Diana Regalo

August 9, 2013

English 7

Fourth Formal Essay

 

Academic education is one of the most important aspects for social development. For this simple reason it is considered to be an important factor of change in society and freedom for an individual. A society that is being governed and lead by educated individuals allows for a society to survive and have positive change. The way education gives us freedom is by preparing us for careers that validate our knowledge for the specific career path and in addition to validating our knowledge it unlocks doors and opens up opportunities for people to advance and become successful people. Another way education empowers us as an individual is by giving us a sense of security. It allows us to become mature adults and allows us to make wise responsible educated decisions about our life and career choices. The only way a person is going to succeed in life is through education and a positive attitude.

As a child you grow up and are forced to go through the school system to learn basic skills such as math, reading and science. It is our responsibility as human beings to learn the way things work and how to care for the world and everything in it. We need to learn the value of math to learn quantities and be able to measure things to complete everyday tasks and do jobs accurately. Once we learn how to read follow directions and complete tasks we learn a sense of security and gain confidence that allows us to believe that we are capable to do anything that our mind is set to do. In addition to our self esteem we also learn to become team players and work with other people. We learn basic skills that allow us to survive under pressure and be able to gain freedom to choose our career paths and our goals. Learning these skills allows us to gain a positive attitude and boost our self-esteem to become successful individuals to accomplish realistic attainable goals.

A successful person is someone who can work in a field they enjoy and build a living that provides food, shelter, medical and other necessities we need to survive. Not only is it important for us to get all the things we need but to maintain them is what is important. That is where all the disciplined we learned in school and value shows in our ability to be successful. When a person is educated he or she has the potential to foresee what type of realistic goals he or she can accomplish with a plan to reach their goal. They must also be focused on the factors that play in accomplishing their goal and overcome obstacles that interfere with the goals.  Another aspect of successful people is when people do the things they enjoy for a living.  As long as we have passion in all the things we do and use the fire and energy we get from the passion to complete our work is what counts in being a successful person. However we seem to get distracted the material world and we may also become discouraged by important people in our lives.

California is well known to have the worst education and yet instead of finding solutions to the problem we seem to be passive about the situation. I believe California has potential in changing the situation however the economic problem is not allowing for passionate people to work harder and help the children gain a better education. In general, I believe that the money that is set aside for the education of the American children is not spent wisely and the teachers and leaders in the education system needs to be modified in a way that teachers need to become more educated and become experts in sociology and psychology to learn to read their students and get them engaged into their academic achievements. In the youtube video with the young student Jeff Bliss in Texas that gives piece of mind to his teacher is proof that there are students out there that are screaming and asking for help to change in the way teachers approach their students to learn and become engaged.  Teachers need to be professional about their career choice and not only sit there and pass out worksheets but listen to the students to make a difference in the school system. Jeff had a shake in his voice and proved he was passionate about what he felt was important to say at that moment.  “You have to take this job serious!”  He exclaims and shows he feels like he is being cheated out of his education and he feels his instructor is just there for a paycheck. There have been many times in my own personal experience where I have felt my teacher was just there to take a paycheck and yet I was passive about the situation because I was a lazy student. I knew if we said anything about it required us the students to work and I really was not going to put the effort in fighting for the change. Now as an adult, I see there has been a greater consequence for neglecting to speak my mind in regards to the way teachers handle their class and engage their students. Even though Jeff Bliss was expelled from the school, I am positive he is proud of standing out for his belief and for what he felt he was being cheated out of. I am pretty sure that this student’s parents are proud of what he did and Jeff will live the rest of his life content knowing he spoke his mind and did not hold what he felt and boil internally. If more students like him would stand for their beliefs and not be afraid to ask for change and be willing to work for the change the education system would be a lot different.  “If you want to teach your students you have to get to his heart” Jeff Bliss exclaims that is a scream for help from the students the teacher to teach them to open up and learn from his passion. Becoming a teacher is not only a job but a vocation, you must have to be born to be a teacher and understand the students.

