Latest / Be A Global Citizen! / 210. GC Talks with Yukari Hirano: Cultivating Long-Term Happiness as Foundational Curriculum in Schools

Transcript

210. GC Talks with Yukari Hirano: Cultivating Long-Term Happiness as Foundational Curriculum in Schools · Be A Global Citizen!

• 0:05
  Hi there, and welcome to Be a Global Citizen, the podcast that
• 0:08
  explores the concept of global citizenship through the lens of
• 0:11
  value creating education. My name is Scott Bauer and I'm
• 0:15
  Ahsoka, researcher and educator. I hope you find the discussion,
• 0:18
  stories and insights on this podcast to be valuable and
• 0:21
  inspiring as we strive to become global citizens who are
• 0:24
  committed to living a contributive life.
• 0:26
  Enjoy. Hi, everyone.
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  My name is Yukari and I'm currently here in Costa Mesa in
• 0:37
  Orange County. And I am originally from Brazil
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  and currently I work as a vice principal at a public charter
• 0:45
  school here in Costa Mesa. And I look forward to, you know,
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  talking to and listening to Scott and just learning from one
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  another. Thank you.
• 0:55
  Thank you, Yucati, welcome to the podcast.
• 0:58
  I'm so happy to have you. We've connected in Brazil and I
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  find that our paths, you know, very much kind of are running
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  parallel in terms of our interest in soca education,
• 1:10
  humanistic education. And it's just, and I'm excited
• 1:14
  to to learn more about the the pioneering work that you're
• 1:16
  doing at this charter school in Costa Mesa.
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  Also really curious to learn more about your experiences when
• 1:25
  you were growing up in Brazil. You, I believe, were part of the
• 1:30
  first class of the Brazil Soca School.
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  And I had the great honor of working at the Soca school
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  myself for a brief period. And yeah.
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  And just kind of wanting to know how that also informed your
• 1:43
  worldview, you know, your dreams and hopes as not just a student,
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  but now as an educator and also interested to learn about this
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  transition from Brazil coming to the US.
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  There's so much and I'm, I'm excited to to hear more about
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  about your journey as a global citizen.
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  Wanted to pass it over to you. And please, you know, feel free
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  to to share out your journey. What were some of the
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  milestones, influences, you know, the UPS and the downs.
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  I'm also looking forward to this conversation.
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  Yes, thank you so much. Cod Wento Brigada.
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  Yeah. So my name is Yukari, as I
• 2:24
  mentioned, and I had such a fortune to grow up in a soca
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  education environment. I, I joined a soca school in
• 2:36
  Brazil as they were really like opening the school.
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  So I, I was part of the first class and 1st grade.
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  And every time they will open a new grade.
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  I will be part of, you know, the 2nd grade and then open the 3rd
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  grade. And so I had the opportunity to
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  just really grow up in that environment.
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  And then I ended up going to some university in Japan for my
• 3:00
  undergrad program and then I went to some University of
• 3:02
  America. So I feel like I am a product of
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  Sokka education in that way. And I'm so fortune, but just my
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  journey started just by looking at I've always had so much
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  interest in kids. I feel like working with kids
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  would always give me such a joy. And I started working with kids
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  when I was 14 years old, as you know, just part of my Buddhist
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  activities. I would just really work
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  together and with the kids ages 6 to 9 and then kids from 14 to
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  17. So it's really promoting peace,
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  culture, education activities. I was also part of a dance kind
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  of group, so we had just different opportunities to
• 3:48
  engage. And I always loved working with
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  kids. And when I was also 17, I
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  realized that I really wanted to work with kids with physical
• 3:59
  disabilities and mental disabilities.
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  So that's when I had a very short three month internship at
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  a hospital where the, you know, the people would work with
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  physical therapy and OT and speech and things like this.
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  And I just remember just how much people have so much
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  potential in their lives. And I remember that was a child
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  who didn't have his arms or legs.
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  And then he asked me, like, you know, can I play bowling with
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  you? And I said, sure.
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  And I was like, my mind. I was like, how?
