I had a really great time working with my mentor John Yap and the Filipino Mental Health Initiative. I learned a lot during my time there and through all the various projects that I did. I used my creativity skills with the photovoice aspect of my project. Taking pictures of things that answer a question is a lot harder than you think. At first, I thought that it would be a piece of cake, but I really had to think outside of the box and get creative. This is where the critical thinking part came in because I spent a lot of time just trying to figure out how to answer the question. Although it was a simple question, the possible answers were complex and difficult to capture as an image. Additionally, I had to really be on top of communicating with my mentor. He let me know when events were coming up that I could attend and was always there to help me along with my project in its entirety. If I did not communicate effectively with him, then my project would not have gone well at all. Lastly, I used my collaboration skills to help others throughout different events of my project. For example, in photovoice, we had to work with a partner in the beginning so that we could learn how to effectively answer a question with an image. At FMHI meetings, groups needed feedback or input on their projects so that they could be efficient and effective. One thing I've learned about community outreach is that it is not possible without the collaboration of many organizations and individuals.
The biggest challenge I had during my project was being comfortable speaking genuinely to people about my experiences with mental illness in the Filipino community. When I first went to an FMHI meeting, I was very intimidated. Most of the people in the room were experienced individuals that had some type of paying job in the mental health field. Here I was, a high school student with no work experience in the mental health field whatsoever. So I really felt out of my league. However, everyone was so welcoming and eager to help with my project that I gradually started to open up. I think I really grew when I talked about my experience attending the Jefferson HS Sala Talk at an FMHI meeting. I really opened up and spoke freely about what happened and how amazing I thought it was. At the end of the meeting, one of the women actually came up to me and told me how great it was that I had spoken up and was not afraid to do so. This really boosted my confidence and made me really proud of myself because speaking about personal experiences is a hard thing for me to do. Yet during this project I actually overcame that challenge and succeeded.
Overall, this project gave me a lot of insight into the field of work that I want to go into and helped me grow along the way.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Mentor Log #8
May 9 was my final photovoice session. Everyone got to see their final product framed and ready to be shown off. This session consisted of basically sharing everyone's final work and congratulating everyone for finishing a full photovoice session. I thought everyone's final products were amazing. The pictures already blew my mind, but it's what people had to say about the pictures that made it more meaningful. It was cool to compare what I thought when I first saw the picture to what they tried to capture when they took the picture. It was also nice getting positive feedback about my final product especially from all these individuals who have more experience with the issue of mental illness or substance abuse in the Filipino community. It showed me that everyone really does have a story regardless of who you are. Also, I put a lot of thought and work into it and it was nice getting recognized. After we all shared our final works, we took some time to put up our pictures in the Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center in Daly City. This is temporary until Joe, our facilitator, finds other places to exhibit our work. I had a great time doing photovoice even though I'm not sure if I would do it again.
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 2.5 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 25 hours
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 2.5 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 25 hours
Mentor Log #7
On April 30, I attended South City's very first Sala Talk within the Filipino American Club. It was really cool to see this get started here at SSFHS. I also got to see my mentor facilitating a whole Sala Talk for the first time. Since this was the very first session, it was a very general themed talk. It mostly centered on what it means to be a Filipino American in SSF. The facilitators, Joseph Balabis & John Yap, also provided participants with some knowledge of Filipino history. In fact, I did not know that Filipinos have been here in the US for hundreds of years. That was a shocking fact. As the Sala Talk went on, John would read a statement and everybody would indicate if they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed or strongly disagreed by going to a corner of the room. A lot of these statements revolved around how Filipinos in general viewed things or how we personally felt about these same things such as college, education, culture, etc. This activity led to a lot of discussion and reflection on what it really means to be Filipino American in today's society. There was even a little discussion on how dealing with being a Filipino is different based on your location. I'm lucky enough to have been born and raised in a city that is so diverse that race isn't as big of an issue compared to other places. Then the Sala Talk ended by making a tree out of post-its. The leaves of the tree were comprised of what people wanted for their Filipino community. The roots were an idea of how to make that wish happen. The most common wish was unity, which I think is probably the ideal for any community. Communities are supposed to promote bonding and togetherness and I believe that they should definitely strive to be unified. All in all, I had a great time at this Sala Talk because I also got to have a frank discussion with my actual peers and not some strangers I had just met. This Sala Talk also got me to think about my heritage and how that affects my daily life.
