Camaso, Laurence M.

Final Reflection Paper At first, I had no really any idea what we are going to do, teach and process in what my professor called immersion activity. According to him, it was like doing community services in some areas in Metro Manila. I thought that we are going to sweep and clean the corners of the city, because my brother told me that they also swept some streets when they were doing their immersion activity. Thats why I initially expected that we will do the same thing. But fortunately, it was not. Manuguit, Tondo. It was our first destination. That was not my first time to go to Tondo. I had been there when I was still a kid. We had relatives there, but they are now staying somewhere in Northern Luzon, so its been a long time since I visited this place. First week: Orientation. During the orientation, our objectives were clearly discussed by the social workers that we are going to work with. According to them, we will learn how to handle children with different attitudes and talents and socialize with poor students. Actually, after hearing our objectives, I know that I can do the tasks. Although Im studying in an expensive school, I grew up with a poor family, played and studied with unfortunate students. I know that this experience will not be different and difficult, but I really find it so interesting and challenging. It is because, according to the social workers, we are going to treat the students properly. So, it means that the way I treated my old friends might not be the proper way to use in handling my soon-to-be students. We ended doing our Plan of Action and discussing our graduation program. During the whole immersion, I saw different attitudes, responses, and beliefs. And what I really proved to myself is that poverty has different faces. The poverty Id seen in them is merely different to the poverty I always see in my place. One time, we gave them burgers for snack, and I was wondering why they did not eat the burgers. At first, I thought that they are not yet hungry. But, after Miss Lilian explained to us the situation, I was amazed. These children wanted to bring it home and share these burgers with their siblings. This experience struck me most. Although

they do not have any treasure in life, they still have the most precious thing in this world, and that is the family. I had 12 students. And all of them, for me, are significant. I did not only learn because of them, I also remembered and realized some basic realities and values in life, such as valuing our family, striving hard in the study, impressing our parents through good grades, and being practical. They are simple though practical and diligent in any tasks, small or big, easy or complicated. The social workers are also significant to me for the whole immersion activity. They are the reason why we handled the students properly. Their initiative and desire to help unfortunate family helped me realize that we should help others voluntarily without aiming for rewards or prizes. I have to admit that doing immersion activities is not simply teaching them how to do these and those. We also need to consider the materials needed in every activity and the snacks. So, budgeting was also a problem in our case. We also encountered problems with small children fights and being uncooperative of some students in our activities. We really maximized our funds in order to counter the problem in budget. We learned how to be resourceful in materials. We recycled some of the used items we have in our homes that are still usable. Through this, we were able to allot sufficient budget for the food of the children. In the case of small fights, I explained to them that fighting will never bring better outcomes, and they will only hurt themselves for nothing. I also imposed games and fun activities first to energize them and to make them cooperate for the other activities. Deeply rooted in faith, Appreciative of individual uniqueness, Socially responsible, Professionally competent, Filipino in ideals, Creative and innovative leader. I was able to execute and experience these core values. I used them to have a better relationship with my students. I need to show my faith in God in order to be a role model. Appreciating their own talents and abilities makes them confident. Being responsible with my acts towards them, considering that they are poor, maintains a friendly atmosphere in our classroom. Competitiveness in the field of study is also shown through our weekly activities. Bayanihan, one of the trademarks of Filipinos, is exercised by the whole class in every activity we do.

Creativity and innovativeness are something that we already have since birth, and I witnessed that in simple ways, my students exhibited these traits without knowing that they did. I learned that poverty is not really a barrier to success. It is just nothing. We should not let this be a hindrance, or else, we will surely fail. Instead of letting poverty pulling you away from our target, make yourself be pushed towards our goal because of this. I will always retain to my mind whatever I learned in this whole immersion activity. I know that these learnings can be my inspiration and guide throughout my way to success and development. I can also use these to inspire and change the lives of other people. I believe that people are always in the process of changing. Every day, we acquire different knowledge, beliefs, and realizations. Even the little things we get somehow change our selves. And for me, all these experiences really changed my perception in some things and made me disciplined enough to maintain and enhance my social skills.