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  But then I set up, you know, the bowling tracks and everything on
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  the floor. And then he literally, like,
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  with his whole body, like, just really came out from the
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  wheelchair. And then when, you know, his
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  head, he started to play. And I was just so amazed by how
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  much people, you know, how I was able to become my own sense of
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  bias of what is possible and what is not.
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  And you know, how everybody, regardless of their age or
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  physical, you know, mental abilities, how they have such an
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  immense potential in their lives and how much I really wanted to
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  learn from one another and learn from the kids.
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  So yeah, Fast forward, I couldn't speak English at a time
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  I was, you know, just the basics.
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  I couldn't study or I couldn't speak English even though I had
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  study. But I, my dad gave me the
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  opportunity to study in Canada. And I was, you know, that was my
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  first time going abroad. And I met people from different
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  backgrounds and I knew I wanted to challenge beyond my
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  comfortable zone, our friendship through dialogue.
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  And I realized that there's no right or wrong.
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  You know, it's just everybody has a different approach.
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  Then after my time in Canada, I'm like, this is great.
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  Making friends across the world is great.
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  And then my real goal was to actually come to SUA to SOK
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  University of America. But I ended up going to Sok
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  University in Japan at the Faculty of International Liberal
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  Arts was part of the second class and that was amazing.
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  It was like the best thing poisoning to medicine ever,
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  majoring in educational and you know, leadership development and
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  had the opportunity to just continue to work with the kids.
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  And throughout, you know, my 4th year when I was in Japan, I
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  actually had several conversations in regards to what
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  do I want to do in my life that only I could do.
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  Not the things that I just wanted or the things that I
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  needed to do, but only the things that I could do.
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  And so I remember one time I had to go back to Brazil, and that
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  was the epiphany why I decided to pursue education as my career
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  path, which was a little bit intense.
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  But you know, I went back to Brazil after my study abroad in
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  London. And then when I was in Brazil,
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  there was 1 morning that I literally woke up in shock
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  because I heard my mom screaming.
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  And I was like, what's happening?
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  And then I realized that there were like voices in my house
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  that I didn't recognize. And then pretty much I realized
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  that while there's probably you're in a situation of danger.
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  So I went back to my room, I locked myself and and then I
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  called the police. And so pretty much we were held
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  hostage for 30 minutes at my house.
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  And then, you know, luckily the police was able to come and just
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  so much protection from our prayers too.
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  But then we I realized that those people who entered my
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  house and made my family hostage was pretty much the same age as
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  I, you know, they were really young.
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  They were 20 year olds at that time.
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  And I really question like, why this is happening to me and my
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  family and, you know, we're the same age, but why do we have
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  different paths in life? Only difference, of course, is
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  the privilege of study and, you know, being able to grow up in
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  in a different environment. So I just realized that
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  education is the most powerful and, you know, the slowest, but
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  the most powerful way that we can transform, you know, society
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  through education. And that's when, after my time
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  in Japan, I decided to come to study at Tuk University of
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  America in the Master's program in Educational Leadership for
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  Societal Change. And, and then it was pandemic
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  time. So I was in America for about 7
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  months and then I had to go back to Brazil to do a year and a
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  half via Zoom. But the most beautiful time is
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  that I was pursuing my dream of study at my dream university,
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  which was so University of America.
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  Why are you living with my family in Brazil?
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  Because I left Brazil in 2013, so we had been almost seven
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  years since I didn't have the opportunity to live with my
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  family. And to be honest, that the last,
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  you know, the year and a half that I spent with my family was
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  the last time that I had to spend with my dad because he
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  eventually passed away. My grandma passed away, my uncle
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  passed away. So that year and a half was
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  really important in my personal life.
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  And I really treasure that memory together.
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  So, yeah, I came back to the US in 2021 to find an opportunity
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  to work the education here in America.
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  And then I was hired as an office manager at the public
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  charter school that is called International School for Science
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  and Culture. And we do different things,
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  which I'm sure we're going to talk about later.
