Tag: Motivation

SEAS THE DAY! Island Hopping in Kota Kinabalu – Day 16

Kristi J MensenIn-Country Sharing

Tell me, what do you think of when you imagine the perfect island? Turquoise see-through water, diversity of marine life, and snorkeling? Oh yeah, ice-cream and kayaking? If these things are on your ideal island hopping day, you just might enjoy Kota Kinabalu because I know I did.

The capital city Kota Kinabalu known as KK is located in Sabah, Malaysia. The modern city of KK is one of the biggest cities of Malaysia with a population of 600,000 people, which includes 32 different indigenous ethnic groups. This is Malaysia’s most diverse state.

The variety of activities to do on this island is never-ending. After an educational morning at SMK Taman Tun Fuad School, we had the afternoon free. Having the opportunity to challenge myself with unlimited activities to do, we chose to go island hopping. Looking forward to the boat tour we also came across an exertion of parasailing.

Ironic how Agriculture Education is centered around the youth, everywhere in the world. As a Fulbright Scholar, I have the opportunity to teach in Malaysia; nevertheless, I have learned that the young students are also teaching me more about compassion, motivation, and patience. This relates back to the moment I got on the boat to go parasailing: the minute I got nervous, the second I thought I cannot do this.

The youth gave me hope. A little girl about 6 years old was on the boat. I thought to myself: if a fearless young girl can parasail, I can too! Mind you, I was on a boat with people who spoke three different languages, still, a smile is universal. The adorable girl instilled confidence within myself with no words.

Shortly I was up, up, and away gliding through the peaceful breeze wearing an open parachute while being lugged by a boat. The time in the air was so relaxing, and capturing a selfie or two with @tessa_c_meyer was priceless.

After our journey through the sky, being dipped into the South China Sea, back up in the sky, and completed landing, we finished our day on the islands of Manukan and Mamutiks. We experienced the rest of the day on the beautiful islands below water. I snorkeled in turquoise waters, discovered marine ecosystems, and enjoyed time on the amazing white sandy beach.

 

Ms. Kristi Mensen (@kristi_mensen) is a
pre-service agriscience educator candidate
at Iowa State University (@AgEds_IaStateU)
who graduated from
Hawkeye Community College
(@GALC_Hawkeye, @HawkeyeCollege)!

 

Setting Context: Why a Blog for #AgEd2Malaysia?

Melanie Miller FosterPreTrip Observations

Thank you for checking out some of our thoughts/feelings and reflections as learning adventurers who are constructing a framework to increase our capacity as positive change agents by stretching our global learning! I encourage you to “subscribe” to receive emails when cool things are posted! Don’t forget to see the in-time conversation occurring on Twitter at the hashtag #AgEd2Malaysia.

As you know, our #AgEd2Malaysia experience has 12 bold learners. Six are pre-service teacher candidates from Iowa and Pennsylvania) and six are current secondary agricultural sciences teachers from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin! Each participant was provided a “grand challenge” of that involved sitting S.M.A.R.T. goals to accomplish in three phases: pre-departure, in-country, and post-travel. As they created their individual learning plans, they also went through an external review process where a team of four individuals read, reviewed, and provided feedback on their learning plans. The review teams included:

  • a student teacher from a different state,
  • an agriscience teacher from a different state,
  • a local school administrator and
  • a member of the project team (Ie Melanie, Daniel and/or Brad).

Participants will use this space to share thoughts/ideas/inspirations they have as they complete their personal learning journey! I think you are really going to like it. The video below talks through some of the inspiration behind this particular transformational learning instruction design.

Check back soon to see the thoughts and perspectives of the #AgEd2Malaysia participants!