finish two semester but would not proceed with Student Teaching because I found myself being so irritable because of my hormonal imbalance. But, as some have known, I took up the subject Student Teaching. I might say it was like riding a roller coaster with no seat belts on. I thought of it first as a suicide. I committed a mistake, I said to myself. But then later on I realized that I should not be working for myself alone. I would like to thank my classmates for giving me wisdom on how I should deal my students. Thank you for the inspiration as well.

As stated above, with the mindset I had, no one would benefit from it except me. I must, at all cost be passionate about the students. As a teacher, a facilitator of learning, my focus should be on the development of every child and comes the competencies that they must achieve. I learned to love them despite of the pool of the emotions that they were allowing me to experience as their teacher. They were not just then my students, they are the future of this country, the hope of the land. They may seem different from the previous generations' students, but it takes a lot of guts to help them realize that they can always be the best version of themselves.

Thank you Grade 12 Andromeda, Antlia, Aquila, and Corvus from USTP-Senior High! I am excited to see you on our graduation!

Thank you Grade 8 Integrity, Balagtas, Fortitude, Trustworthy, and the sweet class advisory of Mr. Borromeo -- Perseverance.

I know you can always make your dreams come true.

I have come this far not because of what I am capable of. I have come this far because of all those experiences and the people that helped me especially those who paved the way. Teaching in front of a class is not easy, much as managing them when they are misbehaving and becoming a headache. Taking up Professional Education was a rocky road because although I have a little experience on how it is like to be a facilitator of learning, no amount of experience will ever prepare you to become an effective teacher.

I have sent my application to different institutions but still I do not know where the Lord would take me. One thing I just know that even though I took the long winding road, God would take me to a lot of wonderful stops and a grand destination.

Peace to everyone! Make education a lifelong process 💖