The System Has Failed: Education and The Special Child

The semester is quickly coming to a close. It feels like I just blinked and the semester went by. One of the education classes I am taking this semester is Intro to Exceptional Individuals. At the beginning I thought the material and class was quite dull. But now that the semester is coming to a close, I have realized how much I have learned about children with special needs and the effects disabilities have on them and their families. Not only have I learned so much but I also began to understand the kinds of problems families I know face when it comes to their child at school.

A few weeks ago I was talking with a church member after church service who has a son with autism. That day, he stayed at home with his dat because he had a rough week since his one-to-one aid quit and he did not have one at the moment at his school. They lived in Hawaii for about a year and then moved back to Guam and she shared with me that his schedule at his school has not been so accommodating to his condition and needs. As she shared these problems with me I told her that I was taking a special education course and that I can see how this can be very hard on not only her son but on her and her family as well. Listening to her talk about her son and the issues he has been having made me realize how our educational system especially on Guam has failed to meet the needs of all students. Sure, "normal" students have no problem adjusting to things in school but what about those who need the extra care and attention? What happens to them when there is no one to guide or listen to them? I have come to see that children with disabilities are much more than what meets the eye. They are brilliant, different, but all still very human. They deserve everything in the world just like a "regular" child.

Priorities & What I Value Most

As a full-time college student, it can be hard to get my priorities straight throughout the semester. On top of tackling a full class load, other things in life can happen that can cause me to go off track. Some of these distractions are small like spending too much time watching episodes of Law & Order or they can be very big like having to care for a sick loved one. But regardless of how big these distractions may be, I have to remind myself of what my priorities are and what my end goals are. But on top of all that, I have to remember the things I value in life such as my health and family. Balancing all the things I am responsible for is very difficult and now that we are in the middle of the semester and are nearing the end, I feel like I am starting to loose balance of the things stacked on top of my head!

Just the other day, I had to take my mom to the emergency room because the right side of her face had drooped and she could not close her right eye normally. Instead of going to school, which FYI she almost made me do, I stayed with her through the observation time at the hospital as well as through the afternoon to tend to her every need. And now that it has been several days, we booked a flight, hotel, and are getting our paperwork squared away to have her see doctors in the Philippines for an executive check up. I began to worry about how I would manage school and what things can I do now to prepare for my upcoming absences. As I was preparing all these things the other night, I thought about how in this situation I am in, I am willing to sacrifice my grades for the health and wellness of my mom because in the end, this degree that I am pursuing and the potential career I will be in is not only for me and my future family but it is for my mom and our future together!

I saved a quote on my phone by Alison Malee that says: "And I hope you learn to hold on to everything you find in this world that is worth keeping." Even though things are tough and quite scary right now, I have to think about the big picture and who I want to have around in it. My priorities in school can change and will have to if I want to continue to have my mom around. She has done so much for me and so what excuse do I have to not take care of her and give her everything she deserves?

Life Hits Sometimes

Another week of unpredictability has arrived! I woke up this morning and began my day a little earlier than usual. I had some extra time to get ready and eat breakfast before heading to school. I was having a pretty good morning so far. When I arrived at school, I had time before my first class to work on emails and projects. As the time got closer for me to walk across campus to my first class, I started to put my backpack on and all of a sudden I heard a *SNAP*. The little plastic piece that holds the straps of my backpack together broke in half. I did not even get to start my day at school and my bag decided to break. I frantically ran into a bathroom stall and tied my bag back together. I laughed about the incident but I just thought, "great, I was having a good day then life decided to hit me in the face".  But that incident did not stop me from having a good day. I will need a better backpack to carry my things but at least I do not feel like my life is over...yet. Have a great week everyone!

Freedom Friday!

This semester I am very fortunate to have my Fridays off from school. So far, I have taken full advantage of my day off to do house chores, catch up with friends who I do not get to see very often,  work on homework, and other projects. Usually, my Fridays consist of the following: 1) have breakfast, 2) respond to emails and texts, 3) start on homework for math, 4) work on homework for my other classes, and 5) laundry and house chores. But this past Friday, I had nothing to do! I was free! I did not have any laundry or house chores to catch up on, I had little to no homework, and I had finished the rest of my projects for other things during the week.

So, instead of having all that work to do like I normally have, I did the following: 1) woke up and had breakfast, 2) caught up on my YouTube subscriptions, 3) watched a few episodes of Friends on Netflix, and 4) rested. It was such a relaxing weekend and I am so glad I took full advantage of it because I just know that the upcoming Fridays will be very hectic. So cheers to the amazing weekend I just had and to the many more productive Fridays to come!

