The Day God Came Back To Teach

 Happy New Year everyone!

This year promises to be a year of confrontations for me. The first confrontation is my confrontation with God. I wanted to talk to him directly so that I know for sure what he wants me to do. And he wants me to teach.

I wanted to leave my course Bachelor in Education Studies at the UP Open University because I thought that it doesn't have what I need to become successful. But then I realized that I have to teach because that's what God wants. It's also something I have a natural gift for. So I will return to my course BES when I've managed to organize my income and savings the right way.

I also have some other learnings that I have to pay attention to. But I don't want to discuss those right now because I'm not so sure I know what to do about those. Whatever happens, I want to be organized first. So that is my first major goal.

There are other problems that I have to confront as well but I don't want to discuss those in this forum yet. Maybe in time I will.

So I'll keep mostly blogging and posting here and on Facebook. I want to reach out to as many people as I can this year. And it all starts today.

Resume of Eleanore O. Hatta

RESUME

ELEANORE OCAMPO HATTA

Address: #2 Saint James Street, Lopez Village, Bgy. San Isidro, Sucat, Paranaque, Metro Manila

Landline: 88259702

Cellphone: 09151664816

Email address: eohatta@gmail.com

Summary of Expertise:

Research Writer, Researcher and Editor for Online Content/Content Writing

English tutor for Filipino adult learners

Partner/Administrative Officer of Bungaraya Linkage Products and Services Ltd. Co. (an Agro-Forestry Services partnership company owned by the Hatta family)

Sole Proprietor of Quill Writing and Translation Services

Sole Proprietor of Basil Boy PH (a dropshipping company for marketing plants and gardening supplies)

Financial Advisor for life insurance and health insurance sales of AXA Philippines


EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

· Associate in Arts (Graduated May 2013) at University of the Philippines Open University, Diliman campus of University of the Philippines system, Quezon City, Philippines

· Senior year of Bachelor in Arts in Organizational Communication, at University of the Philippines Manila campus, Padre Faura, Ermita, Metro Manila, Philippines

· Secondary Education, (Graduated 1990) at University of the Philippines Integrated School, Katipunan Road, Quezon City, Philippines

· Medical Transcription (6-month program) at Phoenix One Learning Institute, Alabang-Zapote Road, Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines

SKILLS OFFERED:

Speed reading of English words in documents

Experienced in at least two years of copyediting written documents and materials

Writing in English of both non-fiction and fiction materials

Ability to teach basic English to Filipino adult learners

Carry out corporate administrative duties such as processing and submitting documents to various private institutions and government agencies

Selling plants and gardening supplies to the public

Marketing of life insurance and health insurance plans to the public

WORK EXPERIENCE:

Presently training as life insurance and health insurance Financial Advisor of AXA Philippines (2023). The work involves prospecting for new clients, offering life insurance and health insurance plans to the public, and promoting awareness of the importance of life insurance and health insurance.  

Presently working as Content Writer for different clients online (2006 to present). This work involves doing online research about topics supplied by the client. The research data is then used to write articles that are paid for by the client. The articles written cover various fields of interest, namely, gardening and agriculture, personal finance (including insurance), cryptocurrency, culinary arts, nutrition, and health sciences.

Former dropshipper of plant nursery and gardening supplies business Herbs & Spices PH run by sole proprietor Mrs. Lea C. Del Rosario (2021). The work involved learning the names of various herb and spice plants, as well as other gardening-related goods, with the intent to market these to the public via online chats in Facebook messenger. The goods were shipped via Grab or Lalamove courier services to the customers after the latter had paid via GCash.

Former life insurance Financial Advisor of Sunlife Financial Philippines (January to March 2019). The work involved learning about the different life insurance and health insurance plans of the company so that these could be marketed to the public.

Former tutor of a Filipino adult learner in English and Math (3 months of 2013). The work involved being proficient in basic English and Math at the elementary school level since the adult learner was trying to earn her high school equivalency diploma from the Alternative Learning System.