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  And then thanks to the trust that I received from the
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  executive director and everybody at the school, after a few
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  months, I was promoted as the assistant principal.
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  And that was the last time I talked to my dad.
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  I told my dad like that. I am, you know, getting
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  promoted. I'm going to I'm going to be the
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  assistant principal. And then the week after my dad
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  passed away. So I feel like he really waited
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  for me to just have this full completion and also education
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  and just like being able to, you know, work in a school.
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  And then, yeah, this has been a journey itself.
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  But I'm completing my fifth year working at this charter school,
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  and that's a little bit of my journey of like why I decided to
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  pursue education, a little bit about my personal background and
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  yeah, where I am right now. Wow.
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  Thank you so much, Ducati. That was beautifully said.
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  And there's just so much right that you experienced that, you
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  know, really left like profound marks on you as far as, you
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  know, what you did, how you processed various events.
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  And I think these really bold decisions about what path do you
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  want to take, you know, from the different options like what,
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  where did you want to go and study?
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  Where did you want to work in what area?
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  Right. Working with kids and yeah,
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  finding yourself at an International School here in
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  California. I think it's, it's, it's so like
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  all those experiences have culminated in this current job
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  that you were working at and, and then what you were sharing
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  about family and all those important influences on your
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  life. And it's just wow.
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  I, I, I'm just amazed that like, you know, you've been in this
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  kind of Ahsoka system for pretty much all your life, from
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  kindergarten, all right, all the way to university and graduate
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  studies as well. On top of that, I think you're
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  probably one of the few who have experienced that in the world
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  and definitely from from Brazil. So there's a sense of like kind
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  of pioneering this, this, this path.
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  But I'm sure right when you, when your family decided to put
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  you in the kindergarten at, at the Soca school, it wasn't
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  really your choice. I, I, you know, at that age,
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  it's probably just like your family were like, no, this is,
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  this is happening. This is what you're going to do.
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  So, you know, you, you were always at the forefront of like
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  the next new grade and kind of building out new traditions and
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  figuring out what does this kind of soca education mean?
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  Yeah. I just, I'd love to hear what
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  was it like being in that kind of like spotlight as a pioneer
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  from one year to the next to the next to the next.
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  And. And.
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  Yeah. And how has your understanding
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  and appreciation of Soka education grown over the years
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  to encompass like kindergarten all the way to graduate studies?
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  Yeah, thank you. Oh my gosh, I used to hate
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  school. Not Soka School.
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  I remember I went to school for like when I was maybe two or
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  three and it was like hell for me.
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  Like I did not wanted to go to school.
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  I remember like my mom would drive and I will be very serious
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  at the backseat. I'm like, I'm going to run.
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  She's not going to get me, you know, she's not going to catch
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  me. I'm just going to, like, play
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  tag. And then the moment she would
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  park, like the front door, you know, gentleman with the
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  principal, plus my mom would come to the car and then I would
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  be jumping, you know, to the front seat, to the back seat, to
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  the middle seat. And like, it was so difficult
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  for me to get to school because I was always the last one to,
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  you know, go home and I didn't like that.
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  And then when my mom told me that I was going to a different
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  school that was even further away because I had to drive like
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  45 minutes, but with traffic in some Poly would take an hour and
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  a half to go to school in the morning.
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  I'm like, are you are you guys insane?
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  Like, I don't like school. And then when I joined took a
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  school, I was so happy. I was like complaining that it
• 14:00
  was the weekend because I really wanted to be in school and I
• 14:04
  don't have siblings. So like going to school became
• 14:08
  like going home. I felt like I was so happy and
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  it was such a small community. At that time.
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  I only had like maybe 1213 students in my class.
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  And I think because we're, we were so small, I had such a
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  privilege and opportunity to really bond with everybody in my
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  class. And, you know, all of my staff,
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  the staff that, you know, that I was looking at Soca school.
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  So I feel like it was such a privilege and a responsibility
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  too, because they were like Yukari, you know, you guys are
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  first class like you guys are going to be showing casing you
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  like with the Prada of Soca education in Brazil.
