Around
the age of 4 and 5 we establish a routine of waking up early, every weekday for
around 180 days of the year, and going to school. We construct this schedule
for solely the purpose of learning. We learn basic subjects like Math, English,
Science, etc. Every year it’s the same routine of learning a higher level in
that specific subject. We are taught that these subjects will benefit us. And
yes, they will, but only for the purpose of obtaining our degree in a university
that has been in our hopes in dreams. That is what we are told to do since the
beginning of this routine. Of course, all this is part of my big dream, but
where am I going to learn all the real dealings outside of my education; the
journey and the obstacles I’m going to face to obtain that degree aren’t going
to be easy. Each year as I enter a new grade and have different teachers with
different ways of teaching, I’m learning that in between every Math or English
or Science lesson, the teacher is a person who is willing to teach us the
reality of being outside of school. During my junior year of high school, Dr.
Preston, my English teacher, taught us from the complicated novel “Brave New
World”, to being safe on the internet, to ways that helps us calm our levels of
stress. During this course the diversity of the lessons were a start to my endorsement
for learning.
Being
honest coming into this course I expected something much more different than
what I was exposed to. As I heard the title “Dr.” in my teacher’s name, I told
myself this wasn’t going to be an easy class. I expected so many writing
assignments, so many different books to read and tight deadlines. However, my
expectations were completely wrong. The level of trust our teacher put into us
in this course was insane for a high school teacher. He introduced us to portraying
our work online, via a blog that anybody could see. With this came him trusting
us to complete assignments on the blog. Speaking for myself, the amount of
trust was earned, but not honored enough. I had the responsibility of using
this platform to show my intelligence in a way that I know I’m capable of
doing. Dr. Preston could’ve easily given us standard vocabulary tests, and
reading assignments, but he treated as colleagues and relied on us. I believe
my classmates and I took a slight advantage of his trust. We could’ve fully
honored it by completing all the assignments that should’ve been on our blog.
I’m grasping the possibility that there will be people and teachers, like Dr.
Preston, who will give us such opportunity. As we reach the end of this course, I’m using
this as a valuable way to improve my growth in embracing learning and the way
it is taught.
My
growth as a student and as a person has changed since the beginning of the
year. Dr. Preston introduced us to articles, novels, authors, and true
experiences that in a way I can relate to. In the article by Maria Popova she
introduced us to John Steinbeck's, “ Good and Evil, the Necessary
Contradictions of the Human Nature, and our Ground for Lucid Hope”. This
article led me to find the part where it talks about the difficulty of breaking
up with a friend. Breaking up with a friend is by far worst than breaking up
with a boyfriend. As I lost a friend, it helped my growth as a person. I
realized if somebody truly cared, they would be there for you no matter what,
just like you were there for them. That is exactly what John Steinbeck talks
about in his publishing. “The disloyalty wounded Steinbeck deeply and he
distanced himself from his former friend.” The wound was profound, but the lesson was valuable. Nick
Carraway from “The Great Gatsby” often served as a confidant for others and I
feel like I’m a person who others can rely on. I feel like therefore my best
friend and I grew apart, because I put myself in a place that was for her convenience.
Guy Montag, a dynamic character from the
novel “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury believed he was happy, but as things happened,
he realized he was just pretending to be. I feel like I’m a happy person most
of the time, but my true happiness is yet to arrive. Not only did this course
help me in learning academically, but also in the real life. Having stories and
characters to relate to, was a helpful reminder that I could get through
anything.
In 6th grade I was recognized for my writing and it was
something I loved doing. As I entered middle school that passion for writing
started fading away. At the beginning of
the school year, we learned that we had to write in a journal every day at the
start of the period. I hesitated the first few entries, but as time passed I
re-grasped writing as a tool to help me cope with my tough times. I even bought
my journal to continue writing at home. Writing helps me ease my mind and
untangle my thoughts. I never thought I would get into writing again, but I’m
thankful I was reintroduced to it. Writing drives me to do better. As I
continue in my learning experience, I will use writing every day to help me
excel. Part of my hopes and dreams is to write a poetry book based on true
experiences, so I’m thankful for the chance to bring this dream back to reality.
Plus, there was people who made this growing and learning
experience good. Having my cousin, Daniela, in this class was a bonus. Along
with Citlally, they made it fun. We would totally get distracted sometimes with
all the laughter, but we would always put each other back on track whether it
was inside of school or outside. However, at some point each classmate did or
said something that made us laugh and enjoy being there at that moment. Along
with moments of laughter, there was moments of learning from our classmates
with their Masterpiece presentations. Maria’s confidence as she presented the
topic of believing god helped me register that confidence is the beginning to
it all. Daniela’s awareness for the question of cancer was affirmation that
people truly care. Abby’s presentation about art and its connection with people
taught me to make the best out something. She made us play Pictionary and the
purpose of guessing the drawing brought us together. Evelin’s hope to become a
writer and Miguel’s presentation of becoming a successful streamer showed me
that dreams can become reality, if you have patience and learn from your
mistakes. I think entering this course something we all had in common is that
we didn’t know the things we’d be learning.
This course and year have been nothing but a learning
journey. I’ve learned that my teacher came back to high school after teaching
at UCLA, because he believes in us. That aside from education there is reality
to learn about and that there’s people willing to teach you. I faced challenges
and overcame them. My hero journey just began, because I’m just learning
myself. Although my journey will be a continuous one, as I learn things
endlessly, I aspire to be a hero and mentor for someone else. I hope that I can
teach them to embrace learning whether it’s in a math class or going through a
breakup, because something valuable can come out of it, if you actually pay
attention.
