Post 10: English experience

The year is finishing, this class too. So, it is time to evaluate and report the experience. In general, I have a positive and thankful evaluation. This class is the number … I really don’t remember how many times I have been enrolled in an English class, and the majority of times I have finished boring and disengaged. Maybe for the kind of knowledge (a new language), the used didactics, the lack of usefulness-relevance in the daily life or a mix of all, but ever the final taste is not completely sweet. This time has been different. Blog activities have been motivating, simple but effective, and definitely challenging. The continuous writing exercise is a perfect way to improve English skills, vocabulary a final proficiency. I admit that at the beginning I felt uncomfortable writing about certain topics, but as time went by, I recovered an old fascination by the writing. Today I can write faster than three months ago, although the checking of English expressions is a necessity yet. In the other hand, direct classes on Fridays were useful but could be better. Interactions in English are uncommon here in Chile, we don’t have the necessity, so an English class is a perfect instance to practice it. Regarding the video records, it was absolutely new and motivating. I checked the first video three or four times, learning a lot from the mistakes and overcoming it, I hope.

Finally, the experience to share a class again with younger people was an extra and unexpected learning. From the point of view of a teacher, many things are invisible, and in my role of student, I appreciated things in my partners that have helped me to improve my teaching skills.

Thanks all.

Post 9: Bucket List

Well, this is an interesting topic. Everybody has dreams, but just a few can reach them.  Leaving out the external conditions, I think the reason to make or no your dreams is the capacity to plan the future. Time passes quickly; therefore some degree of planning is needed. Personally, I have never written a bucket list, but of course, I have dreams in mind. Fortunately, some of them have become a reality. For example, when I was 18 years old, I dreamt to travel around the south of Chile and I could do it at 22 ages. Someday I want to visit Isla de Pascua and I am sure that it is completely possible. Could be a little expensive, depending on how many people I want to travel with, but I have a real chance. However, other wishes are really unlikely. To the extent that the number of factor increases, the possibilities decrease too. So, simple things are a better start, and less frustrating. Another personal example is my brief life as a musician. When I was 17, I started to play in a rock band with my friends. Our dream was to become a band, not famous, just to play and enjoy. After a couple of years, the band disappeared but the possibility to enjoy playing music not. At this point, I don’t think that individual plans are better than collective ones, but the opposite. Definitely, some dreams are impossible to be real if you act alone.

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Coming back to the list, in the future I want to write a book. This is pending. The rest are thankfully done.

Post 8: changes to my study programm

Hello again: as I have mentioned before, I work in the department of kinesiology at UMCE. So, this time I will analyze the design of our career here in UMCE. Regarding the curriculum I have ever wished to introduce a couple of subjects, in the way to improve the analytical skills of the students. Nowadays, Kinesiology is a applied science based mainly in the observation of patients to get features of their movements. That is a limitation, definitely. In parallel, now as never before, there is a wide range of technology to measures basic movements parameter and with low costs. Technologies are the present and the future of therapeutic intervention in developed countries; therefore, our student must be prepared to change current interventions by introducing new technologies. With respect to the workload, ever is desirable the lower amount of hour per day to get the same academic results. That demands the implementation of actions directed to increase the efficacy in the use of time, as new technics of study, distribution of activities, didactics oriented to improve the learning inside the classroom, etc. To achieve that, communication between professors and students is essential, which doesn’t happen frequently today. Finally, one of the main problems in UMCE, as in many others public universities, is the shortage of money to get new buildings and equipment, at the same time to maintain the existing. In my opinion, this is the core of the public education at the superior level. Any other problem and solution depend on this one, so a national police is necessary in the line. In our hands is the possibility of small but not less important changes, but certainly a new conception of education is necessary, and possible, if we work for that.

Post 7: summer plans

This summer is going to be special, with my wife we are waiting for the birth of our second child. This event is so exciting and challenging as you can imagine, but fortunately, we have some experience. Considering the changes in our life after the birth, we have decided to take some rest in January. Our best option is to visit the house of the parents close to Matanza beach, in a place named Pupuya.

