Today's my first day in school.

The thick modules and the book I'll be studying for the next 12 weeks as we tackle basics about
Caring for Children with Special Needs in UP Online University.

Dear Diary,

I said in my previous post that I'll be updating you with everything that has happened to me for the past three years that you've missed, but I think it's not a good idea. It means a lot of hard work transferring everything from Tumblr to here. I figured there's a link to my Tumblr blog so what's the use? I'm sorry, I'm extremely lazy lately. So, I decided to just blog about what's happening in my life now.

Yes, today's my first day in school! Well, sort of. It's actually in University of the Philippines Online University, and I'm taking up a 12-week course of Caring for the Child with Special Needs. So, my classroom's virtual, and I get to talk and discuss with my adviser, professors, and classmates online only. Innit interesting and fun? I'd get to learn about my course in the comforts of my bedroom! How lovely! It has been a long time, though, since I graduated in college and I sure hope my mind's still working perfectly for academics. Ha-ha!

Earlier, I got the chance to know my adviser through UPOU's MyPortal. Her name's Aya, and she's an Occupational Therapist in New York. Aaahhh! Just what I imagine myself to be a year from now! Of course, it's quite impossible because Occupational Therapy is a four-year course with a licensure exam...but, maybe an OT Assistant would do? Ha-ha. Nah, I want to be a pre-school teacher! I don't know what's gonna happen in the near future yet but here's the introduction I made in our class' forum page.

Good day Teacher Aya and classmates,

I am April Jan Stephanie R. Ragragio, and I'm twenty-two years old. I have a degree in BS Major in Psychology which I finished last April 2010 in Aquinas University of Legazpi. Shortly after graduation, my family went back here in Manila after my Mum's contract with USAID ended. I worked in a BPO company as a Customer Service Consultant for Telstra Wireline, an Australian telecom account. It wasn't really the job I wanted but it was what most of my friends do. You could say I got into peer pressure. I would've wanted to work as an HR staff but I figured its hiring process takes a long time plus the wage isn't as high as the starting salary in a BPO company. After that, I had a year-long stint in a multi-level marketing company called Nu Skin Enterprises. And lately, I've found a more comfortable job which pays quite a good sum and it's as a home-based online English teacher for the Japanese. It allows me to have control over my schedule so I thought why not take an online course like this to broaden my knowledge to a field I'm interested in.

My main motivation in taking this course is actually to gain knowledge about it. I plan to work abroad (maybe in Singapore, Canada, US or UK) to be a pre-school teacher for normal children or children with special needs. I sure hope that my degree in Psychology would be of help. I am aware that this is not a course in SPED or Caregiving but I know it will help me in many ways possible. And if I take a formal course of it afterwards, at least I have an idea about what it is through this course. My aunt who's in Portugal told me her friend took this up, and now works in the USA. Also, I have a cousin who is so dear to me who has a Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He's only 6 years old. He was diagnosed last year when we brought him to NCH because we noticed his legs are slowly getting weaker. He lost his mother when he was only 3 years old so we took care of him ever since. I want to be the best Ate for him when he's starting to feel his illness. So, I really hope to gain as much knowledge as I can from this course.

I expect this class to be very informative with our adviser's guidance and classmates' inputs and opinions as we tackle everything in this course. I am looking forward to be spending the next 12 weeks sharing ideas with all of you.

All the best!

I'm extremely excited to start with our discussion and I hope I do good and have impressive grades!


Love,
Epy