Julio Urbina History 1 Instructor: Kim Geary Due Date May 14, 2012 My Immigrating Experience! My father is from Nicaragua and he moved to Cuba to study medicine with a military scholarship due to a purple heart (a medal when the soldier gets injured while rescuing other comrades) because of the civil war that was going on back then. On the other hand, my mother had always dorm in school due to a lot of scholarships she used to get based on her high grades. Eventually my parents met in Cuba and decided to leave their fiancés at the time because it was love at first sight; they got married, and moved to Nicaragua after their studies. I was born in a humble, independent, and loving environment. Although I grew up in a family oriented environment, they also taught me individualism, and to express myself creatively. Few years later I started school in a Catholic school name “Colegio Centro America”. Unlike the United States, Nicaraguans (name of people living in Nicaragua) have to pay for every year of school. I was fortunate enough to have parents who had enough wealth to send their kids to school. This school was really tough. I had 9 classes a week and I was in the soccer and Muay Thai team, for I had little time to do other stuff that weren’t related with school. My family decided to move back to Cuba when crime began to be a concern since a lot of people kept getting rob and no long could go out at night safely. Going to Cuba was a big adventure for me since it turned my world upside down. I had to leave everything and everyone I knew in Nicaragua. I was no longer living only with my nuclear family, but also my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Usually the grandparents took me with my cousins to school and enrolled us in after school activities. The Cuban culture is different from Nicaraguan culture since its government its base on communism and mediocrity. Meritocracy is a system that recognizes the individual based on pure self-achievements, and communism is a government system in which it supposed to treat all the civilians as equal with the minimum discrimination. The community had a more supportive attitude when it came to help group of people, unlike the Nicaraguan who lost the attitude to help others and protect each other. I remember a little girl who hold my hand during first grade and lead me to my class because I did not know where my class was at. We became close friends with her, and later on I found out she was my neighbor. Her family introduced me to animal farm, how to take care of pets, and love animals. They gave me a chicken and I named it Chachi. After that first pet, all my female pets were called Chachis. Unfortunately time had come for me to move once more back to Nicaragua because my parents finished their higher education and got high paying jobs in Nicaragua. I was depressed since I had to leave the home and friends I made over time again. My parents tried to cheer me up by reminding me of the childhood friends I made. A week after I arrive I was completely fine with the new change once more. I found out a different environment from the one I was born into because of new political policies and social structures. That week met my first best friend john who was a popular kid knows in the new school I went Juan Pablo Segundo. All Nicaraguan school required the students to wear uniform to create character and discipline; furthermore, the jobs are usually like the military. The worker would follow orders. Also there are other school in which teach their students how to be creative and become leaders, but most of this school if not all are private schools. In Juan Pablo Segundo school I was known for my academics achievements and skills in the sport teams; never the less, people knew me most for getting excellent grades in all my classes but English because I refused to learn it and found that class useless since I thought I would be staying in a Spanish speaking country. Few years passed and I was ready for high school, but my family got the last request from the United States embassy of moving there and becoming their citizens. So my dad accepted it because he wanted a better future for us because things were getting harder in Nicaragua. Jobs wages decreased, crimes became more common and the violence more crude and an expensive schooling was the only way to only give someone a rare opportunity to escape poverty. Once more we move to another country leaving everything behind. Of course it’s tough to restart again and again, but if there is room for improvement and happiness then my family will always go with that option. We had family members who moved to California 20 to 40 years ago and they help us out. My uncle offers his house for us to live in for a while until we found a place to stay. Although we had a supportive family, my parents do not like to be dependent of anyone so they found jobs as soon as possible to rent and apartment. Stability came within 5 month of living in the United States due to the experience we had of starting over. The only barrier stopping us from moving forward faster was a new language. I had a tough time in high school because of my bad decision of not learning English back in Nicaragua. I struggled to pass my classes with C and B and put a lot of time finishing my homework and projects compared with any other teen. However, the challenge of preforming as good as I did before was there and pushed me to learn English within two years. I learned to speak, read, and write on a high school level on two years. This was a personal accomplishment since I went from been an A student on my first speaking language country, to a C or B student. I did not only have to adapt to a different school system, but to the culture of this new radical country and its pop culture. For example back in the other countries television was more political and educational, unlike the American shows as Jersey Shore where unacceptable public behavior is embraced and glorified. Peers and social groups are different too because here people focus too much on themselves and forget about the community. People will exclude others from activities and avoid helping because of social class. Only the rich and upper middle class are accepted. Everyone else is look down on and blamed for every problem the society goes through. The irony is that the rich and upper middle class are only a few compared with the rest of the population. I had made friends from different social classes and become involved in my community, for giving me experience on what is expected from me in this society. I began my college education after the recession. It affected the choices and opportunities of where to go for my higher education. I am in a community college because of the low paying classes compared with any UC or SCU in California. I am thankful that I had such a wonderful life and been able to learn from three different cultures, and the luck of progressing on my education to achieve my goals. If I had to help any immigrant with a suggestion it will be; learn to network with a vast amount of people to have more resources.

