May 2023
Not too long ago, I was getting ready to have a shower when I heard two people arguing and one of them crying. When I looked through the window, I saw a couple in our driveway, and I immediately ran to try to help the girl. The time to make this decision was very short and I chose to get there and face whatever was going on. I am glad I made that decision because the couple stopped arguing and fighting, and they decided to move on without much fuss. The only regret was not having my phone with me at that time, so I couldn’t call the police. If it was 2 or maybe 3 years ago, I would have chosen to do nothing, and not doing anything in a situation like this is being complicit.
As a Brazilian, we tend to care about others, to give emotional support and talk, especially when you live in smaller cities. When I moved abroad (London, then Auckland), it felt like I didn’t have to care about others because they were not “my people”. So, I was drifting away from my “core self” and being further and further from others. Then I had the opportunity to visit my home country in early 2023, and I could get that sense of belonging again, which made me feel like I can make NZ my country too, and I can help my community and people around me.
One of my strengths is that I love helping others, and it comes from my previous job as an English teacher (for international students). Being part of the Discord chat channels is a safe way I can help others by sharing links and solutions and this gives me a lot of motivation. Also, I think helping others comes together with working in teams, and I believe I am a solid team worker.
Jun 2023
Once I was working at a car wash and there were a few new recruits, and I was one of the most experienced employees at that time. Also, being a teacher, I took that opportunity to teach them how the cleaning process worked. At the end of the day, one of the new recruits was helping with packing up and I was trying to explain where the clean towels were supposed to go and where the used ones were supposed to go. Guess what? He put everything in the same basket and started yelling at me saying I was treating him like a child. Others were much more approachable during the day, and I successfully taught 2 new recruits how to do everything on their own by showing and explaining why to do this way and not the other way. I guess using the “teach by showing” approach is very valuable in some circumstances, and I think it’s going to be very useful for this course. If I’m to teach someone to code, or if I were to work as a developer (in the near future), I would use this technique because it gives something to visualize (and I am a visual learner), and sets a goal, so the person will know what outcome to expect by doing this or that.