I like you, Titsah

I was so flattered this afternoon because two of my students told me that they like me as their teacher. It’s very touching to hear that from cute little girls. I have two new students, Elly and Stella¹. They are so cute that I want to adopt them. Haha! Stella was very quiet on our first meeting but as days went by, she always open up or share stories about her and her friends. I felt that she became comfortable with me. Elly, on the other hand, is very jolly. She always giggles and laughs when she shares her own story. I asked her why does she always laugh in my class. She said that she finds our class very fun. Wow. Sweet little kids.

This afternoon, the students had a party because Isabelle, the one who gave me a letter three weeks ago, celebrated her birthday today. Elly asked me if she could party. I didn’t know what to answer because we were supposed to have our class. I asked one of the old teachers and he told me that Stella² would like to party too. So we have no choice but to attend their party as well. Haha! They looked adorable dancing and singing the Korean songs even though I didn’t understand what they were singing. And oh, they even asked me to dance with them. Haha!

Having cute and sweet students makes me feel younger. I am having a great time with them that I always look forward to our classes. The nicest feeling is that they appreciate you without even trying to make them appreciate you. I just teach, have fun and laugh with them. I am thankful that at least once in my teaching life, I felt appreciated and liked by my students.

1. both are 11 years old [↩]
2. he handles Stella at 4 to 5 pm [↩]

First Day in Graduate School

I am back to being a freshman. And like any other freshmen, I had this sort of oh-no-what-should-I-expect-from-this-subject feeling on my first day in school. I enrolled by myself for graduate school so I had this feeling that I am just all alone. Remember your first day in school? Remember when you were a new student? You don’t know anyone. You just sit there in a corner, waiting for someone to approach you or thinking about how to approach the person in front of you. I really don’t like that feeling and fortunately, it didn’t last until I saw a familiar face.

My old college classmate is enrolled in the same subjects that I am taking. We were both delighted to see each other again after all these years. And what made us more giddy is that we both experienced the same thing in the last three years: failures, rejections, and the like. It’s nice to have someone who underwent the same experience as you did. It’s like you found someone who could understand you because he or she had the same situation.

So, anyway, I attended my first day (or should I say night since it is a night class) in graduate school last Saturday. Our first subject was Statistics. That’s my only class for that day but I decided to enroll another subject when I learned from my classmates that they have another subject on Saturday apart from Statistics. Since I’m free on Saturdays, I enrolled in the Pedagogy class. So starting tomorrow, I’ll be attending two classes.

Yesterday, I attended another class, my Nursing Theory class. And I was like, “Oh no. Here we go again with the theories!” Our professor is old so we have to sit close to her because she speaks softly. When our class ended, she gave us topics that we will report next week. Grr. I hate reporting but I like the topic that was given to me. It’s about Human to Human Relationship Model. It’s about giving sympathy and empathy to our patients to be able to build a rapport with them. I think it’s easy because as you all know, that is what I usually blog about here - treating the patients right.

So this is really it. I am back to school. I am working as a part-time English teacher. I wonder if I can handle this all… I hope so!

Titsah Xyla

I find it amusing whenever my Korean students call me Titsah Xyla rather than Teacher Xyla. ¹ What makes me more amused is that I never thought I would be called Teacher Xyla in my life. Yeah, I once dreamed of becoming a teacher but  hearing my name with the word teacher at the beginning feels a bit weird. Haha! Oh, by the way… I am hired.

That’s the good news. The sad thing about it is that I can’t take the full-time position because of my MA’s² schedule.  I have no choice but to take the part-time position instead of just letting all this go. Like what I said in my previous entry, I need some money to support my needs for my MA³. That is why.

So far, I am enjoying my stay there. I am enjoying teaching my 13-year-old student. She’s very funny and talkative. Her name is Rin. We had a deal that she will study our lesson really hard while I try to learn their language. I guess that makes our class more fun. I just feel sad today because I learned that I won’t be handling her anymore starting tomorrow. It’s because of conflict in schedule. Sad sad sad. :(

The other two students that I am teaching are older than me by one year. They’re cool guys. One loves sports while the other likes music. They’re friends. Randolph, the one who’s into sports, asked me what’s the best bar or club here in the Philippines that I could recommend for him. Haha! I told him though that I don’t really go to clubs so I can not recommend him any. I am teaching them intermediate grammar so every now and then I study grammar. The best thing about this job is that I am learning while I am teaching.