Julio Urbina 5/13/12 W 3:00-6:10pm Music 13 Instructor: Dustin Barr Jazz band concert! This Jazz concert was the first type of concert I have attended in my whole live and it was not what I was expecting it to be. Although I thought there were going to be a few musician playing different instruments, I was wrong since there were at least 20 people playing similar or completely different instruments. I was surprise by the amount of musician playing different instruments. If I’m not mistaken there were saxophones, trombones, trumpets, a bass, guitar, piano, drum set, and the conductor. The conductor Jeff Elwood is the director of instrumental Jazz Studies at Mt. San Antonio College and Jazz Saxophone professor at CSU Fullerton. He has a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree from Cal State Fullerton. He is an expert on his material with an excellent background and has great skills with the Saxophone. The band was composed of students and faculties members who appeared to won at the musical fair at Mt. San Antonio College. The genre of music varies from classical to jazz, soloist and ensembles, and vocal and instrumental. I was not expecting a conductor for a Jazz concert. The other peers I attended the concert comment to me that Jazz concert do not require having a conductor. I argue that yes the conductor might not be necessary based on their comments, but by having a conductor it creates more order, gives it a more professional appearance, and it forces the orchestra to play in a higher standard. I entered this music class with no previous background on music; even though most people tell me this class is simple and an easy A I think the opposite. English is my second language, and I had never learned music terminology or had a music teacher before in myself. The peers that attended the Jazz concert were surprised to find this about me since I can free style on the ukulele and bass. My respond was that you do not need to know the correct term, as long as you know the meaning behind it. This is my life struggle with music. Since I began to learn different terms, historical personas that were responsible for our modern music, how music has developed, and much more. Sincerely, I still struggle finding things I had learned in class in the music I listen to because I simply do not have the skill that are required, but I do have the ear to pick up different instruments and notes on the background. I thought it was interesting how I was able to tell the how the songs mood was going to develop thanks to me learning about Sonata Form in class. They started with a soft bass on the intro, but immediately moved to the exposition which describe both of the moods A and B. The musicians did followed the Sonata Form, but with some differences in it. One of the changes was that in the exposition the repetition of the theme had different notes; however, I was able to tell it was the same theme. The development was very simple; it was a conversation between the drums, bass, and pion, with the saxophones, trombones, and trumpets. After this Jazz concert I’m excited to go to my next concert at Mt.Sac because I’ll experience a complete different music still. I do not know what to expect and it certainly will be fun to watch.

CHILD 1

Julio Urbina

CHLD 1

 MW 4-6:50PM

Article #1

Are Any Lies Good For Children?

SUMMARY

            The article Lies We Tell Our Children by Rhiana Maldenberg is about a wife who is a mom that tells her children white lies. White lies are known to society as innocent lies to protect or avoid the truth for two reasons. The first reason is to protect the individual in most cases kids from information they are not ready to know, and the second reason is the person wants to avoid searching the truth because it makes him or her uncomfortable. She believes lying to her kids is for their own benefit, and bending the truth is not lying. Although that is what lying is.

            Rhiana has six main reasons for lying to her kids; which are, to save time, because she does not know the answer for something, she believes it is easier than telling the truth, to be nice, to keep the innocence of her children, and to protect herself. Rhiana knows lying to her children is wrong and does it anyways for her own convenience, but she does not advocate dishonest parenting.

REACTION

            I strongly disagree with Rhiana because children learn habits from their family. If she keeps lying to them, then her children will think is okay to lie. This is an unacceptable behavior will get her kids in trouble at school and the future. Kids should always know the truth, only in a different way determined by their ages. The older the child, the more capable he or she is able to control the emotions after a big news. For example; good parents would tell a five year old his or her grandmother went to heaven and she is having a good time, and a ten year old that his or her grandmother passed away and she is no longer with them.

