Barkada: Tagalog for "group of friends"

On Monday during class, we (the students) were placed into our new "Barkadas". Like the title points out, the meaning of the word barkada means "group of friends". Our new barkadas are going to be the people that we work with inside and even outside the classroom to get assignments and other things for English done. 

As we got called into our barkadas, we had to go to the middle of the room to do this balloon activity. Everyone in the group had to hold hands and we had to balance the balloons by working together. As Professor Abaun and Professor Aronson threw them in they were telling us what the balloon represented to our group. Those were things important things for our group to keep balanced, like work, homework, different schedules etc.

The exercise was a good metaphor for how we would work together to be successful. After all the balloon excitement we came into our groups and got to know each other. As our first assignment, we had to get together on campus and hangout together. For coffee, lunch or to even work on assignments for class. For my barkada, we met the next day at the new cafe. We worked on our essays that were due the next day. During us working on our essays and helping each other, I liked the vibe that I got from my group. Then when we came together in class the next day to do peer revisions, the good vibes from the group was still there even though one member was missing. I'm looking forward to working and hanging out more with my new barkada as the semester goes on.

Retreat Time !

Part of the class at the Breakfast Retreat .. Thank you
Fernando letting me steal this picture (x

On Friday (yesterday), Mr. Aronson and Ms. Abuan our Bayan counselor set up a breakfast retreat for the class. There were many purposes for this get-together, one mainly being .. to allow the members in the class to get to break the ice and to get to know one another. 

I was surprised that so many of us showed up, only because it was the first get together and I didn't think as many people would have shown up. Not only did a lot of the new Bayan members showed up but so did a lot of the members from last semester. And it was nice having everyone who was/is a part of Bayan there. During the retreat we ate breakfast, went over the big plans for this semester and participated in a few, I would call them, "getting to know each other" activities. 

One of the activites that I felt was most interesting was the "fishbowl" activity. That is where partners are seated face to face in two circles, one partner is on the inside of the circle and the other is on the outside. I liked doing this activity a little more than the other. The other being a "four corner" type of game, where the four corners had different titles that served as the answer to the question asked by the professors. So back to the fishbowl activity, I preferred this one a bit more over the other because I got to talk to other students one on one & getting to know a little bit more about them. 

A new chapter begins ..

Hellooo ! I'm Maria Delos Santos & currently in the second semester of my first year at Southwestern College. New year .. New semester .. New blog !

Like last semester, I am a part of the Bayan Learning Community. And this blog is a continuation (in a way) of my thoughts, feelings and new knowledge I pick up in my English 115 class. This a fresh start on a blog, so like my professor said .. It's a whole "new persona".

I come from a big Filipino family and I'm pretty proud to be a part of a diverse group of people. Growing up in a Filipino family gave me a different perspective of the things I do. By this I mean, I have those Filipino values (kapwa, hiya, pakiaksama and utang ng loob) instilled in me when I make certain decisions. So learning about them in a published book kind of validated what I already knew, that much more. Last semester, I learned a lot of new things about my culture and coming back into the community I'm eager to learn more.

The one thing I hope is that this semester, we can form that
family bond that was there in last semester's Bayan Family.
(Credits to Jennica for the picture)

Being back in Bayan feels familiar because of having Professor Aronson again and having familiar faces in the class.  But at the same time it feels new because there are so many new people in the class that I am looking forward to getting to know. And mostly excited to connect as a Bayan.