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  And I'm like, yes, OK, you know, I, so I think I, I learned, you
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  know, how to take on responsibilities even in a young
• 14:53
  age. And I feel like this has been
• 14:55
  such a fortune because it really helped me expand of like what
• 14:59
  was possible at that time. And yeah, I actually ended up
• 15:04
  graduating from 8th grade, you know, from the junior high, you
• 15:08
  know, elementary school in Brazil.
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  And then they didn't open, you know, the, the high school.
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  And at that time, I really thought about will I ever be
• 15:18
  happy again? You know, because I was so happy
• 15:20
  studying at Circus Go. I'm like, I don't think I can be
• 15:24
  dad happy anymore. You know, it's impossible.
• 15:26
  Like my happiness has already reached a certain limit.
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  But yeah, I, I ended up going to a regular private high school
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  for three years. And every time we would talk
• 15:39
  about my own experience, all of my friends will be jealous.
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  Like, why did I not go to Soka school?
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  Like, I wanted, you know, to go to Soka school.
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  And I was able to share a lot about Soka education.
• 15:51
  And then, you know, I went back to Soca world.
• 15:54
  I ended up going to a university and Soca University of America.
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  So yeah, I think it was my opportunity and my greatest joy,
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  just like growing up in a very small setting, you know,
• 16:06
  learning 3 languages. And I think that really helped
• 16:09
  me to imagine, you know, different possibilities and just
• 16:14
  have a sense of pride. You know, I'm part of like this
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  first in Denver, here in Brazil, and I'm going to do my best to
• 16:21
  repay my debt of gratitude. So when I went through tough
• 16:24
  times, you know, like losing my dad, like the reason why I feel
• 16:28
  like I cannot give up is because I have, you know, I have my
• 16:34
  friends and I have people that trusted me.
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  And that's how I want to continue to be.
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  I want to be an educator like the people the educators are
• 16:45
  supporting me. I want my kids to feel the same
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  way that I felt when I was in soca school, like feeling
• 16:52
  feeling safe, feeling a sense of community and feeling like a
• 16:55
  sense of belonging. And that's for me.
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  Even though I'm not working in Ahsoka education, I feel like
• 17:02
  that's my mission as a soca educator.
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  I want them to feel soca education through my own life
• 17:07
  and my own care. So yeah, it has been a great
• 17:11
  reference in my life. And I feel like I have to
• 17:13
  multiply this feeling, this care for other people too.
• 17:17
  So thank you for asking. Yeah.
• 17:20
  No, thank you, Yucati. It's, it's the way that you
• 17:23
  share about it. It's, it's very evident that you
• 17:25
  truly loved your time at the Soca school, that it was this
• 17:30
  warm community, super supportive.
• 17:33
  And I I love how you phrased that, you know, going to school
• 17:36
  felt like going home. And you don't really hear that,
• 17:40
  especially, you know, from my, you know, here in the United
• 17:43
  States, school is often kind of felt like viewed as, Oh, I don't
• 17:49
  want to go there. It's like, you know, kicking and
• 17:51
  screaming. But you know, the friends that
• 17:54
  you made at the school it I don't.
• 17:58
  Could you speak a little bit about like, well, what made
• 18:01
  those connections so strong? And yeah, if you can maybe share
• 18:06
  like something more about like, how is it that they were able to
• 18:10
  create this like culture of care, this kind of loving
• 18:13
  environment? Like what's what's the secret is
• 18:16
  were they, was there any like particular, you know, event they
• 18:20
  did? Or was it more of a mindset the
• 18:22
  teachers had or like, what brought everyone together to
• 18:26
  enable a kind of environment like that for like, friendships
• 18:29
  to blossom? Like, yeah, what was going on?
• 18:33
  Yeah, it's. I think I really felt that
• 18:37
  everybody cared about me. I didn't feel like I was
• 18:42
  obligated to go to school. I felt like it was a choice for
• 18:47
  me and not even a choice. It was like, this is my right.
• 18:54
  I want to go to school and I believe it was because of
• 18:58
  everybody's care and supporting love.