Former Abstractor and Proofreader for NGO named Guava Consulting, in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City, Philippines (2000)

Former Proofreader for Legal Resources Center, in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City, Philippines (2000)

Former Research Assistant at Community-Based Coastal Resources Management (CBCRM) in UP Diliman, for Prof. Elmer Ferrer (1998)

Formerly worked as Editorial Analyst (April 1995 to December 1998) at InfoSource Company (now located at IBM Plaza building, Eastwood City, LIBIS, Quezon City, Philippines). This work, also called “abstracting”, involved perusal of many kinds of publications ranging from newspapers to research journals in different industries. The data gathered would then be summarized into “abstracts”. This is the information that the client company Information Access Company in Foster City, California, USA would buy from InfoSource Company.



Character References:


Prof. Elmer Ferrer (#8 Maalindog Street, UP Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines)

Mrs. Lea C. Del Rosario, Herbs & Spices PH leacambel@gmail.com,  CP#09393948615

Vermicompost for Sale in Metro Manila

Hi all. I am now selling vermicompost to the public. Price = 35php per kilo. You can buy the vermicompost at 5 kilos per shipment. You will also shoulder the courier fee from my Paranaque City location to your place. For inquiries, please text 0917-676698 or email me at eohatta@gmail.com. You may also leave a PM at my FB Messenger "Eleanore Hatta". Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks!

The New Name of My Company

My company is now named Quill Writing, Copyediting and Proofreading Services. I decided to rename my company to reflect the reality that I'm not yet eligible to call myself a language translator. What has worked though is that I realized I could still do some editing jobs for my clients, aside from writing for them. Hence, the name.

I chose to rename my company yet retained the Quill part in the name because I'm not sure if I will be able to train as a language translator again. So what remains constant is the writing aspect. I hope to find more clients in 2021 by advertising in Facebook, since I already have a page with this new company name in my account.

You might be wondering: why the sudden change? Well, I was working for this blog writing company this year for around 10 months and I thought I'd be with them forever. But I was abruptly let go since the company was changing its content focus and they didn't need me there anymore. So I realized I'd been jogging peacefully in my teeny tiny bubble, thinking that the good times would be there forever too. That explains the shock of learning that I was expendable after all.

I guess putting up my own company will help me to assert my independence even though it can be scary being on my own. But in the end, this new development will allow me to declare my income to the BIR so that they can charge me the right taxes for this industry. I hope clients will come regularly to give me writing and editing tasks then, for my long term survival.

Growing Vegetables in my Backyard

It's been more than six months since I formally finished the Organic Agriculture course at the UP Open University. Did I learn anything from the course? Yes but this kind of knowledge is not something you can teach online. Instead, it requires hands-on learning so I found myself trying to grow vegetables in my teeny tiny garden. Some plants are easier to raise than others though.

So far, my ampalaya vines are growing slowly but surely. I also planted tomatoes, calamansi and siling labuyo (chili) in small pots. I'm not sure if I need to devote that much attention to them because the seeds do take their sweet time sprouting shoots and leaves. Still, I am hopeful to see the day when I can do my first harvest.

Right now, I was wondering where I could get pechay seeds. My sister said the stalk of the pechay we use for cooking can sprout roots if immersed in a small container of water. Not sure if this is true. I would be more confident about it if I had the growing solution that my older brother uses for orchids. But beggars can't be choosers so I am sticking to the water container practice for now.

The Secret to Being a Good Teacher

This year one of my part-time jobs was being a tutor to a middle-aged mom in the same condo complex where I used to live. It was actually my first time to teach an adult learner but not my first try at tutoring. I had also taught this young boy years ago but that was a short gig because I quit after just a few sessions.

The reason I lasted longer with this adult learner was that I finally unearthed the secret to being a good teacher (or tutor). The secret is that most students fail in school not because they’re stupid or feel like they know it all, and not even that they dislike the teacher. No, my experience told me that most students fail at school because they are AFRAID.