 That zone is agricultural mainly, with beautiful landscapes. Go up to a little hill, walk around a green field or just to take rest in the beach are some of our favorites activities, so we hope to spend a peaceful time there. Also, we eat a lot each time that we visit it, many of our parents meet, and the barbecue is on fire ever, so the familiar party is a guaranteed activity too.  In the nights, frequently we share some drinks, talks and card games, but I don’t know if the quiet environment, the amount of food previously eaten or just the fatigue of a worked year push me to sleep early. As I said before, our summer vacation must start in January, so I have no plans of work or study from the second week ahead. This is unusual, I often take a rest in February for just two weeks, but this time we have to be energized waiting for our second big happiness.

My favorite movie

It is difficult to define a favorite movie. Just as a fast try, four or five movies come into my mind, but maybe because I saw it a few months ago, one of the amazing films in the history is “The Godfather”.  I really enjoy movies based on real events, historical films, but in the case of The Godfather, I was engaged in the complex and fascinating relationships between the family head and the rest. The manage of the power that “The godfather” did to achieve their wishes, characterizes very well as today the things happened in certain levels of power. The traffic of influences is a dangerous problem and difficult to be detected for any organization, especially for the governments. And if we want to know about it, starts seeing “The Godfather” is a good idea. Regarding to the most recent movie that I have seen, it is “The Circle”. That film is starred by Emma Watson, and speaks about the control of the society from a closed-loop based on the technologies available today. Maybe that is the most highlighted feature of the movie, and the work of Emma is not bad, but lost credibility along the story moves forward. So, excluding notably new movies, I prefer to choose a classic one to spend an afternoon Sunday in front of the TV.

Going to the past

If I could, I would like to go to the past and the future, but definitely the future is more interesting. To explore your future life, see what is happening and understand the relation with the present could allow changing something now, and modify the future. This would be an amazing opportunity to get better results in your life and learn about it. Now, changing the past is something that everyone wishes sometime, I think. What would happen now if I had taken other option in a particular moment of the past, or if I had decided anything different? Particularly, I often ask me what would happen if I had chosen other career. Finishing the secondary education, I wished to be physician. I had the opportunity to study medicine in a different university that I had planned, and I decided to follow another career here at the University of Chile. The reasons to choose medicine were the same to follow kinesiology, but definitely my present would be different. Not best or worst, just different, and the curiosity to know the differences motivate me to come back and change that decision. However, I feel fulfilled with all I am living now, especially with my family. Ever you can evaluate the present regarding the decisions taken before, and looking at the consequences in the future. Maybe that could be the way to travel along time, but testing and learning in the present.

Post-graduate study

Continuous formation is highly recommended for any professional. Today there are many alternatives of courses to pursuit after completing your career. In healthy area, there is a growing market of graduate course, with offers of questionable quality. So, I think it is indispensable to consider several factors at the time to choice a course. For example, new treatments to healthy problems need to be tested before to take a formation course about these. In my case, a couple of years ago I choice a master that expanded my labour fields, gave me the opportunity to follow the academic career. Now, if I would have to give a next step, maybe I would take a course about project design, administration or related topics. In the scientific career you depend on getting funding, and to get it, you need to elaborate and manage projects. Many good ideas die at the moment that are put in paper, because to be a good scientist don’t implicate to organise people or budget, define priorities and highlight the strengths of the proposal. With a couple of courses, very specific and well structured, maybe you can improve the ability to transmit your ideas and make these happen. In Chile there is a variety of modalities, from classroom to online courses, during the weekends, in consecutive days or in a regular plan. One limitation could be the cost of these courses, but even free-courses are popular by internet. One example is Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/), where you can follow a complete formation in a theme with four or five short courses. Alternatives are emerging constantly, and today it is easy to complement your theoretical background or expand it to new disciplines. The limit is the time, as in many other dimension in the life.