            Coming for a family with strong values; such as, following the rules will help you stay away from trouble, love is the main ingredient for a person’s happiness, there is no reason to be dishonest, and family should always be there to help you through tough times, has helped me build solid characters, preparing me for adulthood. As a young adult, I know lies are dishonest and will only benefit me at the moment but not long term. I know this thank to my parents and their honesty.  

ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM

            The ecological system the article Lies We Tell Our Children falls in according to, Child, Family, School, Community, by Roberta Berns is microsystem in the setting of a family. Microsystem means the activities and relationships with significant others experienced by developing person in a particular small setting such as family, school peer group, or community. The family is the primary socializer of the child on that is has the most significant impact on the child’s development.

            Kids will pick up parents behaviors and repeat them outside the house. Rhiana’s lesson as a mom to her kids is lies are good when they get you out of something you do not want to deal with. This could create a negative chain reaction for her kids; for example, her daughter goes to school and lies to the teacher that she didn’t do her homework because her mom was abusive. Obviously this will get the mother in huge problems with the school and police officers, but the daughter did it because she learned it from her mother. The purpose to be a good role model which Rhiana is not, is so kids would grow up to be honest people who have good morals and ready to help others.

FAMILY

            My opinion in the short term is her mom will solve things at the moment but not in the long run. It is true Rhiana is would avoid a question her kids would ask her with a “white lie”. She thinks by holding back and keeping her kids from important information will keep them innocent and pure. I am not going against the idea that any parent would not want to keep their kids pure and innocent, but I’m going against the idea of lies because it would not prepare the child to go out to the real world.

            After a long time of this habit of white lies, the kids will start to lie to their parents. This is dangerous because if they lie and get in trouble or injure themselves, their parents won’t be able to help them because they would not know where their children are. All this will be because the mom did not trust her kids would be mature enough to handle information. Rhiana should never lie to her kids, instead tell them a little of the true depending on their age. For example, if a little girl asks her mom where do kids come from, the mother should answer “kids come from when grownups love each other and decide to have love to make a kid.”, but if a teenager would ask the same question, the mother could answer “babies come from two responsible adults who decide to have intercourse, so they could start a family.” 

PART I: Two-Hour Presentation

(1) Two-Hour Presentation Student Assessment

I'd give myself a solid P because I met the requirements, I knew my topic, I could go hours talking about it, but most important talking useful information, and I engage with my peers during my 2 hours which which they'd liked. My peers said I did great and that I should get a P+, I personally think a P would be okay but I would be happy with an AE because I did my best and I applied everything I've learn throughout my senior project

(2) What are you most proud of in your 2 hour presentation and why?

The thing I am most proud of is meeting my 30minutes requirement, teaching something I have a passion for with others and see the look on their face liking my presentation. I felt cool explaining something most people do not know about. I also got and invitation from Elva to become  a fighter.. but is not in my plans... (that means I have the potential :)

PART II: Overall Senior Project Experience

(3) What do you think you did well on in the project? What could you have done better? Please explain.

I think I did okay with my senior project. It was just kinda hard getting started because I did a topic in which I had no knowledge of and it was kinda challenging. It was hard to find research because I didn't know what to look for, it would've been easier for me if I knew the Muay Thai terms at the begining. Also, networking since gyms, managers, and instructors aren't friendly if you are not serious about the sport which was really hard to prove to them.

 

(4) What is your EQ and what is the best answer to your EQ?

EQ: What is the best way to become a Muay Thai fighter?

My best answer is training because without training , the fighter can't learn technique, counters, straights, gain endurance and more things. Training has everything what a Muay Thai fighter needs and the equipment which is really hard to acquire. Also, networking because during training the instructor and manager help you network and get better at the sport. 

 

(5) How has the last month of culminating events (e.g I-Search, Two-Hour, Exit etc) affected your answer to your EQ? Has it changed? Why or why not?

The last month of culminating was really fun to do, I got to see my product and what the senior project was all about. The last month helped me put all the information that I found together into an essay, presentation, exit ect. That's how it affected my E.Q. It helped me organized and verify I was answering my E.Q. and not and other question. The E.W. didn't change because I was on track answering the question I made.

(6) What suggestions do you have in order to improve the senior project?

I know I did a good job with my senior project! :D but... the only thing it bugged my was during model Assembly... you guys expected us to do aleks and regular hw when we had bigger assignments to complete. In my opinion it was okay.. it was kinda challenging, but I stopped doing aleks because I rather get a good grade on my components which are bigger grades than aleks.. just saying!