It's Not Just A Job

Throughout my college experiences so far, I have heard the following phrases one too many times: "I'm only going into this major for the money" or "This is not what I want to do, but at least I'll be able to find a job after I graduate". Before my senior year of high school, I was set on becoming a pediatrician then move onto socializing in oncology. I was also supposed to leave Guam and attend Pacific Union College up in Angwin, California (it's near Napa Valley) and major in Biology on a pre-med track. Then, I was going to try and get into the Loma Linda University for med-school. That was my plan. I had the ball rolling in the direction I thought was what I wanted.

Then, a couple months before graduation, I decided that becoming a doctor was not what I wanted to do. I remember making this decision like it was yesterday. I was shadowing a pediatrician at the Guam Seventh-day Adventist Clinic and as she was taking a look at a sick 8-month old baby, I thought to myself, "Sure, this is fun now but what if I get bored? What if I get tired of looking at sick children? What if my job turns out to be one from 9 to 5 where I do absolutely nothing except prescribe medication after medication?" These thoughts literally haunted me for weeks. That was when I realized that becoming a doctor was certainly not my calling. I knew this to be true but I was not sure if switching out my life careers at that moment was a smart move. I had only a few months until graduation, I had already applied to several state-side schools. My mom and I were already planning on how we would work out my moving process and where I would go for the holidays if I could not come back home during the breaks. I was ready. Everything was practically done. But I was not happy with my decision.

This fear of being stuck in a career that did not make me happy or gave me some sort of life fulfillment scared the hell out of me! I wanted to actually accomplish something that I loved in my life. That's when I made the decision to go the totally opposite direction and work into becoming an elementary teacher. Throughout this entire process, I knew one thing for sure: I wanted to work with kids. I loved working with kids since I was a kid myself. Babies fascinated me. The joys of young kids amazed me. I already knew that I wanted to be a part of a child's life in helping them make good choices and teaching them things about things I was passionate about. That's when it all hit me. It was my calling to be a teacher.

Let's fast-forward to today. I am sure that being a teacher is what I want to do. There's no denying it. I don't want to do it for the money because let's be honest, there are a million and one things I could do that would bring in more money for me. All my life, the idea of being a teacher was always shut down by my family because they are all teachers. Before my dad died, he told me that he wanted to see me become a doctor. So when he passed, I thought that becoming a doctor would be the best way to honor him. But now that I am older, I've realized that becoming a teacher had been my dream all along. And teaching means so much more to me that it does for the next person. I want to be the kind of teacher that my students will go home to their parents and say that I made their day better. I want to be the kind of teacher that will show my students that learning is nothing to be afraid of. For me, teaching is not just a career but a dream. And now that I'm half-way through college, this dream just keeps getting bigger and bigger and is slowly becoming a reality.

Me (9mo.) & dad reading a book.

ED215 Bulletin Board

This semester, I am taking ED215: Intro to Exceptional Individuals. One of our assignments was to group together, select a month, and decorate a bulletin board for that month. My group and I decided to do the month of October and because October is Anti-Bullying month, we selected a quote and design that celebrated everyone. 

To make the board interactive, we attached a pouch filled with hands decorated with motivational quotes for students to take or share with others.

Here is a picture of our complete board:

I'm Rearranging

Earlier this week I made the spontaneous decision to rearrange my entire living room. Through the course of my life as a student (elementary, middle, high school, and college), I have learned that in order to keep myself motivated to do my school work, my surroundings need to change every so often. Sometimes I'll study in my room at my desk or move to our dining room table. These past few weeks I have been using the desk in our living room and have been doing my homework there.

Then last week after feeling in a bit of a slump, I decided one afternoon to rearrange my living room and study area. I put away things that were left sitting out for several days, got rid of the accumulated junk on my desk, and switched out the layout of my study area. It took a good 2 hours to finish the job but nonetheless it was accomplished.

Here are two pictures of my study area:

I arranged the area to mimic an office. Because my home has a very open floor plan, finding a dedicated study area other than my room can be difficult. I wanted this space, although small, to be a productive area and I think that I accomplished this goal because it has been working out for me these several days.

A change of scenery is good. Whenever I feel that I am not working productively to the best of my abilities, I like to change up my surroundings. It can be as small as rearranging the items on your desk or flipping the layout of a room. Regardless, I hope you can find a change to help make your life more productive! Have a great weekend!