Not all teachers are negligent about teaching and reaching out to their students. The video created by the students at Chabot, “The Passion Project” is a great example of how some teachers are trying to reach out into their students and try to get to know them and find out where they are heading to become productive successful human beings that can contribute to society and allow for positive change in the world. The first time I heard the video I was happy to know there are many people out there that feel the same way about how we are pushed to work to buy things and forget about what things we are truly passionate about. I also learned it is better to accept and learn it is okay to be undecided in a career choice than to be ignorant about your path and college life. Once an instructor realizes and listens to the students and finds the reasons why a student may be lost it is much easier for teachers to help people become successful. Once a teacher finds the root of the problem it is much easier for teachers to help their students. This is the reason why I strongly believe teacher and leaders need to learn and become expert in sociology and psychology.

In the Video Focusing on the Lasers, I was able to identify myself as a student and my attitude reflects in regards to education in general. My perception has evolved throughout the years as I have gained more and more responsibilities such as children and work. After graduating from high school I became a “visitor” at the local colleges. I was visiting all the community colleges from Vista to Laney, Alameda College and ended up in Heald for a Dental Assisting program. I was visiting colleges because they were close to my house and I needed to go to college after high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and was willing to experience the college culture and lifestyle with no sense of direction. I dropped out and moved out of the area because I ended up married and pregnant. When I was pregnant with my second child I decided to go back to school and finish a dental assisting program at a local community college in San Marcos California. I finished within a year and decided to take my board so I could obtain a better job that paid more than minimum wage. I was focused and started working and soon realized that this career path was not my passion and career of choice. So I decide to go back to school and become a Laser student, focused and more knowledgeable about the college culture and the path I need to take to finish my courses to transfer out and manage to gain my validated degree that proves I am capable to do speech therapy for small children and contribute to a society. That is my main focus and being aware there are many obstacles I am going to overcome I have a realistic attainable goal to reach. I am still learning time management skills and trying to become more disciplined and prioritize my studies however being a mother of three small children and working a full time job can be very difficult.

There are many obstacles students face when they are trying to accomplish their goal and graduate for a degree. They might find themselves lacking support from the most important people in their lives like their parents or spouses. Our religion and events might interfere with finishing up college courses. Students might have other responsibilities such as children or sick parents that depend on one income the income of the student. Lack of money and means of transportation can always play a huge role in becoming an obstacle for students to graduate. Other times your health can also play a huge factor for a student to finish college due to multiple doctor visits and treatments that may prevent students to attend classes. Some students are born with immune deficiencies and at times have to be admitted to the hospital and be required to stay for weeks at a time to recover. Missing weeks at a time can be very challenging for students to accomplish their dreams. It is very important for teachers or any professional that works in the field of education to be able to recognize the signs of struggle of a student and not assume the student is being irresponsible and careless about their studies. That is the reason I strongly believe teachers should have extensive knowledge to sociology and psychology. Instructors should be professionally trained to learn how to speak to their students and how to carefully approach them without being too critical of them.  

When a teacher shows their students they are not interested in the students as a whole package with feelings the student will never open up and get engaged in the class and participate. There are many of us who are hurt by life and/or and role models that have tear down our dreams and have completely sabotaged our persistence in working towards the things that makes us happy. Along with the pain we also carry fear and loneliness that it becomes really hard for students to open up and allow ourselves to grow. Just like one of Sean McFarland’s colleagues stated when they were having dinner and having discussions on the projects taking place at Chabot “you have to heal the students first…” is the same thing that has been going into my mind this last eight weeks. Teachers have to become professional doctors to deal with students and try to help the students find their passion.

In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the main character Alex McCandles went to a prestigious school and graduated with honors and yet he did not feel happy. I personally believe Alex was being rebellious towards his father because of the double life his father lived. Alex believed everything in his lifetime was a phony and he did not want to be part of any of it from family to society to politics. According to Alex he believes his school did not help him in life however I disagree. If he did not go to school and earn his education I don’t believe Alex would have survived as long as he did in the wild. His social skills would not have allowed him to build such great friendships if it wasn’t for his experiences at school and he would not have been able to be as skilled in his hunting and he would not have been able to read the book that gave him the information on all the berries he ate in his time in the wild. I do believe Alex lived his “good life” and live his purpose however I think he would have been better off if he would have survived and written his own book on his personal adventure. I also noticed that he even felt the need to work in side jobs to be able to accomplish his goal to get to Alaska. Yes, Alex made it to Alaska however he still worked at fast-food places that meant he needed to graduate from high school and he also worked a bit in Las Vegas to buy things to survive and make it to Alaska. In the end Alex’s letter is written and I believe is my favorite because he states what his life has been about and he seems happy with the way he has lived it “I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real life has just begun. Deliberating living: Conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant attention to your immediate environment and its concerns, example- a job, a task, a book, anything requiring efficient concentration. (Circumstances have no value it is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you)