(7) Overall Senior Project Assessment

I think I deserve an P+ because I meet all the requirements, did a project in which I had no knowledge on, and got punched, elbowed, kneed, kicked, and any kind of hit on my face and body.. and if that's not trying on my face g.. well idk what is. But I deserve atleast a P

Service Learning

Service Learning Dates

L: I've went 57 in total. Each Monday for one hour I helped teach during the Muay Thai club by watching the students train and correcting their mistakes. Every Tuesday and Thursday for hour and a half I train Ryan to lose weight with Muay Thai exercises. He lost a total of 25lb during this semester.

Contact: Mr. Pang.

I: I learned how to teach in two different ways which is one of me answers for my E.Q. First, with an instructor supervising what I taught the student and make sure I was teaching him proper ways to fight and second, I trained Ryan Muay Thai exercises which are meant to increase endurance and use it to help him lose weight.

A: This helped me answer my E.Q. I got to experience how teaching Muay Thai was like with a supervisor on my back and I use exercises I have learned in my Muay Thai class to help Ryan lose weight.

2 hours draft (questions)

(1) What is your sponge activity?

The class will jog on a talking pass or do a simple warm up, and then I could go around, talk to them, and find out their knowledge related to my topic. Everyone must be wearing shorts, t-shirts, and shoes.

(2) What do you plan to do and say in the introduction?*

I’ll introduce myself, and then E.Q. with the explanation of what is means. (Hello everyone, my name is Julio. My senior project is on how to become a Muay Thai fighter. My E.Q. is “What is the best way to become a Muay Thai Fighter? Muay Thai is a legendary martial art, a fighter is someone who is humble, dedicated to the sport, and has great combats skills against others opponents), and then I’ll explain the plan for the day.

(3) What do you plan to say in your foundation?

 I’ll explain the foundation of Muay Thai (history), how a martial art changes over thousands of years of evolution. Also, the reason why this famous Martial Art was invented and how it affected Thailand’s culture.

(4) What will your 2 or 3 answers be for your 2 hour?

My second answer is “Having a good teacher” and the third answer is “Endurance.”

(5) What activities will you do for each answer and why?

First activity for the first answer; the class will do some endurance exercises while I explain them the function of each exercise.

Reason; A good fighter always has to have endurance in order to last the whole fight (unless he gets knock out). If the fighter cannot last for the whole match, his/ reputation decreases, no one will want to fight him, and will never become the best fighter

Second activity for the second answer (BEST); I will make the class preform moves that will be taught in class, the class will be divided in groups of threes; I’ll go around making sure they are doing what I tell them to do, and not getting hurt.

Reason; I’m doing this activity is to show that is key to train in order to become the best Muay Thai fighter. The fighter would have to go to training (class) in order to learn.

Third activity for the third answer; There are going to be groups, each group will pick the best person to become the instructor, and he or she is responsible of correcting their mistakes and teach them new moves.

Reason; Professionals fighters always go to class to correct their mistakes and the only way to achieve that is by having an excellent instructor.

(6) How do you plan to conclude your 2 hour?*

For the conclusion I’m going to explain my best answer and the product.

Best answer; I know that the best answer to a Muay Thai Fighter is training because everyone, no matter for how long they’ve been training for always tell me the best thing to do to become the best, is to go to training (class). Fighters always learn new styles of fighting, they condition their body for different punishments, and without training there is no learning.

Product; Throughout this school year I’ve met so many people who share the same passion for Muay Thai or more. I’ve gain confident, I can do new things physically, but most important, it taught me to be humble. Being humble is a huge advantage against others who don’t practice Muay Thai. Being humble makes me be careful and never underestimate my opponent, no matter how they act or look like.

(7) How do you plan to decorate the room?

·         I want to make a huge poster with my E.Q.

·         Bring music to do the activities with, but I’ve to make sure is on a low volume so people will not get distracted.

·         I’ll place pads all over the gym or class room to make it feel more like a training class.

(8) What supplies/resources will you need to make your 2 hour possible? 

I will need a total of 20 pads. 10 kicking pads and 10 punching pads.

independent taskt #2

Literal: What have I completed this semester?

a) “I, Julio Urbina, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

b) Hello, I'm affirming that I completed my 30+ for my second semester. For the second semester I did much more than last semester: I ran 5 kilometers every Saturday, sometimes people would join me, I train in the garage hitting my punching bag, I started watching fighting, I kept going to my Muay Thai class, and I trained four people, Rene Urbina, Gaby Murphy, and a junior.