• 19:02
  As I said, I think I grew up in a very small environment.
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  You know, Soka school at that time was really small.
• 19:09
  So if one person was absent, you know, and that the class would
• 19:14
  be, the dynamics would be completely different.
• 19:18
  So I feel like I have to be there because I want to create a
• 19:22
  positive environment. I think I really felt, you know,
• 19:27
  with my friends that everybody had a, a part, you know, I had a
• 19:31
  friend who was really smart. And then if it wasn't in the
• 19:34
  class, then sometimes, you know, I, I couldn't understand things
• 19:38
  clearly. And then I had, you know, a lot
• 19:41
  of good friends that like, if they wouldn't be there, then,
• 19:44
  you know, I think I think we were really close and we were
• 19:49
  really had a shared purpose of like we are part of the first
• 19:53
  class and we have this purpose of being able to contribute to
• 19:58
  the school, even though we are so young.
• 20:01
  So I think the sense of contribution, you know, like our
• 20:05
  part playing our role at a small new school, I think gave us a
• 20:10
  lot of. Positive responsibilities that
• 20:14
  we wanted to actively engage and support the school.
• 20:18
  And yeah, I think my friends too, like we had a very similar
• 20:23
  kind of philosophy of education, you know, being able to, you
• 20:27
  know, become global citizens and like learning and really just
• 20:31
  learning and getting inspired from one another.
• 20:34
  And yeah, I just felt like I wasn't being punished at the
• 20:39
  school. I felt like I was being
• 20:41
  protected and loved by everybody, even like the recess
• 20:45
  staff, my the admin people, my PE teachers, my music teachers.
• 20:52
  I just felt like they knew me as if I was part of their family,
• 20:57
  you know? It was like, oh, Yukari, how are
• 20:59
  you doing? And like, how is your mom?
• 21:02
  You know, they would ask me questions that I would feel like
• 21:05
  I am seeing and I am hurt and I matter.
• 21:09
  So I feel like, yeah, I it's, it's not something so complex.
• 21:15
  It's just really part of maybe the philosophy of education from
• 21:20
  each of the staff that really allowed me to feel comfortable
• 21:25
  and feel like I belong here. So yeah, I don't know if that
• 21:29
  makes sense. If it's clear.
• 21:31
  You know, yeah, you know, you're very clear.
• 21:32
  And it's, it's just again, like seemingly like this kind of
• 21:38
  environment. It's, it almost sounds like
• 21:41
  utopian, right, Given the landscape of, of schools
• 21:44
  nowadays where there's this kind of, I don't know, this sense of,
• 21:51
  I don't dread of going to school or the dullness of like, what am
• 21:54
  I actually learning in school? Sense of alienation.
• 21:58
  As far as like, you know, the social connections that are
• 22:02
  formed there as well as the actual content and curriculum
• 22:06
  that is being provided for the students to learn.
• 22:09
  There's this a lot of like seemingly disconnected stuff and
• 22:13
  then just more and more is added on to it.
• 22:15
  But like what you described is like, there's the this, the
• 22:17
  purity of like intention, this like deep understanding that all
• 22:22
  of us hear from like teachers and all the staff and the
• 22:26
  families. Everyone is oriented towards the
• 22:30
  happiness of this one student, right?
• 22:32
  That, you know, something like, you know, welcoming a student as
• 22:37
  they're walking into school in the morning and genuinely
• 22:41
  expressing to them, I'm so happy that you're here.
• 22:45
  You know, that smile, that welcoming feeling like that's
• 22:50
  yeah, that that that's something very unique.
• 22:52
  But it shouldn't be. I, you know, that, that you,
• 22:55
  you, you talked about education as like, as a right.
• 22:59
  And that this form of education is, is a privilege.
• 23:03
  But I'm, I'm curious, could you like, maybe speak a little bit
• 23:07
  more about like how, how is it that like this, this approach to
• 23:11
  like, you know, education that you have this educational
• 23:14
  philosophy, How, how are you kind of incorporating that or
• 23:18
  embodying that in your, your current work as a vice
• 23:21
  principal's? And yeah.
