spanish – mayah's site

where i am

it’s been too long. within this time i’ve been healing, learning to love myself and others and working everyday to create a peaceful life for me. i’ve permanently ended a relationship i thought would last lifetimes and created new ones that i am confident will serve me as long as i need.

so i want to share three gems, i’ve learned while being in Cuba and being home.

trust your body- this is important because it is your guide. take the time you need to care for yourself. while in cuba i struggled a lot with food and i’ve learned that your body will tell you what you need and use what you have to survive. your body has your best interest in heart. take care of it. that means sleeping well, eating well, and doing physical and mental activity that heals you. when you take care of yourself you feel so much better. but this requires effort and planning and adaptability. it’s an ongoing process in which you have to have a lot of patience- some days may be hard but the journey is so worth it.
reflection instead of critiquing- sometimes you’ll look and you may have wanted to do differently. but it is important to make sure that you are reflection to heal not to hurt. sometimes i have a habit of getting “down” on myself and acting like i am this horrible person when i make a mistake. but that is not the goal of reflection. the goal is to say this is where i am and this is what i want- how can i get there? kind words and thoughts towards yourself can go a long way.
it’s okay to need help- i have resented asking for help for a while now. it’s because the intentions of others may not be pure enough for my liking. but surround yourself with those whose intentions are pure. who actually want you to succeed. and in those spaces you can ask for help. allow yourself to be vulnerable, but only after you feel comfortable. again, allow your body and spirit to guide you. you know what feels right.

i’ll write more about cuba and what i learned later, but for now, just know living there changed my life.

día 14

Today was a long day. I finished a Spanish essay that ended up being 7 and a half pages. Though it was long and tiring, I learned a couple things.

Start early- I worked on this essay so much and I still barely made the deadline.
Be patient with yourself- learning is a process and when you’re exploring new topics you need to take your time.
Remember that you’re amazing- after rereading my essay I realized it’s the strongest work I’ve completed in the class thusfar. Learning is a process. Be proud of yourself.

It’s important to acknowledge yourself and your work. Understanding that it doesn’t define you is key, but knowing that it is part of you is important as well. So work diligently and good luck to all the college kids taking finals! You got this.

summer camp

So I originally planned to do this documentary of my adventures inQuito in order but I decide to start by talking about why I’m here. So I am working at a summer camp, in the five to seven year old classroom with five other tutors. Our classroom is at the beginning of the school, and the older students and their tutors are up on the hill. All of the tutors are in college, but the tutors from our partnering university, University of San Francisco Quito are planning to be teachers. I’ve really enjoyed the teaching experience. At the beginning it was a little awkward mostly because it’s hard to understand little kids. But as time has gone on I’ve gotten very comfortable and created good relationships with the other tutors and students. I like the camp because there is a focus on education and teaching the kids but it’s a healthy balance between studying and having fun. Learning should be fun for children and my personal goal is that we all have a good time. The camp started on the tenth and will run until the twenty eighth. My focus in the class is the English lessons, along with helping other activities go smoothly. I have a picture from the lesson we did last week about english introductions! I also lead the morning song so that the kids will have a fun way to start the day. Normally I sit at the table with the youngest group of students, most of the, are five and a couple are six, so they need a lot of attention. It makes me happy to be able to help them. A bonus is that we ar at the point where they are beginning to remember my name! Little kids often don’t pay enough attention to remember names and because my name is a Hebrew name, it’s not a name that they are used to. But all is going well! Enjoy picture of our classroom!

future teacher

towards the end of last year, I was debating on what I wanted to major and minor in. I was interested in minoring through the sociology department (it’s called Law, Justice and Social Change). I thought the major would give me more ways to help my students. I want to teach and I always have known that, but I didn’t know if I wanted to do an elementary education major. the course is super specific and i would basically have to give up any opportunity to learn anything else in college. so when i went to the meeting, i knew that i was interested in the minor but didn’t know how i could fit that in, or study spanish (which i want to do so i remain fluent). so when i met with a counselor through the sociology department, she recommended i meet with a professor within the school of education. i met with maria, and honestly it changed my life. she told me that i could major in spanish and minor in whatever i wanted and could go to graduate school to become a teacher. since i already planned on going to graduate school it seemed like a perfect fit. she also wanted me to apply to this program called A2LP, where Michigan students work in Ann Arbor public schools in third or fourth grade to teach spanish and they gain upper level spanish credit (and the upper level credits are necessary to complete the major requirements). i had heard of the program before she mentioned it, but the rest of our conversation is what made me join. she told me she needed black teachers in the program, because there were a lack of black teachers and that students need teachers that they look like. she’s a former principal and she talked about the importance of representation in administration for students. i appreciated her honesty and i know about the importance of representation so i wanted/want to be that role model. so this year I will be teaching Spanish! i will have a teaching partner and i’m super excited. i had to send in a photo and a biography for the parents! so since my last professional photos were done my senior year (almost two years ago!!), I i did a photoshoot in my backyard (see pictures below). My mommy did a great job with the pictures (can you tell her twin brother is a professional photographer/videographer?!) right under this i have the bio i used. i’ve been waiting my whole life to start teaching officially and now the time is coming soon! ill keep you all posted. always remember to follow your dreams, because your happiness is all that matters.

¡Hola! My name is Mayah and I am ecstatic about working with your children this fall! I have been working with kids for a little over four years. Some of my experiences in education include teaching English to Ecuadorian students and working as a translator at Foundations Preschool in Ann Arbor. I am passionate about equitable education for all students so I plan to major in Spanish and attend graduate school to study Elementary Education.

(this is the photo I submitted!)

life as a college student

Today I had my first day of college! I was so excited about it, and the inspirational messages from my family members just really reiterated how lucky I am to have been given such a supportive loving family. I went for a more professional/ cutesy look- I wore a black dress with a pair of leggings under and TOMS (just because I knew it would be cold in the classrooms. I’m taking four classes- Intensive Spanish (lecture and discussion), Topics in Music, UROP (undergraduate research opportunity program), and a writing seminar about Riots, Police, and Justice in the 1960s. I’m really excited to start this new chapter in my life. I’ve went to three of the four classes today, which all seemed interesting. I’m excited to go to my writing seminar tomorrow (which is my only Wednesday class- bonus it doesn’t start until 4). I’ve already gotten homework in my other three classes (I even went to the library today). Though today was really tiring (I even took a thirty minute nap), I feel like it was the start of my new journey. And a part of that journey was to change my blog link! It’s officially my blog now (like I don’t have the .wordpress.com anymore!). I did a couple changes to the theme to make it a little more me. I cannot wait to see what is in store for me and I’m so excited to be a freshman at THE University of Michigan! Go blue!