The great holiness of FOOD- the vital heat

Positivism, the Insurpassable Joy of the Life Aesthethic.

Absolute Truth and Honesty

Reality.

Independence

Finality-Stability-consistency.” (Into the Wild Pg. 168)

 

 

 

 

passion and equity : Focusing the Lasers

passion and equity : Focusing the Lasers: Focusing The Lasers from Sean McFarland on Vimeo . For this post assignment, you are asked to first watch this video that was made by ...

 

 

A successful person is….

A person sets attainable goals and accomplishes them with a positive attitude. When a person wakes up every day and wake up each day eager to work in your career. Your mood in the morning and the thoughts you wake up each day are what set your actions and habits to accomplish your goals. You have to be a realistic person

A person that uses his or her skills, intellect and potential in to the fullest and never giving the minimum is what I define a successful person.  Your internal passion allows is your internal drive to continue and never quit even though obstacles exist during your path to become successful.

A successful person is a person that makes a living not necessarily become a millionaire but a person that makes enough money to survive and all the others that depend on them. Someone who can provide the basics food, shelter, and clothing for himself and their dependents in a responsible manner and maintain it.

What can help you succeed in your community?

My family has been supporting me in returning to school especially my husband. My father has always believed that I am just wasting time and not serious about going to school. He laughs and makes comments but he does not realize that it takes time with three kids and having to work to make things possible for us. My mother is a smart woman who came to this country with no English language and now she has a position in UC Berkeley as an analyzer at the chancellor’s office. She believes hard work and experience and faith in God is what has gotten her where she is. She has been a great role model for me however at times it feels like she is more interested in her own self accomplishments with little faith in her daughter.

When I began working I also began to become involved in my church and activities. I started to participate in the Spanish choir mass and teach catechism for the 1^st year students who were going to make their 1^st communion. I enjoyed working with my community and growing spiritually however the politics scared me away and I began to focus on my education. I need to focus on completing my classes and not get too involved with church activities.

About 5 years ago I had the opportunity to finish school and attain my goals as a speech pathologist however my internal insecurity is what my biggest obstacle to accomplish my goals was. Fear of success is the worst thing that can prevent you from attaining your goal and learning and accepting you have that fear is the only things that will allow you overcome the obstacle.

 

Jeff Bliss Rant Against Lazy High School Teacher

It is about time someone tells a teacher off!!!
I went to a Catholic School in which the student told off my Religion teacher and threw a chair at her, he crossed the limit but at least he spoke his mind.

This young boy probably got reprimanded by the school staff but I know for a fact he will the rest of his life happy knowing he got his point across and not keep everything inside and make himself sick.

His parents must be proud!

Christopher McCandless Tribute to 20 years

 

This young man, whether you call him crazy suicidal or just plain dumb this guy lived his OWN life to the fullest the way he wanted to live.

 

Christopher McCandless lost connection to his family friends and society and went to live into the wilderness of Alaska. But Why?

I think he felt he was not happy living the rest of his life under the rules of society, his parents and the government. It seemed as if there was something inside of himself that needed to be developed, maybe the part of his soul that needed to be connected to the wilderness. We are all born connected to the Universe and we all have a side of us connected to either fire, air, water, or land. Chris was probaly connected to the land and all the life that depended on it in the wilderness. We should not ask why or how he got the crazy idea of taking off to Alaska but we just need to cherish and embrace his passion for living his "own" life. We should admire a young soul that was hungry to satisfy his souls desires to live and be high on a natural thrill. I cannot imagine how he felt when he knew he was free...I think he felt like a bird that had no limits to how far he can go with nothing stoping him.

