New Beginnings

Another year just begun and I’m so thankful for the things that happened last 2013. Good or bad, we learned from these things that made us who we are right now.

When we attended the 6:00 pm New Year’s day mass at Mary the Queen Parish in San Juan, the presiding priest, Fr. Guy Guibelondo, talked about the importance of name and peace. He also shared his recent trek and said that he got disappointed when they reached their destination. They went up for 7 days and wasn’t happy when it was done. He said that maybe, he expected more than what was there. Then he said a certain line that struck me (I can not remember the exact words but the meaning was similar to this), “It is not about the destination, but it is the journey that matters.”

Lately, I’ve been wanting a lot of things to happen. Been planning on so many things…things about the future. I realized after hearing the line that Fr. Guy shared, that I’ve been overthinking. Which shouldn’t be the case. I know there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead, but I realized that maybe I should be paying more attention on the things happening at the present. One step at a time.

There are so many things ahead of us especially this year. When I start overthinking, I’d always go back to Fr. Guy’s line. I’m sure things will fall into their right places if i just trust in God and go through the journey He has for me.

Welcome 2014. 😊

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I Am A Hero

wLast week, our country was again visited by a typhoon named “Maring.”  Here’s a link about the details of this typhoon.  This also enhanced the Habagat (southwest monsoon).

Then again, a lot of Filipino communities, in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are greatly affected due to flooding.  A lot of families needed to evacuate to higher grounds because the water level kept on rising.

Our school already planned out an event for the Father and Child Activity for this year, which was the “Minute to Win It.”  However, the owners of the school Teachers Michelle and Leah decided to just use the funds for this activity to buy goods for the affected families especially in Marikina City.  So instead of the original activity, last Saturday, August 24, we had the Father and Child Repacking Activity.

our poster

All of us agreed that this activity will be even more meaningful for the father and the child (also the moms, siblings, grandparents, caregivers who came to support us).

First, the father and child need to color a card that will be placed in their package after.

Tatay Brio and Lucas coloring the card

My boys 🙂

It was then followed by a short assembly at the Multipurpose Hall.  Here Teacher Michelle gave a quick background about typhoon “Maring” and showed pictures of flooded areas and other damages that it brought.  She also told the children that they could be heroes themselves by helping in repacking relief goods for the flood victims.

Dadda Mike and Anton during the assembly.

Then, Teacher Mel explained what items should be in their relief bags.

Two ISYC former students helping out: Bella and Enzo

We’re very thankful for all the other families who shared some donations and for the alumni who helped us as well.

I’m not really sure how many bags we’re able to produce after repacking, but I know it is more than 500 bags.  Then we have more boxes left that were brought to Ateneo de Manila.

Here are more random photos taken during the event:

Elysse and Daddy Bryan in action

Sabine and Dada Kim

a little help will go a long way – from Inn and Ysai (Creative Hands)

just a few of the donations received the day before the event (August 23)

our badge

At the end of the day, it was really really tiring.  But it felt good to know that in our little ways we could make a difference a be a hero to others.

“Sometimes” Food Day

There are just days that I feel like eating “sometimes” food. There are days that I feel I deserve to eat “sometimes” food.

As I stepped out of ISYC, It was drizzling. I don’t have my umbrella with me so I decided to run going to my car parked across the street (good thing there weren’t a lot cars passing by). I sat down, placed my bag and lunchbox on the passenger side and started the car’s engine. I’d normally wait for the temperature indicator light to turn off before I leave, so that’s what I did. For some reason I opened my lunchbox and found the open bag of potato chips that I hid inside. We used it for the Kindergarten Science Taste Test activity earlier, I hid it because the children kept asking for it. We reviewed that Potato Chips fall under the Sometimes Food category because we can still eat foods like that but in moderation. Going back to my story, as I wait for the temperature indicator light to turn off, I found myself munching on the left over potato chips. I suddenly appreciated its taste. I liked its saltiness and barbecue flavor. Before I knew it the bag was empty. Now I understood why the children kept asking for more even though they’re aware that it is a sometimes food. There are just times in your life that you feel so exhausted, even if you really love what you’re doing, that you just want to sit back, relax and enjoy something that’s not really good for you. As for me, it was this potato chips that made me feel better, a lot better.

😊

Change is Good: Nanayhood

It’s Nanay’s Day today around the world and I’m so overwhelmed with all the greetings I’ve received through text messages, Facebook and Instagram.  Thank you very much and I’d like to greet all the beautiful mothers out there the same thing. 🙂

Nanayhood really changed my life.  Instantly.  It is not the easiest change but it was all worth it.  Whenever I look back, the day I gave birth to Lucas, it was one of the most difficult yet the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me.  I have here a list of my “I never thoughts..”

• I never thought I’d be able to carry a tiny, fragile baby.
• I never thought I’d breastfeed (and I felt the most wonderful feeling that I really am a real mom).
• I never thought I’d change soiled diapers.
• I never thought that I’d given up two more months of working (plus my maternity leave, total of about 5 months).
• I never thought I’d ask my superiors to handle just one class during the school year so I can go home to my little one.
• I never thought I’d shop a lot less for myself (that’s true).
• I never thought I’ve done all these and more.

