If you would of asked me 1 year ago, if I saw myself teaching in another country, I would of said no! I feel extremely honored and privileged that I got a chance to experience a dream that Dr. Litton had 3 years ago. Dr. Litton envisioned people from America going to the Philippines and shadow a teacher from Teach for the Philippines (TFP). For the past 2 weeks I did just that -- I worked at H. Bautista Elementary. School in Marikina. My partner teacher or TFP Fellow ‘s name is Ched, or Sir Ched like all the students refer to teachers in the Philippines. I believe that it is real important that I reflect on my holistic experience in the lens of a student, teacher, tourist and a even a local.
When I began this trip I came with a theme and a purpose. Finishing my first year of teaching, I realized that there where a lot of things I did well, and a lot that I still need a lot to improve on. Teaching, as many of us know, is a very hard career, and the school that I worked at in California, was a school that required me to be present physically, mentally and most importantly emotionally. The first year of teaching took a lot out of me. I was hired and placed in the school 3 months after the school year started, classes where pushing 35 students, and the students perceived me as a teacher that would eventually quit, like the last teacher that was there. I really put my heart and soul into teaching, even though there where times when I questioned if I can handle the emotional roller coasters. Due to political issues, at the end of the school year, the school let go of the principal, dean, the full main office team and 3 teachers (me included). None the less, I know I changed a lot of lives, and I wanted to come to the Philippines to remind myself of the reason I am a teacher, why I am chose to do this line of work, when I can potentially be doing many other things.
As this trip comes to an end, I believe that through this experience I was not only successful in reaffirming my purpose, but I now also have an overflowing drive to change lives of all the students that I come across. Myy experience at H. Bautista and working with Ched helped really understand my own privilege in a country where I felt I never really had much. Sir Ched overcomes physical hurdles everyday including waking up at 4 am, taking public transportation, teaching in a classroom without air-condition or technology and resources, and extremely long hours of planning. Sir Ched also has to face mental and emotional hurdles such as working with parents who are not in sync with the purpose of what he was trying to teach, students that almost lost the ability to dream, and seeing the drastic scales of poverty that the community is in. Nonetheless, Sir Ched, along with many other wonderful TFP fellows, decided to choose this line of work and really try to help as many people as possible.
When I began this trip I came with a theme and a purpose. Finishing my first year of teaching, I realized that there where a lot of things I did well, and a lot that I still need a lot to improve on. Teaching, as many of us know, is a very hard career, and the school that I worked at in California, was a school that required me to be present physically, mentally and most importantly emotionally. The first year of teaching took a lot out of me. I was hired and placed in the school 3 months after the school year started, classes where pushing 35 students, and the students perceived me as a teacher that would eventually quit, like the last teacher that was there. I really put my heart and soul into teaching, even though there where times when I questioned if I can handle the emotional roller coasters. Due to political issues, at the end of the school year, the school let go of the principal, dean, the full main office team and 3 teachers (me included). None the less, I know I changed a lot of lives, and I wanted to come to the Philippines to remind myself of the reason I am a teacher, why I am chose to do this line of work, when I can potentially be doing many other things.
As this trip comes to an end, I believe that through this experience I was not only successful in reaffirming my purpose, but I now also have an overflowing drive to change lives of all the students that I come across. Myy experience at H. Bautista and working with Ched helped really understand my own privilege in a country where I felt I never really had much. Sir Ched overcomes physical hurdles everyday including waking up at 4 am, taking public transportation, teaching in a classroom without air-condition or technology and resources, and extremely long hours of planning. Sir Ched also has to face mental and emotional hurdles such as working with parents who are not in sync with the purpose of what he was trying to teach, students that almost lost the ability to dream, and seeing the drastic scales of poverty that the community is in. Nonetheless, Sir Ched, along with many other wonderful TFP fellows, decided to choose this line of work and really try to help as many people as possible.
So now that I begin to count down the days when I go back to being a teacher in California, I will think about my experience at H. Bautista Elementary. I will think about all the faces of my students who I had the privilege to meet, I will think about the hard work that other teachers all over the world are doing. In this line of work, I felt like I needed to witness what I experienced here in the Philippines for myself. My dreams are now bigger and endless because I have the opportunity that many of the people here will never have. I do not want to take any resource for granted, or make any excuse to change the lives of my students and show that if I can accomplish what I have been able to so far, anyone can. Now I can say from the bottom of my heart, I know my purpose as a Male science teacher of color. I have the power to improve my students’ lives. My students, my professors and my family deserve the best Brian Larin that I can be, no excuses. I will take all the new inspiration, if end up staying in education or not, and leave my mark. I will end my reflection with a quote that I have learned through working with Teach for the Philippines, “Leave Your Mark!!”