 

Chris was an educated man, graduated from college. He was a hardworking young man that had great work ethics. However his dreams to travel and go into an edventure took him away from the everyday routine of working to pay for materialistic things. We cannot say he was ignorant and dumb because there are his professor and experts that state otherwise.

 

He was filled with passion, the passion that fills his spirit with fire when he was in the wilderness. It was said he was so happy and his soul showed such fire when he was out as a traveling man. We was determined to travel far and wide and with only the things that were given to him. We need to learn to live our lives with passion just like he did, if it wasn't for his death and finding his journal we probably would not be aware of how some people live their "own" life.

One thing that is bothering me is the fact that I see only white people have the privilage
to drop everything and just take off into the nature woods. I think if we see a colored man out hitch hiking he will get arrested for tresspassing or he would get shot down. You will not see a hispanic man taking off into the nature and hitchhiking because they will be deported. Why does a white young man have the right to live that way?

If I would run away I would go here

 

 

I would leave to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico

 

I would get a small studio and write about everything and anything....

 

I would run away from the clock and wake up every morning get my coffee and sit and talk to people

 

I am from Jaliso Mexico I have no relation to this town but this town has always looked so inviting for me to visit

 

I love the architecture and the idea that I am connected to my birth country.

After watching the film on Jeff Duncan Andrade in regards to how the kids in Oakland are growing up, this image popped into my head. I thought about how a child that had been abused there is that one person that see your true beauty and has the courage to tell you how important you are.

At first I thought Jeff was going to go on and on about how Oakland is set up in a way that all of the people in Oakland are set up to kill each other. I was shocked how he began to talk about how the young kids growing up in Oakland suffer from PTSD. They are actually twice as likely to suffer from CPTSD Complex post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was jaw dropping, because I grew up in Oakland.

His metaphor of a Rose growing up in concrete was beautiful because I thought of the rough edges the young urban youth seem to be and yet they struggle to survive and grow to touch the sun. His idea of changing the layers is what is so surprising to me, the idea that he actually believes that the layers can be changed is what I do not agree with. I think the problem begins with home and how people are raised. I think people have been hurt and are set up to hurt each other and are very territorial. The sense of owning something and being part of something is what they need and if they are not getting it from home that it is going to be a tough job to accomplish.

I was very impressed on how he is trying to teach his students that there is no "rugged individualism" he is teaching them that "we need you, we need each other". This attitude is what needs to be instilled into everybody, not just the rugged urban youth. The "me" attitude is what has been destroying the world, we need to work to help each other or we all pay the consequences

After watching his video http://youtu.be/2CwS60ykM8s
these questions came up, please answer the following.

1. What do you think the concrete layers are, what do you think he meant by changing them?

2. Do you know any Roses that have grown up on the concrete and have stayed there and make a garden? If they have left what do you think has attracted them away?

3. What connection is any do you see in his speech in regards to Maslow's Hierchy of Needs and the book Into the Wild or The Last Hours of Ancient of Ancient Sunlight?

The Secret to live abundantly - Lilou interviewed by Pablo Arellano

Lilou Mace's testimony in how she felt when she lost her job and how she grew and realized that the material things were never enough really caught my attention in how we need to learn to connect to spirituality and be content.

As I questions myself and try to discover what I really want to do with myself I with returning to school and why I returned to school I learned I need to learn about myself and live with an open heart.

I choose this video because I believe this testimony has a lot to do with what we have been discussing in class in regards to money, materialism, the universe, our habits, awakenings, following your heart, being happy and become spiritual.

The part where she says that we need to be grateful and that is when true magic happens and when you create a bubble you do not become intimate. We need to love and the truth is that money can never bring it to us.

I have never read her books but her testimony in her journey in the "new earth, the way of being" is what is catching my attention. It sound's as is she is transforming herself from the younger culture to the older culture as it is described in the The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight.

threats that I face to finish school

Being a mother of 3 little children of the ages of 4, 6, and 9. I have a lot of my time during the day used up by caring for my children by feeding them and making sure they get enough exercise during the day. I also try to sure they spend an hour or two at the library so when they go back to school they have not lost what they have learned the year before. I use to work full time but juggling three small children, taking care of my home and working full time was just to crazy for me to handle.

