Nima

It's Thursday morning and a week from now I will be in Tonga. We fly out Tuesday morning at 7:00am. We had our last meeting yesterday to go over insurance, sign waivers, and ask any last minute questions we might have. I met with my professor before the meeting and discussed which schools the three of us secondary educators were going to and what our ideas were for lesson plans and our unit plans. We just found out Monday that she got cleared to come out to Tonga for the first week we're there to help us and I couldn't be more grateful! The meetings have been good but most of our group are elementary educators and Dr.Patch is an elementary professor so having Dr. Santos there yesterday really got my mind going about the actual teaching part of the trip and what I have in mind for my students.
The placements for student teaching were either Tonga High, the highest ranked government funded high school, or Liahona High, the highest ranked high school funded by the LDS church. Tonga High had two openings for art teachers and currently do not have an art program so the teachers going there will be starting the program from scratch. Liahona only asked for one teacher and currently have an art program. Bethany and Alexa, the two girls that are also art education majors, will be at Tonga High working on the art program there and I will be at Liahona teaching in their current art program. We have been asked to bring some of our own materials as resources are limited and in some cases unavailable. As we started talking with Dr. Santos and really discussing our classes, our ideas for the outcome of our trip, and how we want to set up lesson plans and our unit plans, my mind was able to focus on the ideas that I have been having all summer for what I hope to leave my students with and what I hope to teach as well as learn more about myself. As I have been researching the art down in Tonga and talking with a few Tongan students here in Utah, I quickly realized the focus and interest in doing "tribal" as it's referred to. I was talking to a close friend's brother who told me he didn't like art in school, but really liked doing tribal. He pulled out a piece of paper right away and started to show me what he could do and what he liked to do. He was really good and as I watched him focus on his line work, the intricate design that he created on the page and where he specifically wanted shading, I realized something that I wanted to instill in my students. I want my students to recognize the connection between creativity and art, and that these skills they use almost daily will not only help them as artists, but in life in general. Art is something we connect with and it's a way for us to share our thoughts and emotions. In the Tongan culture music and dancing are a big part of their way of life. When our dean and professor went to visit the high schools in March and get everything arranged, our Dean told us that singing is such a common thing there and so beautiful. It isn't like here in a high school if the students were asked to sing..hardly anyone would and it wouldn't be the greatest to hear to be honest..but in Tonga, if someone starts singing, they will all start in and it comes out in a beautiful, melodious surround sound. Music is an amazing way to not only share something wonderful in an unforgettable way, but it brings the spirit so powerfully and expresses something so divine and beautiful that only music can do. I remember when we were teaching in Chile as missionaries and how we used music to invite the spirit, and keep it there. If we ever felt some confusion or that the spirit had left the lesson, we stopped and started singing hymns. My trainer was amazing at singing and even though I can't sing very good, I could follow her lead and I loved those sweet moments of singing hymns in the beautiful Spanish language in those small, humble rooms in Chile. This is a form of art. It actually has the same effect that the visual arts can have. Artists want a reaction from those viewing their pieces and want their artwork to have an influence on the viewers. It is the same from music as those singing or playing an instrument share a love they have with those listening hoping to move them and leave a small imprint in their minds and hearts.
This is my hope as an artist and now as I begin my experience as an art teacher, I hope to teach my students the importance of their skills but more importantly, the influence each of them can have by sharing their individual thoughts and unique views on the world they live in.
The last couple days have been more difficult than I was expecting my last week in Utah to be, with last days at work with my family at the Law Office, ending work with my dad, and saying goodbye to family and friends and close loved ones. I've been reflecting a lot on and commenting on how this experience is so similar to leaving for my mission. I had a lot of things end right before I left then as well, and although it was hard saying bye and comprehending the reality of it all, I was pushed to leave on blind faith, and have a trust in my Heavenly Father that those I left behind were safe and would be taken care of because they were in the best hands...His hands. I do realize that I will only be gone for ten weeks and it is going to be different than my time in Chile, but it has all made me that more grateful for the blessing I had of serving a mission and going through that experience to feel a little more prepared for what I am about to do in five days. I am excited and still feeling humbled that it really is happening.