During this podcast, I liked how one of the teachers talked about how important being a teacher’s assistant is. He stated how not only do you get to help and connect with students, you get to better understand the material by teaching it. Since I am thinking about becoming a teacher’s assistant, this information was valuable to me. Honestly, I want to help struggling students with their work, and if I can get better at the subject while doing it, that confirmed my decision to sign up to be a TA. Additionally, he spoke about how important teachers are in the learning experience. I can definitely relate to this. In high school, if I was struggling in a class, it was welcoming when a caring teacher would sit down with me one on one and made sure I properly understood the material. On the other hand, it was terrible when teachers did not care whether their students understand the material or not. Even if I enjoy and am good at the subject, a good teacher is still crucial to make sure that I am successful inside and outside of the class.
Author Archives: tzh2
Importance of Siblings
The film My Neighbor Totoro really illustrated how important family is. More specifically, it illustrated how important siblings are. No matter what situation it was, Satsuki and Mei always had each others’ backs. For example, when Mei came to visit Satsuki at school, although it was extremely annoying, Satsuki allowed Mei to sit with her and comfort her. Throughout the story, things like this would always occur, and by helping each other out, it helped strengthen their relationship further. It reminds me of when I was a young kid and my siblings would always be super nice to be. Yes, we would occasionally have fights, but they would have my back. Although I was a pain sometimes, they would always help me whatever the case would be. Since I’m older now, I will now help them out as well and return the favor.
The Wishful Person We All Strive to Be
In the last episode of Chernobyl, Valery made the shocking decision to tell the court what really happened in the nuclear reactor, even though it would ruin his reputation and leave him having no friends or family left. Later on, once he realized that what he did in the court would ultimately be censored by the Soviet Union, he killed himself, hoping that his death would maybe bring to light the flaws in the Soviet Union’s nuclear reactors. I was stunned by the decision that Valery made. It would be extremely difficult to make the decisions he made for most people, never mind that it could have likely been in vain. It reminds me of a talk I had with my father awhile ago. My father, being an honest person, would never cheat on anything, no matter how minor the assignment was back when he was a student. I did not believe him and asked whether he cheated on assignments that anyone could get away with, such as homework. He replied no, saying that it would cost him by doing so. Valery understood this concept. He could have easily lied in court and gotten the highest Soviet Union awards and been remembered in history as a hero. Instead, he told the truth and ultimately costed him his life. Why? He knew that if he did lie in court, the cost of it would be much more severe, sooner or later.
Fragility of Natural Beauty
While watching Our Planet, it made me realize how much we take nature for granted. When we go to national parks and other places of natural beauty, we take it for granted and don’t realize how close we are to losing it all. The world is quickly accelerating the number of resources it uses, and if something does not change soon, many of these parks will be damaged indirectly or directly by climate change and deforestation. Unfortunately, I do not think that people will act seriously about the situation unless they themselves start being significantly affected by their own actions.
Additionally, Our Planet illustrated that there are so many different animals out there than could possibly imagine. Furthermore, they all work together in order to keep their ecosystem thriving. People need to realize that if they make one species go extinct, it could cause a total catastrophic collapse of an entire area’s ecosystem.
I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I think that someone needs to find a solution that helps the environment while it benefits the economy as well. This way, people can continue the path of capitalistic success while helping the environment as well. This is the only solution in my opinion to save the environment.
Opportunities and Regrets
From all the advice Professor Schwarz gave, the number one thing I learned was that utilize all the opportunities you get and never have regrets. In the past, I remember having many opportunities and letting them slip because I was lazy or scared. Although I have taken advantage of more opportunities in university, I have continued to let opportunities slip away. In the future, I will attempt to take advantage of all the opportunities I receive. By doing this, I will also have fewer regrets. Regrets haunt me, and if I take advantage of the opportunities I receive and they don’t work out, at least I would not have regrets. Is it better living with the regret of not taking action and wondering what could have been or using an opportunity and it potentially not working out? You be the judge.
Transparency
In the third episode of Chernobyl, it truly illustrated how powerful transparency can be and how useful it is in daily life. For example, Valery and Boris were transparent to the coal workers about everything. They told them that the tunneling work under the reactor was dangerous and was honest with all of the coal workers’ questions. When they did this, the coal workers worked harder than ever and even stripped naked in order to get the job done. In today’s world, constant lies can be frustrating and the hard truth is a better alternative. Additionally, the truth is able to create a bond between people, whether how difficult the truth is. For example, I know that I hate when people lie to me, and when they tell me the truth, whether it’s hard to hear or not, I appreciate it more than lies. The truth makes things much more direct and clearer than lying.
The Crucial Reformation Needed in America
During this seminar, I was exposed to a number of major issues the United States still has. One issue that really caught my attention was prisons and how they should be reformed. One of the participants of the seminar, Larry Greene, spoke of how prisons are difficult to live inside and mostly change people for the worst. Additionally, people who get out of prison would be discriminated against by society, and be forced to steal again. He spoke of how he was extremely fortunate and that he was able to join a theater club in order to help express himself freely and have time to explore his own personality while in prison.
Back when I was growing up, the local neighborhood consensus was that prisons are a place for criminals to rot and pay for the crimes they did. However, I never really understood this point of view and knew that there was some other way. Larry Greene helped illustrate that there is another way. From what Larry Greene said about his experience in prison, we should be developing more programs like theater in prisons to help people explore what they like to do freely and let them develop into a better person. Additionally, we should give prisoners the option to learn and even develop a trade while in prison. This could allow for more prisoners to be helped by the system, not hurt by it. Yes, not all prisoners will be able to change for the better. However, I think that many of the people who ended up in jail were in unfortunate situations, and in reality, want to become better people. In the long run, this could help reduce overall crime rates and make America into a safer country as well.
The Rights We Should Cherish
The second episode of Chernobyl made me realize how grateful we should be to live in America. Although the ability to speak up and the right to truthful information is taken for granted in America, it was not the same in the Soviet Union. Scientists, knowing the truth about Chernobyl, had to put their lives on the line simply to speak the truth. This seems insane in the world we live in today, but for those scientists, they had to gamble their lives in order to save millions of others. If they did not speak up, the other 3 reactors would have exploded, leaving the majority of Russia and many other European countries contaminated in radiation. Additionally, the film made me realize that no matter where you are in the world, there are always good people. Although the United States commonly painted the Soviet Union as a “villain,” Chernobyl has made me realize that there are good people everywhere in the world. The scientists and many others in the film illustrated this to me.