Students are afraid of school and learning because they don’t want other people to know that they don’t know the answers to the questions being asked. Students are afraid of their teachers humiliating them in front of the class. Students are also afraid that their fellow students (especially those who perform well in school) will make fun of them for not knowing the answers to the questions too. This is the root of juvenile delinquency – the fear of the unknown. Once I had realized this fundamental truth, it became easier for me to adjust to my student.

“Wait” you might be saying. “Shouldn’t the student be the one to adjust to you? You’re the teacher.” Well, the reality is that both sides have to adjust to each other. I had to adjust to my student by acknowledging that she is afraid that I will make her feel stupid. She had to adjust to me by acknowledging her fear and telling me what she was afraid of. Once we got past that stage, it became easier for me to teach her.

When your student tells you what she is afraid of, you learn to create lessons out of the academic topics that you can explain to her in terms that she will understand. So instead of acting like a professor in college who would talk using big words that people in the academic world seem to like to use, I had to scale down my language and explain the lessons in terms that she could grasp and that didn’t seem like they were obscure or difficult to understand. When necessary, we would repeat the lesson day after day until finally a light switched on in her head and she got the core of the lesson.

I had to learn patience and humility through this process, because she already knew that she didn’t understand the topics so I didn’t feel the need to point that out. Rather, I had to observe the way she would go through the lesson, waiting for the times when she would pause (puzzled by a part in the lesson) then I would explain that part again to her. I had to build up her confidence by staggering the lessons into small steps for her to go through so that she could see that big lessons are just small lessons summed up into a whole. I also had to acknowledge that some lessons were vague to me or that I had forgotten them so I had to go through those lessons again just to know how to teach them to my adult student.

The point to all this is that (in this age of soaring tuition fees and schools that are ineffective at educating due to overcrowding) we teachers must realize that our “business” is more of an advocacy and a lifestyle than a business. Yes, it does cost money to train teachers and it does cost money to educate students. But once we realize that the key to educating is to acknowledge that our students are afraid then more students would be able to overcome their fears because their teachers now know what the root of the problem is. And that would mean more students will excel in school and our country would have a brighter future because our human capital will be ready for the challenges of the labor force. So if you are planning to become a teacher, you should practice now how to get the trust of your students – and you will be surprised how they will bloom under your tutelage. That is what I know for sure.

Why I Won’t Hire Employees for My Company

When I was still a regularly-employed employee at my first job, I encountered co-workers who were not ideal employees. And that’s putting it mildly. Some of them would deliberately try to hack into and change the settings of the Local Area Network (LAN) just for fun. Others would destroy the company office equipment like the office chairs, also for fun. Some were also kind of weird because they would apply for employment at the company then resent it when they were asked to work already.

Needless to say, my experience working with such people simply convinced me that working alone is sometimes really preferable to working with a host of strangers. True, some people might enjoy the company of their co-workers (and yes, even at that job I mentioned I did have some friends among my co-workers) but the odds that you will have to work beside a weirdo in the same office are quite high nowadays. That’s one reason I decided to become a freelance writer and that is also the motivation behind my setting up my own company named Quill Writing and Translation Services.

So obviously, I won’t be hiring any people to work at Quill. I have gotten used to the pace and the peace of working alone as a freelancer. At Quill, I am only answerable to myself and to my client. I can work as fast or as slow as necessary. I can adjust and make changes when necessary. And of course, I can turn down work also when necessary. The decisions are all up to me and the consequences are fully absorbed only by me. True, it can be terrifying sometimes being alone in your own company especially when you encounter a new writing topic that is outside your comfort zone. It can also be uncomfortable especially when you are approaching a deadline and you think that you aren’t working fast enough to meet that due date. And of course, when you make mistakes, you only have yourself to blame and no one else.

But hiring people brings with it its own set of difficulties – and I don’t want that in my life. My job is complicated enough without hiring strangers to do certain tasks for me. And the good news is that there aren’t really that many tasks that I would need to hire for. So life for me has become much easier ever since I decided never to hire any employees for my company, regardless of who those people might be.