Service Blog 5

Jonathan Ocampo
Service Blog #5
Professor Juniper Ellis
November 20, 2017

 The Struggle to Find Ones Identity

In William Shakespeare’s comedic play, Twelfth Night, the readers are introduced to an apparent love triangle between three characters. The jealousy brought out from the triangle forces one of the characters, Viola, to ultimately change her identity to send a message. This aspect of the play reminds me a lot about the characteristic of the students in Mrs. Tates first grade class. Some students, regarding behavior, are always well behaved and get the work that has been assigned completed. On the other hand, there are some students who decide to change their attitude not take their work seriously. These students struggle in their academics and overall progress, and that is seen through the consistent uncompleted assignments I file for grades.

 In the first act of this play the reader is introduced to Viola who changes her identity to Cesario who currently works for the person she has fallen in love with, Orsino. Although Viola has these feelings for Orsino, Orsino sends Cesario on an errand to send a message of love to Olivia. This sudden change in identity reminds me of how the attitudes of the students at Tunbride can change and vary each week I see them. On one instance one of the children was paying attention and completing his work one week, and all of a sudden, the next week he was throwing a temper tantrum because he has missed his mom. I can relate to this because when I was younger I felt the same way, but was taught in private school that we were there to learn. This change in identity shows how vulnerable young children are, and that sometimes theh might need a little assistance to start their days on the right note. But at the end of the day each student at Tunbridge is doing their best to do everything the teacher says to prove that they want to become better students and learn new ideas every class period.

As a morning volunteer these types of situations happen every so often, and there are a couple of ways I help calm the situation down. As the teacher of a first-grade class, Mrs. Tate does anything to carry on the continuation of her student’s learning. When one child as a tantrum, she asks me to kindly take the student outside and speak to them personally and attempt to calm them down in order to return in the classroom. While I have the student outside I tell them to take a deep breath and walk him/her over to the water fountain for a drink. Taking these actions has not only taught me how to deal with sticky situations, but has also shown me the steps to take when my own young family members acts out in a similar way.

In conclusion, William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night teaches readers like me that a change in identity can be harmful to your values, but learning experiences can disguise themselves in weird ways. Being a teacher’s assistant for young children has taught me about my own identity, and the person I can become if I put my mind to the important things in my life. Tunbridge has been the home of my development as a college student, and has facilitated in showing me that there is more to college than bars and “having fun”.