Interpretive: What I got out of my independent task and prove of how my work is 30+hours.

 

Running: This semester my running time for the 5 kilometers when up from 25minutes to 30minutes because I'm running up hill. This is a lot of time as a runner, but I decided to run up hill because it will create more endurance for my Muay Thai fights (fight for longer times) and also giving me a greater challenge (is harder to run up hill than on a flat surface). It usually takes 20minutes to get to the hill walking. When people join me at running I do a better time (24minutes) because I have motivation to do better and not look like a poser (someone who pretends to be something he is not).

Punching bag: When I train with my punching bag I have to use hand wraps to not cut my knuckles. I train for 2 hours when I use my punching bag because I want to increase and force of my hits. If I want to increase the speed of my punches I have to do repetitions of 100 punches 3 times under the time limit, which is less than 15minutes. I have to try to incorporate all the punches and elbows I can do, like the followings;

 

·  Jab

·  Straight Punch

·  Swing

·  Uppercut

·  Hook

·  Striking Elbow

·  Perpendicular Elbow

·  Levering Elbow

·  Diagonal Elbow

·  Chopping Elbow

·  Smash Downward Elbow

·  Double Elbows

·  Reverse Elbow

  To increase the speed of kicks I try to improve my technique by shadow boxing (shadow boxing is when you pretend your opponent is in front of you and you try to hit them and block hits) or due a lot of repetition on the punching bag. Some kicks are:

 

·  Straight knee

·  Jumping knee

·  Small knee

·  Rabbit knee

·  Farewell knee

·  Lower knee

·  Flying knee

 

·  Side Kick or Round Kick

·  Diagonal Kick

·  Hook kick or Down round kick

·  Kick to the outside of the knee joint

·  Kick to the inside of the knee joint

These are some of the many hits a Muay Thai fighter has to practice and each hit could take between a months to a year to master.

 

Watching fights: I decided to start watching fights because if I did spend my time wisely, I should be able to identify mistakes and the poor quality of technique which a fighter could have. I go watch fights at different gyms and one of the professionals asked me to be one of the judges for kids tournaments because I was writing on a paper mistakes that the fighters were making and rating their technique with specific statements, an example could be: Steven didn't keep his hands up, leaving an open spot for any possible cross or upper-cut to enter. This means my eyes have gotten better due to the amount of time I dedicated to watch fights, because I can catch fighters’ mistakes and be able to correct them, something an instructor would do or if I would be a fighter, a weak length that I could attack.

 

Muay Thai class: I decided to continue going to the class because I have professionals who correct my mistakes, I enjoy going three times a week to class for one hour each day, and my mentor is also there. 

 

Diploma & Belt

This diploma and belts lets me teach other people up to that level. The yellow belt usually takes six months to get. Each belt takes three months to acquire.

Training people: I got the best experience out of teaching people what I know and have a passion for.

Rene Urbina: Rene Urbina is my dad and he went through the same experience as Ryan but he didn't lose any, because he gains it on muscle weight.

       Rene's Training

     The left picture shows the placement of the hands in Muay Thai and the right picture shows one of the ways to block a low kick.

Gaby Murphy: She has been training with me for three weeks now. What I'm teaching her is how to fight since she has no knowledge how to, she is a fast learner, and is not scare of getting hurt. Thank to this training she feels confident about her.

                                                   Gaby's training

Junior student: He is the most advance from all my "students" since he started training last semester. He has learned various moves and is able to do some combos.

Applied: How did it help answering my EQ? 

     The activities I did help me find, expand, and experience my three answers.
1) Running and practicing my techniques on a punching bag help me experience and find a good way to increase endurance which is one of my answers for my EQ
2) Watching fights helps me to learn to catch fighters mistakes and correct them. Such mistakes may cause a fighter the fight and he will not become the best fight as possible. This proves that my second answer, having a good instructor is necessary because they do not only teach you knew strikes but they are responsible to correct the fighters’ mistakes. This has also helped me train my "students." Students have a different type of training since they do not want to become fighters, so I have to ask them what they want me to help them with.
3) My Muay Thai class helps me with my personal training. Since without training I cannot learn how to defend and attack with Muay Thai, it became my most important answer. During training you learn everything; discipline, new moves, how to block, respect, to be humble, how it may benefit you as the student or fighter in your everyday life, etc. But to really know all this the best way to find an answer is to go to class and experience it.