{"id":27,"date":"2017-11-23T07:44:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T07:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/?p=27"},"modified":"2017-11-23T07:44:20","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T07:44:20","slug":"a-future-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/2017\/11\/23\/a-future-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"A Future in Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was in high school and would think about my future, I always thought I would work abroad or in D.C. \u00a0I wanted to save the world, or at least our country, but before beginning the fellowship, we watched a video about the ethics of international volunteerism, \u00a0<\/span>\u201cAn African\u2019s Message for America\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Cassandra Herrman. \u00a0In this video, Kenyan activist, Boniface Mwangi asks \u201cWhy don\u2019t you start local before you go international?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This question hit me hard. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t quite name why I wanted to go abroad, I just knew I liked to travel and meet new people and cultures. \u00a0After some thought, I didn\u2019t view his question as an outright criticism of international work; however, it is a question we need to ask ourselves as we navigate our vocational path. Why do we feel called to work internationally rather than domestically? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As humans, I believe we have an obligation to help those living in poverty and unjust systems, but we must also be critical of the methods in which we choose to help others. \u00a0Will we truly listen to those who we aim to help? \u00a0Will we help give agency to our intended beneficiaries? \u00a0As I learned about social entrepreneurship, I felt that it was an approach that does these things. \u00a0Social entrepreneurship disrupts unjust systems, by listening and empowering those in poverty. \u00a0It believes that those at the base of the pyramid are fully capable of participating in the market and aims to include them. \u00a0Although I personally do not feel called to entrepreneurship, I found truth in this approach. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ramona Convent Secondary School:<\/strong> One of the places that taught me to love learning and social justice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All my life, I have loved school. \u00a0I have parents who did whatever they could and provided everything I needed to do well in school. \u00a0I was motivated to do well, because I knew it would pay off, and I knew the sacrifices my parents and grandparents had made to get me to that point. \u00a0I had amazing teachers who believed in me, and my friends and I motivated each other. \u00a0I know this is not the case for everyone. \u00a0For some, school is a miserable experience. \u00a0There are different social, economic, and political factors that influence the education a child is able to receive. \u00a0I want to bring down these boundaries to ensure that every child is educated fully and that the <\/span>whole<\/span><\/i> child is educated, not just those aspects that can be shown through test scores. \u00a0I believe that the entrepreneurial approach is one way of achieving this. \u00a0By accepting that all children, regardless of color, socioeconomic status, language abilities, or academic performance can participate meaningfully in the school setting, we can begin to break down the boundaries that prevent students from learning. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thought of different ways I can best advocate for children and their education. \u00a0I considered educational law, teaching, and school administration. \u00a0In fact, I am still exploring these paths. \u00a0Through my experience in the fellowship, I have learned how important it is to truly understand the cause you are fighting for and how important it is to be a good listener and observer. \u00a0I have decided that the best way to be an advocate for students is to teach, at least at first. \u00a0I know that later I will be called to advocate for students legally or through administrative roles in schools, or even at the state level. \u00a0I want to \u201cdisrupt the system,\u201d but first I need to experience for myself, in the classroom, what students, educators, and parents face. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Addressing the question of working domestically or internationally, I know that there are children, and especially girls, that need a quality education in different parts of the world, but I feel that I am called to do work here, at home. \u00a0I want to erase the myth that English-language learners, low-performing students, and poor communities are a burden on the educational system. \u00a0Educating all students reduces poverty, crime, and incarceration. \u00a0Besides the beneficial effects on society, it is a right all students have under law, one that I don\u2019t feel is currently being fully upheld. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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My family<\/strong>, featuring my parents proudly wearing their SCU t-shirts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One reason I feel called to work in California, and especially Los Angeles, is my family. \u00a0For me, family has always been number one. \u00a0Although I love traveling and experiencing other cultures, I also know how much family means to me. \u00a0Being away for a while, even months is fine, but I don\u2019t like the idea of a permanent or even semi-permanent responsibility keeping me from responsibilities at home. \u00a0When I came to this realization, at first I felt disappointed with myself. \u00a0I have always considered myself an independent person. \u00a0Since high school, I\u2019ve taken every opportunity to get out and see something new, and although I have cherished each and everyone of these experiences, a long-term obligation away from home doesn\u2019t seem right. \u00a0\u00a0I know that I can be successful on my own, it’s what I\u2019ve been doing for the past three years at SCU. \u00a0I know that my family can survive without me, too, but part of what I have learned through the fellowship is that self-awareness is key and vocation is not just about a job. \u00a0For me, family is a part of my vocation. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Explaining my research to my parents and sorority sisters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another reason I have decided to stay in California is the specific community I wish to serve. \u00a0As the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, I\u2019ve always held my culture as a huge part of my identity, but my time with Sistema Biobolsa and interacting with people in Mexico City helped me realize that I don\u2019t know everything about Mexico.\u00a0 What I do understand more fully is the Mexican-American experience, especially inter-generationally. \u00a0My time in college has also made me aware of different experiences I previously knew nothing about. \u00a0I know that my background and interactions with others from diverse backgrounds can help me be a sensitive and culturally competent educator. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that I started off by saying that I used to want to \u201csave the world.\u201d \u00a0Although I no longer have aspirations to be president of the United States or single-handedly cure world hunger, the fellowship has revived in me that \u201cheroic ambition\u201d we read about in Chris Lowney\u2019s <\/span>Heroic Leadership. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>The fellowship has reminded me that there are different ways to make an impact. \u00a0In high school and college, I started to stray from pursuing teaching and education because people told me I was \u201ctoo smart\u201d to be a teacher and there were more prestigious and higher paying jobs. \u00a0(I now realize that none of the people telling me this were teachers.) \u00a0Through self-awareness, I have realized that I don\u2019t care too much about money or prestige. \u00a0As a teacher, I will have the power to make sure our future is educated and compassionate. \u00a0To me, that sounds like just what the world needs right now.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was in high school and would think about my future, I always thought I would work abroad or in D.C. \u00a0I wanted to save the world, or at least our country, but before beginning the fellowship, we watched a video about the ethics of international volunteerism, \u00a0\u201cAn African\u2019s Message for America\u201d by Cassandra … Continue reading A Future in Education<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1734,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":1,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"jperales","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/author\/jperales\/"},"qubely_comment":1,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"When I was in high school and would think about my future, I always thought I would work abroad or in D.C. \u00a0I wanted to save the world, or at least our country, but before beginning the fellowship, we watched a video about the ethics of international volunteerism, \u00a0\u201cAn African\u2019s Message for America\u201d by Cassandra…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/jperales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}