I did not list these things down because I regret them, but I just wanted to remind myself that I’ve embraced a lot of changes in my life, it’s possible, I lived with it and I loved it.

Now that Lucas is 2 years old and 4 months, I can’t believe that he’s grown so much.  Much taller, bigger and much wiser.  Being a mother to him and to his future siblings is the change in my life I’ll never want to give up.  It may be the most difficult one (I’m sure all mothers would agree with me) but it is something that I’ll never want to stop doing. 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers in the world!  Especially to my Mommy Lydia who brought me into this world and made me who I am today.  She just means the world to me 🙂  To my Mom-in-Law, Mommy Sally, thank you.  It if weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have such a wonderful husband to share my life with. 🙂  Let’s celebrate our Nanayhood! 🙂

How I Became a Teacher

This summer break just made me reflect on different things about my life especially after I turned 30. I still can’t believe that high school was 14 years ago and college was 9 years ago. The question is, how did I end up being an educator? Where did my passion for teaching came from?

Let me share, hopefully briefly, my educational background in college. It was a roller coaster ride choosing what I really wanted to take up in college. Freshman year, I studied at the University of Asia and the Pacific. I have nothing against the school but It didn’t feel right being there. I gained really great friends there, but I didn’t see myself graduating there. So I told my dad that I’m going to transfer to De La Salle University in Manila. My parents were hesitant to send me there because it’s too far from Marikina. I really wanted to study there and take a premed course so my parents finally let go of me and we searched for homey dormitory for me near the school. Since I’m a transferee, the choices of courses were limited, mostly from the College of Education (CED). I got in touch with highschool friends who initially went to DLSU and they said that the CED will be the best college for me to get in because I’ll be graduating with a double degree. I asked myself, education? Being a teacher is the last thing on my mind that time. But then there’s a course in CED for secondary teaching where Biology is the Major. It’s so much similar with BS-Biology of the College of Science except that I’ll have to take education units. I told myself, this is perfect, still a premed. I enjoyed my first year at DLSU. The friends I met were just as great as my UA&P friends. The difference was my feeling of seeing myself graduating from that school. Meeting the best roommates in our dorm is also a plus.

After a year and I think one term in CED, three of us decided to shift to BS-Biology in the College of Science because we told ourselves that we won’t be teaching anyway. I didn’t feel so much of the difference except that I’m not taking up educ units anymore and I’ll graduate sooner (a year earlier). I really loved my course and enjoyed every learning experience I had. I was so sure that I’ll attend med school after and be a doctor. I attended review classes for the NMAT, applied in various med schools, had my interviews and even reserved in one school. But then a few weeks before our last day in college, there was a Job Fair in our campus. We were encouraged to submit our resume (since we just learned how to make one) and apply for our Social Security Number. Since my course was Biology, job offers were limited. The only booth that accepted my resume with open arms was Xavier School…yup! You read it right, I applied to become a teacher. I told the personnel assigned that I don’t have any teaching experience and I didn’t finish all my educ units. She said that it’s alright because Xavier School will help in that process if I get hired. She told me to wait for their call after the initial assessment. And they called, after a week or so for the written assessment. I went and took the tests.

I don’t know but eventually I felt that I shouldn’t go on with med school. I thought about it several times before I made the final decision. Then I just told my dad about it and knowing him, he was very supportive. I thought of taking Masters in SPED at DLSU. I actually enrolled and attended several Saturday classes until Xavier School got in touch with me again. They asked me to come and for an interview and met the Science Department Head. He’s asking me to demo teach for the Grade7 level, I remember the topic was Genetics. I said alright and truthfully told him that I don’t have any teaching experience yet. So he gave me tips and lent me a sample lesson plan that I may use as a guide. Another catch was that since it was summer vacation that time, I’ll have to demo in front of teachers who’ll pretend to be Grade7 students. Oh…ok I told myself “what have I gotten myself into?” Well here’s my opportunity, my parents and friends were supportive and told me that I should go on with this. I even told myself “what if I just back out and don’t show up?” Of course I didn’t do that because when I prayed God told me to go on. So there I did the demo, then I wasn’t expecting them to call me back. But Xavier did. I went through the panel interview then interview with the Director. Before I knew it, I was accepted in Xavier School.

I started as a Science substitute teacher. Until the next year, I was given my own advisory class for Grade 2…and then that was the beginning of my teaching journey. Xavier gave me an opportunity to take further studies to acquire the required education units before taking the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) that I fortunately passed.

I fell in love with teaching easily. It is indeed fulfilling. Being a teacher is not only teaching children but also learning from each and every student I interact with. Everyday is a different learning experience when you’re a teacher. It is not a high paying job, I swear! But it is the good feeling after a long day thinking how much I’ve touched my students lives even for just a teeny-tiny bit.

Going back to my story, I taught in Xavier for 4 years and then I moved to a private preschool in Marikina, Integrated School For Young Children (ISYC), where I’m currently teaching (my 5th year).

So that’s my story, how I ended up being a teacher. I was thinking of what photo to include in this blog, I just thought of a red ballpen. It’s something all teachers have 😊.