Paralleling the 5 aspects of “Right Action” examined last week is obtaining a right livelihood that does not compromise one’s principles. Right livelihood is a way of making a living without compromising the principles of 1) Not killing 2) Not stealing 3) Not misuing sex 4) Not lying and 5) Not abusing intoxicants. It has been a long road of discovery in my undergraduate years to get to where I am now, heading straight towards a future revolved around education.
The blog posts I updated this week (Community Service Adventures & Stories from the workplace), are essentially summaries of how I got to the point I am now. Maintaining the life I have now meshed with the life I want in the future, I’d prefer to teach during the weekdays, do some sort of community service or civic participation on the weekend, essentially using my livelihood to make the world a slightly less dreary place.
At the same time I want to make sure I have the right spiritual background keeping my primary morals in check while having enlightening late night conversations with as many people as possible. It’s the conversations that keep you up that ultimately make you think about the place you have in the world.
I obtained my summer job as a camp counselor for Fairmont Private schools. Not only will I be spending the summer educating and mentoring youth, I will be one step closer to getting the 10,000 hours necessary to master my future profession of teaching. Though I have some bad days at the YMCA (especially when I’m working detention), I know all the positive and NEGATIVE experiences I have anywhere are not setbacks, but rather points of reference for how to deal with future experiences.
Perhaps the hallmark of the week was my decision to quit Candy Crush, and focus on activities that might actually help me head closer towards my future, and the “correct livelihood”. In conjunction with this post, I have also attached below an essay that reveals my intentions towards wanting to be in a classroom environment in the future.
Happiness. That is the end of the road, the ultimate destination all people aspire for as they fight to make their dreams a reality. And though this pursuit of happiness results in alternative journeys contingent on the person at large, the American dream is one not only found in novels and fiction, but rather in the real world if we look closely enough. Though my parents came to the United States with six children and no source of income, through their hard work and diligence they have provided me the opportunity to create a better tomorrow for myself. That tomorrow is accomplished primarily through the learning I have done in both in the K-12 educational school system and in my experiences in the real world. Those experiences, and those life lessons attained motivate me to become an educator, to shape the lives of all my future students to become truly who they wish to be in this world.
From the day I first stepped foot into the classroom, immersed as a developing English language learner, I had my struggles assimilating. As I grew more familiar with the phonics and language of English my confidence went up to the point where it is now, my success translating into a comfortability in the classroom not shared by all. I hope to translate this comfortability by creating a safe, nurturing, and caring environment for the students I plan to teach in the future. Education was not always the path I chose for my future. I knew though that I had always wanted to have a career that was enriching to the point where I felt I could make a difference in the world, where I had some sort of impact in the floating dust of life surrounding me. I thought this future would be first in Marketing, as I majored in Communications in my undergraduate years. I remained largely unimpressed by the profit-driven motives of the business and marketing worlds that I felt I could have an impact elsewhere, contributing my time and money to another segment of the world that needed me. Luckily, I had also majored in History in my years at the University of California, San Diego.
History is a fluctuating process. Though most people see history as memorization of dates and historical facts and figures, I see it as a collection of stories, a collection of life journeys, and a collection of life lessons everyone could use for practical purposes. Aside from the analytical and cognitive benefits from learning history, primarily in increasing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, I love that history is applicable to the world in which we live. Each and every one of us has our own life story to tell, our own history of our lives we wish to share with others. And though some people choose to share their histories in autobiographies, most of our life stories are told every day when we engage in the active process of communicating with our peers. I hope to teach major historical figures that had an impact on the world in which we live, and I hope to provide reasons and rationale for why we learn them. By telling these stories, I can motivate my students to reach for their highest potential, to see how their futures can shape the world in which they live – how their histories are the defining cultural shifts of the next generation. I want to inspire my students to change the world, and inspire my students to cognitively think of how they can have a more direct impact in the world, whether it be through political action, community service, or choosing a profession that could most benefit their own lives, or the lives around them. History has always been a fascinating subject for me because of these reasons, and thus my strength will remain in teaching the subject dearest to my heart.
My parents originally wanted me to study Pharmacy in college to try to make the most money possible. And though I recognize the benefits of doing so, pharmacy also being a profession in which people are assisted every day, I recognize my strengths in motivating people around me to live a better life. Many of my peers see how I do in school and see me as a role model, someone they can look up to and ultimately model their lives after. Currently employed at the Anaheim Family YMCA, I try to encourage high school students to reach for their highest potential, and to aspire for the ultimate goal of happiness, not only obtained through short-term goals, but long-term goals they set for themselves in the future. And though I initially was profit driven to major in Communications, I have largely decided not to use those marketing skills for purposes of making money, but rather to help non-profits such as the YMCA achieve its goals of fostering a safe and nurturing environment for all kids regardless of income. Combining my love of history with my goal of having as much of an impact on the world as possible, I knew teaching would provide me with the most fulfillment possible, not just financially, but in terms of creating a life of purpose, and obtaining that happiness I have aspired for all my life.
Our Founding Fathers envisioned and helped to lay the groundwork for a future where all citizens had a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Though my life has been turbulent in terms of the worldly pursuits I have sought after to achieve this said happiness, I have come to the realization that obtaining a teaching career is the key to that bliss. In my days of tutoring and helping to teach others, my satisfaction does not come out of my colleagues and students necessarily getting a better grade on a test, but rather seeing that look of curiosity and eagerness on their face that shows me that they are ready to learn. Being a lover of historical events that have shaped the world in which we live, I cannot wait to communicate this fondness through enthusiasm and storytelling in the classroom. There are always going to be the students that do not enjoy the subject in which I am teaching as much as I do. If I could edge them one step closer to doing so by creating interactive and personalized lesson plans applicable to their own lives, I will be fulfilling my duties as an educator. If I could make that personalized connection between the lives of those they read in their textbooks to their own lives, I will have achieved my goals of self-actualization. I will have achieved success in the classroom with my students. I will have achieved happiness.
It’s hard to grade myself for the week, because I have not yet obtained the career I want yet. Looking at the signs I have now (being in the credential program, working for the YMCA though), I will give myself an A for effort.
Next week: Right Effort