About a year and half a go I quit my job and decided to become a stay at home wife. I believed that I was going to be able to open a home daycare at home while I stayed with my children but I soon realized that job was not for me. I had plenty of work with my own children and making sure they were doing their job at school by understanding the material and not falling behind. This decision was easy for me to make because my current position at a dental office was not ideal for me and this position did not offer many benefits. At home I began to have a routine and soon realized I was getting bored.  

That is when I decided I needed to go back to school and get an AA and transfer to a 4 year college and get a career that would be able to give us an average pay and benefits. I plan to transfer to a speech pathology program so I can help people speak better.

So the simple fact that I have 3 small children that I need to care and provide for this is an obstacle for me to finish school because due to my husband not being able to get a descent job where we can afford to keep me at home I might have to return to work soon. He is a Marine Vet and also taking online courses for a bachelors however we have not had the best of luck with a stable career for him. Therefore our family income depends on my income.

We are currently renting a duplex my parents own and have the flexibility on pay however this had brought many problems.......this sometimes makes me feel I have been selfish in thinking I can return to school and need to return to work.....however my passion is to educate myself and get a degree so I can give more to my children.

Quitting my job has given limits on our lifestyles but I have also learned a lot about myself and my abilities. I have learned that I have a creative side I never developed because I was always too busy to work. I have learned to play a couple notes in my guitar, sew in an old singer machine, and remodel a thrashed garden. This has made me more self conscience of my potentials and abilities and motivated me to explore new things.

Another thing that makes me tempted to work and drop out of school is returning to my old lifestyle of spending. I miss splurging in make up, clothes, food and wine and sometimes random trips I love to make to southern and northern California. In addition to my old habits tempting me to drop out of school I have another major issue

My parents believe that I lost my chance in educating myself and obtaining a great career, they believe that because I have three kids I need to work and forget about school. Work Work and Work! I understand that work is important however I so not want to get old and become old and miserable. I believe we need to work in a career that is something you like to do. I think that if a person finds what makes them happy then they stay in that career longer and feel natural.


The biggest obstacle I have is to provide for my children. A roof over their head, food to survive, and making sure we have transportation to get to work and school. Everything else are problems I avoid that can distract me from achieving my academic goals.

Poverty and Passion are connected in so many different levels whether you are in the elite, rich, middle class, and poor.

I believe that a person that is poor and barely have enough food to survive they seem to be more humble and grateful because a loaf a bread and a drink of water may buy them another day to live. I think of the people in Somalia and other third world countries that their passion is to live with hope.......hoping some day they will be saved by hunger.

Children who are born poor and their parents can only buy them one toy and a child chooses one toy but helps that child identify himself or herself. Like a plane or a car those children grow up with passion to one day become a pilot or a car racer. These kids were not spoiled with many toys and many options that distracted them from focusing on one thing that can appreciate and work really hard for.

Rich people are passionate about materialistic things like houses, technology and clothes. Trapped in the "consumer economy" to working to pay for nice things however the children suffer from their parents absence in their lives. I think they focus on buying things and get distracted from other important things like having a nice family dinner.

The elite are too worried to think about others, their passion might be control and authority. They might have opportunities like horse back riding and playing golf all day but that is not the passion people can area attracted to come and see. That is not what makes them magnetic to other people, that is something they do for themselves. A selfish satisfaction that they can buy themselves.

I believe a materialistic poor person has a wealthier spiritual life and a materialist wealthy person is a person that may have a poor spirituality.  

My reaction to this movie

the passion project

 

 

After watching this video I realized there are many people from different colors, genders, ages and feel the same way about how our family and friends, society and our culture feel about how we need to live. The statement that appealed the most to me was how we need to work to survive and buy the things to survive and passion comes after. I have watched this video about 5 times and I always have ideas pop into my mind after paying closer attention to these students testimony to their experience with "Passion".

 

 

 I highly recommend this video to students in high school that feel lost and not knowing whether or not they want to work to get into a 4 year college. It is a great way to have them start to think about themselves and their future in how they want to direct their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Passion Project is awesome!