My name is Che Resubal. Che is a common nickname in the Philippines but I learned that in Argentina, it means dude or boy. I am a proud Filipino. I was born and raised in the Philippines. Both of my parents are Filipinos. We are Asians. I graduated from Polytechnic University of the Philippines with a Bachelor in Information Technology. I met my husband in college, in fact we were classmates for four years. We were close friends. After graduation we parted ways and worked with different offices. But few years after, we had a chance to reconnect, and from there we became close friends again. Later on, we discovered that we care for each other, blossomed into love, then got married. I never expected to marry my best friend but that’s one of the best decisions I have ever made. We have two kids who are both in college and a dog. We will celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary on the 23rd of March. Time flies! On our 25th, we plan to celebrate our anniversary in Europe. Looking forward to travel to Switzerland and Norway to see the Northern Lights hopefully.
My education from elementary until college were traditional, meaning they are all teacher-led. I speak two languages fluently because Filipino (Tagalog) and English are both used in our education system from the early years of schooling until graduation. Some of the basic words in Filipino are derived from Spanish as a result of Spain’s conquest of the Philippines in the past. As I work in a Montessori preschool now where Spanish is being taught, I can relate with basic Spanish teachings such as counting, days and months of the year, dates, colors, fruits and so on. Now, I am more motivated to learn Spanish too. I find it so cool to know many languages. I have always been fascinated by culture of people around the world. As an example, long before social media became a thing, there was “pen pal”. I had a pen pal Greece when I was in high school. We exchanged postcards and taught each other our own alphabet and how to write our names in our language or alphabet. Why I chose to write to a Greek? Because I’m interested with history and architecture and ruins in Greece. Part of my interest in architecture, I almost took up Architecture instead of IT in college. My decision was influenced by gender norms, thinking that Architects in the Philippines are mostly men and I don’t want to be the minority in the class, much more being the only girl in the class.
Growing up, I was a weakling. I easily catch viruses that’s why I get sick most of the time. I was not involved in any sports or active physically aside from playing outdoors. I didn’t find eating to be enjoyable maybe that was why I don’t have enough nutrients in my body. I enjoyed watching sports instead. I love basketball, both PBA (Philippine version of NBA) and NBA. My love for basketball led me to give up JS prom and watched the live basketball game instead and I never regretted it because my team won by just one point. That was one of the best games I have watched in my life. I also love to watch soccer, tennis and chess. It was my unrealized dream to play chess with great players that is why I enjoyed watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. If there’s a dream that I want to happen is to be a chess teacher to young children. I want to explore it in the near future. I could say that my father who played basketball and softball when he was alive was my sports influence. As I reach midlife, I became more conscious of taking care of my health. I no longer consider myself physically weak as I regularly do physical activities such as hiking, biking, yoga stretching and playing badminton. Because of my father’s early demise due to diabetes and its complications, I became aware of not taking much sugar in my body. Sugary drinks are crossed out in my family’s diet.
My parents, grandparents and family were my greatest support and influence. My parents were very loving, supportive but at the same time authoritative in terms of parenting. I have two siblings and I am the eldest. All of us, their children, give high respect to our parents as they are the authorities given to us by God. It is just sad that my father died when he was just 47. I just finished college when he passed so I had to take the responsibility of helping my mother provide for the family.
Helping others is easy for me. When I was in high school, I found myself motivated intrinsically to help others because it gives me the fulfillment of making a difference in someone else’s life. I love to volunteer in my community. I was involved with several medical missions such as giving free vaccines, church related medical missions in one of the provinces in the Philippines, and outreach activities in Bangkok, Thailand. I was surrounded by people whose culture is to reach out, to help and to spread goodness and kindness to all. Filipinos are mostly friendly, warm and hospitable. That’s our culture especially to our countrymen. It is easy to find a friend outside the Philippines because Filipinos are all over the world. As what I’ve learned from our readings that “culture is learned from parents, schools, churches, media, friends and others throughout a lifetime. The kinds of traditions and values that evolve in a particular culture serve to help members function in their own society and to value their own society.” It is normal to invite or be invited to a house of a Filipino here in the US even you’ve just met on the same day. That’s how we, Filipinos, keep the warmth and amiable spirit.
I worked for about a decade in the Philippines but when my youngest child was about a year old, I stopped and focused on my role as a wife and a mother. For about 13-15 years, I kept exploring about what to do next when my kids are grown-ups. I studied elementary teaching, arts, computer courses, and even stocks. During those moments of exploring, I rediscovered my interest with painting and fell in love with it again. For years, I have enjoyed the outdoors being with my painting buddies, attending painting demos, classes and even painting alone give me relaxation and therapy. It is through my artistic exposure that I got an opportunity to teach elementary children how to draw. For almost two years now, I taught in-person after school and with the pandemic, I teach via zoom. I would say it is evolving. I am currently taking a subject on Creative Art that focuses on toddlers and preschoolers. And what I am learning so far, I am applying to teaching preschoolers to draw and paint. I want to stimulate young kids’ creative genius minds. My career path took a different direction due to intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is when you engage in a behavior because you find it rewarding. I find it rewarding to serve and love the work that I do and not just to earn money. To see some more of my artworks, I have an instagram account, cheresubal_art.
The pandemic taught me a lot of things in life. Our family makes the most of our time together at home since my husband works from home for a whole year now and so with my kids doing online school. The pandemic caused me to adapt to using zoom in teaching and it gave me an opportunity to work at a Montessori preschool. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better.
Spanish Vocabulary in Tagalog (Filipino)
In my recent video comparing Indonesian and Tagalog, I mentioned that Spanish has had a big impact on Tagalog vocabulary, since the Philippines was controlled by Spain for hundreds of … Continue readingSpanish Vocabulary in Tagalog (Filipino)
https://www.verywellmind.com/differences-between-extrinsic-and-intrinsic-motivation-2795384