• 23:24
  And then from like, from your efforts, is that something that
• 23:26
  like you're building out this new culture?
• 23:29
  Is the the goal to like have your charter school become the
• 23:34
  same kind of like environment as the Soca school that you
• 23:36
  experienced? Yes.
• 23:40
  So pretty much the school that I currently work for, they open in
• 23:46
  2019 and I joined a team in 2021.
• 23:50
  It was a first year in person, fully in person.
• 23:53
  And the founder of the school also has a similar Soca
• 23:59
  education philosophy. And she really thought
• 24:03
  thoroughly about the school for about 10 years.
• 24:08
  She has five different degrees, PhD in computer science and
• 24:12
  everything. Her passion was education, but
• 24:14
  she never had the opportunity to, you know, putting to
• 24:17
  practice in her own school. So the mission is very similar
• 24:23
  to Sokka education, which is to cultivate global citizens and
• 24:28
  powers to contribute to our positive society.
• 24:31
  And very similar to Sokka school of the the way that I grew up,
• 24:36
  we also learned 3 languages. So the students, they have the
• 24:39
  opportunity to learn between, choose between Japanese or
• 24:43
  Chinese and then everybody learns Spanish and then English
• 24:47
  is starting all of the subjects. I also grew up in that
• 24:50
  environment, like I had Japanese, had English and in
• 24:52
  Portuguese. And I think also being a small
• 24:59
  school, you know, we only have 145 students, that allows a lot
• 25:04
  of closeness between each student as well as each staff
• 25:10
  and to the families. And I love that because I feel
• 25:14
  like I know all of the teachers, I know all of the staff, I know
• 25:18
  all of the students, I know all of the parents by heart.
• 25:21
  I know everybody's name, I know everybody's situation, you know,
• 25:26
  and we just keep growing as, you know, very tight as a tight
• 25:31
  community. Like everybody cares about one
• 25:34
  another. And if one person is affected,
• 25:37
  it really affects the whole class and the whole community,
• 25:40
  therefore. So I feel like because of that,
• 25:45
  it really empowers me. Instead of seeing my students
• 25:48
  really far, I see them really close to me and seeing and
• 25:53
  really caring for them as if I am responsible for what you
• 25:57
  know. My, my principal says for the
• 25:59
  long term happiness of the kids, she really asks each staff and
• 26:05
  each professor, you know, at the school to really think about the
• 26:08
  long term happiness of each child that steps into the
• 26:12
  school. So I feel like for me personally
• 26:15
  too, it's a great challenge to understand from a teacher's
• 26:20
  perspective of what it means to care for somebody so deeply.
• 26:25
  And really also help me to improve myself as an educator,
• 26:29
  as an administrator, and as a person.
• 26:32
  You know, how I really can deeply care for somebody who
• 26:36
  might not be feeling their best, who might have, you know, so
• 26:40
  many things happening in their personal life and really expand
• 26:43
  my compassion to the person in front of me.
• 26:46
  And I feel like it's a great training for me to be exposed
• 26:51
  that, you know, how do you feel hope?
• 26:54
  There's no hope, right? How do I give hope to people
• 26:57
  when they are not feeling hopeful?
• 27:00
  And I think that has been the greatest challenge in applying
• 27:05
  soccer education in my daily life.
• 27:07
  And I think it really comes from my practice as well-being able
• 27:11
  to nourish, you know, the best in myself and really thinking
• 27:16
  about, you know, the founder of, you know, the school doctor, the
• 27:20
  Sakira. She really fostered me, as you
• 27:24
  know, and as a student. And I also had to foster my kids
• 27:29
  with the same mentality. So every time I go to school,
• 27:33
  I'm like, since you got to come with me to the school, if you
• 27:36
  stay at home, it's going to be a mess.