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 2.5 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 22.5 hours
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 2.5 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 22.5 hours
Mentor Log #6
On April 4, my pictures for photovoice were due. So here is one picture that I took:
It was really difficult to take pictures that answered our framing question. I had to really sit down and think about how I would answer the question and then what image would capture my answer. It took a lot of time to just think about that and many times when I was out and about I would find myself trying to find meaning in little things. I think this part of the process was very difficult, but very enlightening. I was forced to step out of my comfort zone and take pictures in public places. Also, I started to notice things that I never did before. At our actual meeting session on April 13, we helped everyone select an image to use as their final product. The image above is not what was chosen for me, but you will see my final picture in my presentation. The best part about this photovoice session was getting to see how others answered the question. Everybody had their own unique perspective that I would never have thought of on my own. After we selected pictures for everyone, each person stated why they took the picture that they took and how it answers the question. Then everyone else offered their own perspective to help them write their narrative. After this session was over, the narratives that go along with the picture was our homework. For my narrative, I spent awhile just trying to begin it. My picture offers a very personal view and it's hard to put that down into words that are not too revealing, but are still insightful. Yet once I started writing, the words flowed easily. I believe that this portion of photovoice was a lot easier than the picture taking portion just because writing is a lot easier for me.
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 7 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 20 hours
Mentor Log #5
On April 3, I attended a PCRC Volunteer Appreciation Reception. It was a lovely event where PCRC (Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center) took the time to honor all the volunteers that makeup their organization. I thought it was really cool to learn about some of these people who have been volunteering since the 80s, which I think is just amazing. Volunteering takes a lot of time and effort and is not easy to do. You also don't get paid for any of your work so volunteers are usually people who are doing their job because they love to do it. Another great thing was that I got to see students from SSFHS actually get honored for their work with the emerging leaders project program and other youth from different schools. It was really interesting to see that juxtaposition of people who are getting older and have served hundreds of hours with PCRC and youth who are just getting started. It was also really interesting to hear people's experiences with helping the San Mateo community move forward through PCRC's various projects.
INDIVIDUAL TOTAL: 2 hours
RUNNING TOTAL: 13 hours
INDIVIDUAL TOTAL: 2 hours
RUNNING TOTAL: 13 hours
Friday, April 12, 2013
Modern Hero
I picked Hugh "Papa" Chance from David James Duncan's novel The Brothers K as an example of a modern hero. He is the patriarch of the Chance family and a very important figure to every member of the family. He is an ordinary man just trying to get by in life and find happiness.
Hugh Chance is a great example of a modern hero. He has human weaknesses that are explored in detail throughout the novel. For example, the narrator, Kincaid Chance, describes Hugh's smoking addiction. When Kincaid actually confronts his father about smoking, he gets slapped. This clearly exhibits Hugh's weakness through his substance addiction. Not only that, he instantly regrets the slap right after it occurs. Parents are most definitely not perfect people, but they try their best and that is what Hugh tries to do.
Hugh also struggles for insight throughout the entire novel. At first, he has to come to terms with the fact that he is not able to play baseball. This takes him a long time and the Chance family is uneasy when he is moody and withdrawn. After that, he is thrown a curveball (no pun intended) when one his son, Irwin, is thrown into a mental asylum. At this point, Hugh struggles to find meaning in his chaotic life.
Hugh Chance is a modern hero. He is flawed, but he is always trying to do the best that he possibly can.
Hugh Chance is a great example of a modern hero. He has human weaknesses that are explored in detail throughout the novel. For example, the narrator, Kincaid Chance, describes Hugh's smoking addiction. When Kincaid actually confronts his father about smoking, he gets slapped. This clearly exhibits Hugh's weakness through his substance addiction. Not only that, he instantly regrets the slap right after it occurs. Parents are most definitely not perfect people, but they try their best and that is what Hugh tries to do.
Hugh also struggles for insight throughout the entire novel. At first, he has to come to terms with the fact that he is not able to play baseball. This takes him a long time and the Chance family is uneasy when he is moody and withdrawn. After that, he is thrown a curveball (no pun intended) when one his son, Irwin, is thrown into a mental asylum. At this point, Hugh struggles to find meaning in his chaotic life.
Hugh Chance is a modern hero. He is flawed, but he is always trying to do the best that he possibly can.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Mentor Log #4
On Thursday, March 14, FMHI hosted an event called photovoice. Photovoice is community-based research. Participants photograph their experiences and identify important social issues that impact their everyday lives. This can lead to actions being taken to improve social conditions. Photovoice captures lived experiences and answers a research question. Our facilitator, Joseph Balabis, then had us break up into pairs. Then he posed the question, "Why are the SF Giants the best team in baseball?" Each pair was to come up with an image that answered this question with a small paragraph that explained our image. Some suggestions were fans' reactions, porcelain, pictures of the team throughout history, etc. The purpose of this exercise was to help us start training our minds to be able to answer a question through a picture. Joe said that the best answer is simple but direct and descriptive. Then he gave us our research question, which is, "What does mental illness or substance abuse look like in the Filipino community?" Our homework assignment is to submit 5 pictures to FMHI by April 4. I have not been able to take the time to think about this yet, but in the next week I will be blogging about my efforts. This is going to be a challenge for me because I have never done anything like this. I usually use my words to describe things, not pictures. So I'm looking forward to a very interesting experience.