I know that I won’t be staying long in this school because I have a different path to take. So for now, I’ll just enjoy every day of my life as Titsah Xyla.

1. They always have a hard time in pronouncing ch- and r. [↩]
2. master’s degree [↩]
3. not the tuition fee, though [↩]

Nurse Teacher

For those people who don’t follow me at Twitter/Plurk, you probably do not know yet that I am undergoing training in an International Language School as a part-time English teacher for Koreans. Yes, you’ve read that right.

I decided to apply as an English tutor/teacher because I need money to suffice my needs for my master’s degree.¹ I haven’t enrolled though because the results aren’t out yet. I am actually in panic because the deadline of enrollment is tomorrow. I hate enrolling late. I hate running after time. Why haven’t they released it yet?! Grr.

Anyways, luckily, I passed the initial interview and the teaching demo. It was my first time to do a teaching demo.  I was so nervous! So right now, I am attending the training. I should complete the 40-hour training then if I passed the exams and the other tasks, they could officially hire me. I hope everything goes well.

I really wanted to be hired there because I am having fun. When I was a kid, I dreamt of becoming a teacher, aside from becoming a doctor. Until now, I still want to teach. That’s the reason why I plan to take master’s degree to be able to teach and to be able to gain professional growth.

As I am observing the setting, I realized that there are a lot of things in common in having a patient and in having a student. First, you should be able to establish a rapport with your student, just like with a patient. You need to gain their trust because how would you be able to work with them if they don’t trust you. Second, you have to be patient with them. Students can sometimes be very unpredictable. Sometimes, they get what you’re teaching, sometimes they don’t. You have to be understanding. Just like in being a nurse, you have to be empathic with them. Third, teachers also learn from their students. It’s not about the lesson, per se, but also things that we could apply in our own lives. It’s called life lessons. As a nurse, I constantly learn from my patients too. I probably don’t have my inspiration to write if I don’t learn from them. Lastly, when a student (or a patient) appreciates you, the feeling is undescribable. It probably means you are effective as a teacher (or a nurse) or you probably touched his/her life in your own simple way which makes us feel fulfilled in our job. Wow. What a realization!

Well, let’s hope that I’ll get a good evaluation after my 40-hour training. By that time, I’ll probably be a better writer. Haha! Because seriously, while I am studying those grammar rules again, I feel so dumb! I feel that I suck in grammar and I feel ashamed of how I am writing here. Haha!

So that’s all for now. I’ll leave you a very funny scenario with one of our Korean students.

Luna: *singing* Pilipino, Pilipino, Pilipino ang lahi ko…. (Manny Pacquiao’s song)
Me: Luna, why are you singing that song? You’re not a Filiipino!
Luna: Oh. Okay! *then started singing….* Korean, Korean, Korean ang lahi ko…

1. My parents are going to pay for my tuition fee and I don’t want to add more burden to them. [↩]

Polycystic Ovary

After eight months, I’ve finally underwent transrectal ultrasound as a follow-up check up for my last Ob-Gyne consultation. I was supposed to undergo ultrasound last December but because I was busy¹, I failed to do so.

My ultrasound result last September 2008 revealed that my left ovary has this certain mass  which could be a cyst or just a corpus luteum².  And then, my right ovary reveals to be polycystic. That’s why my Ob-Gyne told me to repeat the procedure after three months.

Now, the result is: my right ovary is normal but the left is a polycystic ovary. I got worried upon seeing the result but I waited to talk to my Ob-Gyne first before getting depressed. Although last night, I got sad when I thought about my health again.

So this afternoon, I went to the clinic for a consultation. My OB said that there’s nothing to worry because it’s just mild. Usually, those patients who have polycystic ovary syndrome have weight gain, irregular or missed periods, unwanted hair growth and acne. Yes, I get to have acnes from time to time but fortunately, I don’t have the other three symptoms.

As a treatment, my OB prescribed contraceptive pills. Hopefully, after six months of taking the contraceptive pills, I’ll get a better ultrasound result.

I asked my OB if my fertility in the future would be affected. She answered yes but she gave me an assurance that we would be able to work it out. I’ll just have to tell her if I am ready to have a baby.

At least, there’s no reason to lose hope.

Thank you, Lord, for listening to my prayers.

1. I don’t even know why I was busy by then [↩]
2. because my menstrual period was about to start in a few days [↩]