Learning from mistakes

So as you all know or should all know NOBODY is perfect. Well I am not I know that for a fact. My friend has just helped me realize that I forgot to tell you about unit 2. Sorry I forgot about unit 2. Anyways unit 2 was about language and identity. I learned how to say some of the body parts in Samoan. It was interesting to know how much alike the Hawaiian and Samoan language is. I am Hawaiian if you guys didn't know, so it was easy to see the connection between the languages. my project was on a body part that I felt represented my personality. I choose fatu which is heart in Samoan. I made a poster on everything and everyone that means something to me. I put pictures of my family, friends, and how I picture my future to be. I added words to show my pride for my culture. It was an interesting unit because I had to think about everything and everyone that means something to me and put it on one poster to represent a body part of mines. It was a difficult one for me because I never did think of my feelings or emotions I usually hold it in or put my feelings towards the back of my head. Doing this project made me think about my emotions, which I don't do anymore. This project didn't really change anything I still hold everything in, but I going to try change that.

Coming to an end

So the first half of  the school year is coming to an end. Which also means that my time in Samoan class is coming to an end. I hope to still keep in touch with everyone from my class, and they will do the same for me. I will still try and learn more about the Samoan culture and language. I joined Island Harmony which is advised by my teachers in Samoan class, and a few other teachers from my school. I am also going to join We are Samoa, which is a performance and much more for participating high schools of teaching the Samoan culture, language, etc.
So I finished unit 5, which was on college and career awareness. It was an interesting unit. I learned potential colleges I might be interested in. I also learned about careers for me in the future. Samoan class finished unit 5 by making a pamphlet. Our pamphlet was about what you should complete by the time you finish a certain grade, and what we have done so far. Since everyone in this class is a high school-er the pamphlet was on things to complete to get one step closer to your dream future whether it be your dream college or your dream career. The pamphlet also contained things about what we plan to do after high school. We sited our resources that we got our information from. We all named our pamphlet as well. Mines was named "THE END, dah dah ddaaahhhh".
Samoan class has just entered unit 6. This unit is on fa'afiafiaga other known as Samoan dance and performance. We started this unit with a debate. I love debates, because it gives me a chance to take a stance on something, and then present my reasoning for it. This particular debate was on traditional and modern dancing. I was on the traditional side. We didn't really get to choose a stance on this debate we were just separated in half.  I have nothing against modern dancing, and most times I would rather dance modern dancing instead of traditional but I had to debate against modern dancing in this round. I was always taught that with debates you are to never get yourself  emotionally involved with your stance, but in this particular debate I couldn't help it. So the part of my class that was arguing modern dance had good point, but to me it was almost saying the same thing each time a new person was presenting their claim. Most of their claims were on the fact that modern dancing is fun, isn't strict, and you could just "get loose" as they put it. I agreed with this completely, but I explained to the half on my class that was arguing against me that traditional dancing is that way because it tells a story. I also explained how everything you do is a reflection on your family, and modern dancing for example "twerking" is a bad reflection on you and your family. I admit that I myself twerk every so often, but what else could I use as a counterclaim. To that claim I knew that I was being a hypocrite, and I hate hypocrites so I was disgusted with myself. That didn't really kick in during the debate though all I could think about was pretty much winning this debate. My side won 1st round, no one won 2nd round, and modern won 3rd round so we were pretty much tied which was okay with me. I really hoped to win though, and it kinda bugged me that we didn't but I realized there is always next time.With that we are starting unit 6.

Another day in Samoan Class

So it was another day in Samoan Class. Many expectations and many things to do. I've been through 4 units in Samoan Class, and it's going on 5.
For unit 3 the main focus was family history (genealogy and relationships). I learned how to summarize my genealogy and relationships into the Samoan language. It was a challenging unit for me, but I still got through it. I realized from that unit on that there will be a lot more challenging assignments that I will have to complete from this moment on.
Unit 4 was on community values and social issues. Samoan class studied the news from Samoa. Some of it was very interesting, some was sad, and other parts of the Samoan news was informational. It was exactly like every other  news channels or papers only it was in Samoan. Samoan class also had to complete 5 hours of community service (outside of home responsibilities). We  had to create a mural as well and it had to have a meaningful message behind it. Mines was One heart.
At this moment I am in unit 5 of Samoan class, and my time in Samoan class is starting to come to an end. Unit 5 is on education and college awareness. We have done many things for this unit since we are in high school and this is things we need to think about., Samoan class has looked up many different colleges we may be interested in. Some were close to home and others... not so much. As a freshmen it is an advantage to start thinking about this now if not earlier. There are many great colleges to choose from, but I can only go to one of them so I better start thinking about it now so that I'm not so confused to the point were I don't go to a college at all.

Expectations for Samoan Class

Samoan Class has many expectations. I don't really mind the expectations because it is what should be expected of us in Samoan Class. My teachers is good at meeting us half- way or as I see it going beyond as a teacher. They tries their hardest to help us out in anyway they can with school and other issues. I don't only have one teacher to support me in Samoan Class which might be why they can pull of all of these miracles. Like the time they planned a whole performance in a week.
Honestly I don't really feel comfortable in Samoan Class, but I'm getting use to it. I've known some of the kids in Samoan Class for a really long time, and knowing them and my teachers comfort me a little bit. I'm happy to meet new people though so it's not like I dread going to class.
The first unit I went into for Samoan Class was the history of Samoa and it's language. That first unit helped me realize what I was going to learn about throughout this first semester. It was interesting to actually learn the history of Samoa since I use to cruise with Samoans and everyone who knew my face would always assume or ask me if  I'm Samoan. The other interesting part about the Samoan Class is that I was going to be able to learn the Samoan language as well.I was really excited to get started in Samoan Class, and now I'm almost finish with the semester and I'm kinda sad.

Blogging

Started a blogger for Samoan class. Starting to get the hang of it (not really). I hope I get to use this more often, but no promises.