Mentor Log #3

On February 14, I went to another FMHI meeting. It started out with the same icebreaker that I did at the Sala Talk. Then everyone went around the room and shared their "reality tv shows." It was cool to see everyone's different perspectives. Then each subgroup of FMHI (Needs Assessment, Older Adults, Youth, Outreach) shared what they have been working on and their future plans. Needs Assessment is creating a questionnaire for focus groups that will be conducted in the near future. The difficulty of creating unbiased and easy to understand questions was discussed. Then Older Adults shared the insert that they made for the FMHI brochure. It had both english and tagalog text on there for older filipinos that maybe do not speak or read english. I thought this was really great because the people in the group even put their contact info at the bottom so that people could call them to help connect them with help. Then the Youth group talked about the Sala Talk that I attended. During this time, I spoke about what happened and the topics that were discussed. I also talked about how I really enjoyed this event and that I hope to participate in another one. Next the Outreach group talked about the very simple website that they have created for FMHI. It is really simple but it is an acknowledgement of the fact that technology plays a huge role in getting the word out. I know when I first heard about FMHI, I tried to search it on Google but not much came up. So I'm glad that as technology is playing a bigger role in society, FMHI is making an effort to be up to date. After that, some upcoming events were announced to the group. Then the meeting ended. Afterwards, my mentor and I discussed a plan for getting the rest of my hours done within the next 3 months.

I really enjoyed the FMHI meeting because everyone there had been working hard on their projects and were doing really well. On a side note, one of the members actually approached me and told me how she was impressed with how willing I was to share my experience in the Sala Talk. She also appreciated that I am one of the first kids to be a part of FMHI since its creation about seven years ago. I really appreciated this comment because I think FMHI is a great organization that does a lot of great things for the community.


INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 4 hours
RUNNING TOTAL: 8 hours

Mentor Log #2

On Wednesday, January 30, I went to Jefferson High School for a "Sala Talk." Basically, this is an event where a group of primarily Filipino high school students have a conversation about life as a Filipino American. The conversation is facilitated by adults that pose questions to the group as a whole. This is important because Filipinos generally do not talk about problems or things that bother them.

Our sala talk started out with an icebreaker. Everyone got a piece of paper and drew their life if it was a reality show. The talk was mainly centered around pressure. The questions that were asked included:

What does pressure look like to you in your life?

How do you deal with pressure?

Why do you think your parents pressure you?

Do you think your parents see you for who you are?

Who do you confide in about your problems?

What do you think are your parents' hopes for you?

What are some of the pressures your parents have?

These questions directed a two hour conversation about pressure and how we as teenagers deal with the pressure that our parents place on us. Throughout the discussion, I listened to other people's stories and heard different perspectives from mine. This led me to really think about these questions and how they apply to my life. I think what really surprised me is that I had never met these other teenagers before and yet they really opened up during the discussion. I thought this was a really big comment on how we as Filipinos would open up if we felt it was okay to.

INDIVIDUAL HOURS TOTAL: 2.5 hours

RUNNING TOTAL: 4 hours