Then, on Tuesday, March 19, I met with Jennifer Jimenez Wong who is a marriage and family therapist at the Fred Finch Youth Center in San Mateo for an interview. I met her through FMHI where she spends her time helping out. She works with kids on probation and also provides therapeutic behavioral services for youth ages 4-19. During our talk, I learned a lot about her work as a mental health therapist with a focus on youth. So first I asked her why she became a therapist and she told me it was because she received therapy when she was my age due to issues with her mother. She felt that therapy helped her start communicating more effectively with her mother. Also, when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, therapy was very helpful. So she wanted to give back and do the same thing for other people. I was very interested by this because most people that do mental health work have personal experiences that get them on this career path. It's really amazing to me because people who do this type of work, do it because they care which I think is important. Since Jennifer works with youth that get in trouble and sometimes get arrested, I wanted to know any similarities she saw between cases of Filipino youth. She told me that most Filipino youth engage in sneaky behavior, lie, don't follow the rules, run away, or steal. In conclusion, their behavior is more passive instead of agressive. This is due to high expectations/strict parents. In the Filipino culture, youth are raised to respect their elders. So when parents have super high expectations that cannot possibly be fulfilled, youth are not allowed to talk back or disrespect their parents. So Jennifer says that she tries to teach these kids how to be assertive, independent and be able to talk through their problems. Her chosen method of therapy is the cognitive behavioral approach and she believes a lot in empowerment instead of telling someone what to do. In fact one statistic she told me is that for every negative message you give a child, it takes 8-10 positive messages to undo that one negative message. Lastly she shared some challenges she faces as a Filipino mental health therapist. She said that sometimes Filipinos do not want to hear from another Filipino because it is too close to home. Also, since she is relatively young, older Filipinos may not think she is wise enough to help them. Additionally, Filipinos like to keep things within the family. Seeking outside help can be seen as a weakness. All in all, my talk with Jennifer was very enlightening and informative. I learned a lot that I may be able to use down the road when I become a psychologist.
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 3 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 11 hours
Then, on Tuesday, March 19, I met with Jennifer Jimenez Wong who is a marriage and family therapist at the Fred Finch Youth Center in San Mateo for an interview. I met her through FMHI where she spends her time helping out. She works with kids on probation and also provides therapeutic behavioral services for youth ages 4-19. During our talk, I learned a lot about her work as a mental health therapist with a focus on youth. So first I asked her why she became a therapist and she told me it was because she received therapy when she was my age due to issues with her mother. She felt that therapy helped her start communicating more effectively with her mother. Also, when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, therapy was very helpful. So she wanted to give back and do the same thing for other people. I was very interested by this because most people that do mental health work have personal experiences that get them on this career path. It's really amazing to me because people who do this type of work, do it because they care which I think is important. Since Jennifer works with youth that get in trouble and sometimes get arrested, I wanted to know any similarities she saw between cases of Filipino youth. She told me that most Filipino youth engage in sneaky behavior, lie, don't follow the rules, run away, or steal. In conclusion, their behavior is more passive instead of agressive. This is due to high expectations/strict parents. In the Filipino culture, youth are raised to respect their elders. So when parents have super high expectations that cannot possibly be fulfilled, youth are not allowed to talk back or disrespect their parents. So Jennifer says that she tries to teach these kids how to be assertive, independent and be able to talk through their problems. Her chosen method of therapy is the cognitive behavioral approach and she believes a lot in empowerment instead of telling someone what to do. In fact one statistic she told me is that for every negative message you give a child, it takes 8-10 positive messages to undo that one negative message. Lastly she shared some challenges she faces as a Filipino mental health therapist. She said that sometimes Filipinos do not want to hear from another Filipino because it is too close to home. Also, since she is relatively young, older Filipinos may not think she is wise enough to help them. Additionally, Filipinos like to keep things within the family. Seeking outside help can be seen as a weakness. All in all, my talk with Jennifer was very enlightening and informative. I learned a lot that I may be able to use down the road when I become a psychologist.
INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 3 hours
RUNNING HOURS TOTAL: 11 hours
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