Summary and Suggestion

    October 5th, 2024, after a 24 hour travel, we arrived safely in Guimaras. Three hours from school to the airport, three hours waiting for our flight to Manila, four hours from Jakarta to Manila, seven hours waiting for our connecting flight to Iloilo, one and a half hours from Manila to Iloilo, and another six hours driving from the airport to the Guimaras dorm. Literally a 24 hour journey, something I have never experienced before in my life.

Our first lunch together at Jollibee with Dr. Joel Japitana, the Director of International Linkages, Guimaras State University

    The reason I joined the Seateacher program was to observe and experience teaching in different countries (in this case, the Philippines). I also got to learn about their culture, gorgeous surroundings, and make new friends who I can consider family. Throughout my time in Guimaras, I have made many memories and experienced many funny stories.

    It is expected that there will be challenges during the program, whether through observation or teaching practice. Language can be a barrier or maybe a way for us to communicate with other people, but in Guimaras, there was no difficulty in understanding each other because we could speak well at the time. I believe that education in the Philippines is better than in Indonesia because most schools there use English from a young age, starting in kindergarten and I have heard that English is their second language unlike Indonesia which is our foreign language.

Family pictures with my students in five sections at Supang National High School

    Learning about each of my students' personalities, actions, backgrounds, and learning skills was really interesting to me. I understand that knowing the students you teach is an important part of becoming a teacher, but witnessing it firsthand is heartwarming. Seeing their reaction every time I enter their classrooms and students are eager to learn from me is something I will never forget, and I will treasure those memories in my heart forever.

    Guimaras Island is a wonderful place. A place I consider to be my second home. I have learned a lot, made memories, and gotten to know more people that I can now call family. I am honored to have been picked as one of the students to be sent to Guimaras State University. I would like to thank God, my family, my teachers and lecturers, my friends, and many other people who are part of my life. There was never a day that I spent there that I felt regret or exhausted.

    Hopefully, next year's or future batch of students who are sent to Guimaras State University or join this program would feel and experience the same things I did. Be confident and believe in yourself; don't underestimate yourself after a mistake. Cherish the memories you built in the places you will go. It is more than just learning about their education systems, it is about getting to know each culture and participating in events like we did at Guimaras State University.

 

Family picture with the teachers from both schools, the Vietnamese students, and lecturers from GSU

    I would like to say thank you personally to my cooperating teacher from Supang National High School, Ma'am Kiezel Jan Penit, for her patience and guidance through my teaching practices. And I will end this post with a motivational quote that she always told me.

A picture with Ma'am Kiezel Jan Penit in class Platinum

"Always remember to love what you do because if you love your work, you don't really have to work at all. Keep the fire burning in you"

- Keizel Jan Penit