No longer strangers

On Friday, my English class had a mini retreat at school. Baby steps in getting to form this newfound "family". It went from 9-12, and it was just the perfect amount of time to get to know people. 

I arrived around 10 because I still had class, and I was surprised to see some familiar faces. It was also exciting--I'm glad that they got the opportunity to partake in this. So although I missed the first hour, I was just in time for the remainder of an activity we were doing. It involved four corners, each with one poster either titled: Faith/ Religion, Ethnicity/ Race, Gender/ Sexuality, or Class/ Socio-economic. Our professor, Mr. Aronson, asked different types of questions in which we had to go to a corner where we felt our answer correlated with. It was interesting; getting to know some people under the surface. But what really helped us understand that there's more than meets the eye, was the fishbowl activity.

"What does she mean when she speaks of fishbowls?", you ask? Well, let me tell you. Our class formed two circles, one within another (as pictured on the left). When Mr. Aronson would ask a question, either the outsider/insider would have to speak whilst the other one had to listen without saying one word. Then after each question, either the outsider/insider would have to rotate to the left/right so we'd get a chance to speak to everyone. I enjoyed this! I got to know people on different levels. Although we may all me different, we still have commonalities. 

Chapter Two

Hello! Kumusta! Hola! Aloha! Bonjour! You get the idea--welcome to my Bayan blog. :) For those of you who don't know me, haven't gotten to know me, forgot my name, or aren't paying attention to my "About Me" on the lefthand side.. My name is Jennica Sarmiento! I'm normally the baby of my classes since I'm 18, as of late, in October. If you couldn't already tell, I am a very enthusiastic person. I would like to inform you ahead of time that I may be extremely energetic, thus leading me to go off on tangents, so don't be alarmed. To further back this up, look at those beautiful pictures of me. Yeah, the funny faces I make reflect my funny personality.. :)

First and foremost, my reason for joining this class (other than the fact that Mr. Aronson basically begged/forced me to be in his class), was that I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I had him last semester for English 114, and as a first year student, being in college started off in a positive way. Not only did Mr. Aronson instill knowledge, inspire, and motivate me; but I felt at ease being able to go to class with people whom I felt comfortable with on a whole new level. (Of course meeting every single day due to a linked Personal Development class was a major factor to this, but regardless, I knew I was surrounded by an amazing group of individuals.) So I wanted to be able to feel this bondage again, to be able to have another "second family". It's a great feeling, and I want all of you to experience this.

Now I will give my reasoning as to why I decided to title my blog, "Chapter Two: Into My Head". Well, my first blog: jennicasarmiento.blogspot.com, (click the link!) was titled "Uncaged Thoughts..." Basically, there was really no limit on what I had to say. I was able to express myself and, of course, my thoughts for all of my peers. As for this blog, it's the same concept--being able to delve into topics, but in an even deeper, and more meaningful way to a new audience.

Thank you all for your time! FEEL FREE TO FEED THE FISHES BY CLICKING ANYWHERE IN THAT AQUATIC AREA. :)