Makibaka, huwag matakot. For some: a mantra utilized by Filipino grassroots organization, for many, foreign jargon with unknown phlegmatic meaning. For myself, it serves as a reminder to choose the arduous path, and to take nothing easy. Being an only child from a first generation immigrant family from the Philippines, my parents expected nothing but phenomenal academic results in high hopes to acquire a good job for myself; more specifically, a one-worded career: something they can easily boast about within the family circle, with little to no need of an explanation. Doctor. Engineer. Teacher. Informing them that I was applying to graduate school, these were some of the fields they were hoping for me to say. Instead, they received a mouthful …show more content…
Psychology and the matter of “self” captivated me and allowed me to realize that all experiences are subjective and that it is impossible to remove the "self" from any situation. I also chose to supplement my major with RRS because I believe that it is imperative to realize how institutional legislations and past communal struggles still impact present day life. Alongside my usual 13-19 units a semester and part time job of three years as an academic coach, I was able to heavily contribute to two campus organizations: Asian Student Union (ASU) and Circle K International (CKI). I served as a solo internship coordinator for my entire junior year for ASU, teaching a group of 10-15 college students a semester about the struggles of the community. Here, I created two 10-week program curricula, hosted hands-on workshops, kept track of intern progress reports to present to the Asian American Studies Department faculty, handled administrative duties, and fostered an environment for my interns to be comfortable to learn about themselves. As an active member in CKI, I dedicated approximately 200 hours of volunteer work to organizations around the Bay Area. I eventually found myself graduating a semester early and working another part time job as a school lead for a technology based reading curriculum start up company. Each of these stages in academia has contributed to my understanding of the world, my …show more content…
I want to hone my work ethic and develop my intellectual understanding. Through the material and classes provided by this program, my hope is to fill the many gaps in my own knowledge about the education system. In the distant future, I plan to continue my studies in educational psychology to learn more about an individual’s psyche in relation to educational settings. I believe that by familiarizing myself more in the pedagogies, policies, and conceptual underpinnings of the education system, I can segue naturally into educational psychology. In totality, I long to be in a field where I am able to gain insight on how to ensure that every individual has a fair and equitable opportunity to get the chances that I received – regardless of the intersectional groups they may belong to or the psychological battles they may endure. I aspire for all students to understand that they should not be afraid of struggling because in the long haul, it culminates a more conscientious, empathetic and strong-willed future