• 27:38
  You got to come with me. We're going to go together hand
• 27:41
  in hand and we're going to treasure and care for each
• 27:44
  student. And that has been like the
• 27:46
  greatest lesson that I've, you know, also I'm able to develop
• 27:50
  as an educator. So I think having a small
• 27:54
  setting, you know, and being able to emphasize in a global
• 27:58
  citizenship education, really bringing the students to have
• 28:02
  that sense of ownership and responsibilities for their life
• 28:06
  is very empowering. Like I matter, my voice matters,
• 28:09
  and I want to do something about it.
• 28:11
  So it goes beyond their, you know, self.
• 28:15
  It's really expanding towards something else.
• 28:17
  And yeah, I hope it's clear. It is and this expansive quality
• 28:24
  of your appreciation for what you experienced at the Soca
• 28:27
  school and then now in this this different school environment,
• 28:32
  but similarly like structured and that it's, it's small.
• 28:36
  Everyone really gets to know each other, really support each
• 28:39
  other. There's this international
• 28:41
  components as far as the languages that they learned and,
• 28:45
  and I think also this understanding that their
• 28:48
  purpose, like what they're going to contribute into society will
• 28:51
  be unique and important and that they their voice matters, like
• 28:56
  you said, but also their dreams and what they want to change in
• 29:00
  the world also really matters. And yeah, I, I just, I find that
• 29:05
  this emphasis on their long term happiness, right?
• 29:08
  The way that the principle frame that is very interesting.
• 29:12
  The word happiness gets tossed around a lot, I think in just
• 29:16
  day-to-day life, right? People talk.
• 29:18
  I'm so happy I got this new thing that I bought or I'm so
• 29:22
  happy that, you know, I got to have this experience.
• 29:27
  But long term happiness within this context of the school, I
• 29:31
  think it's going to mean something different and I would
• 29:35
  imagine ties into part of what their mission is or their their
• 29:39
  purpose for studying. I'd, I'd like to hear from you
• 29:42
  though, Could you unpack that a little bit more?
• 29:44
  What does long term happiness mean and how does that connect
• 29:47
  to this concept of global citizenship?
• 29:50
  Yeah. So I mean, being in a soca
• 29:56
  environment, I learned what it feels like to have an education
• 30:01
  that everybody has the purpose of, like global citizenship.
• 30:05
  But at a school that I currently work, I'm able to understand how
• 30:10
  we can create education for global citizenship.
• 30:14
  And some of the things that, you know, we talked about, which is
• 30:18
  a trilingual education is very important.
• 30:22
  You know, being able to not just speak the language, but really
• 30:26
  understand the culture, the cultural elements that you know,
• 30:30
  it's very interesting. And then there's something with
• 30:33
  the brain that my principal always has, like you learn 3
• 30:36
  languages. It doesn't matter which
• 30:38
  languages, as long as it's three, you really unlock
• 30:41
  something that you also learning the 4th and the 5th language
• 30:45
  will be much easier. And something happens with your
• 30:48
  brain when you're learning 3 languages.
• 30:52
  So that's why the training, education is very important and
• 30:56
  being able to connect with people from different parts of
• 30:58
  the world. And also we do this, you know,
• 31:04
  long term sense of happiness. It's really about being hopeful.
• 31:08
  I think it's really attached to how can we be hopeful in times
• 31:13
  when there is no hope, right? And there's this concept that
• 31:17
  Doctor the second kid always says, if you don't feel hope,
• 31:20
  it's time to create hope. But how do you create hope when
• 31:23
  things are not hopeful? And then, you know, yesterday we
• 31:26
  were having this dialogue with the kids because we had a
• 31:30
  workshop with one of the nonprofits.
• 31:33
  And then that was a question, you know, how do you feel hope?
• 31:36
  And there's no hope. And some of the kids, you know,
• 31:38
  just shared, you know, thinking about family, talking to
• 31:42
  friends. And I think, you know, religion
• 31:47
  was something that the kids also brought up.
• 31:49
  So I think it's thinking about the long term happiness, in my
• 31:54
  opinion, is really how can I create a space in an environment
• 31:58
  where kids can learn how to be hopeful and not the hope that,
• 32:03
  Oh my, nobody showed to my party or like, you know, how I'm not
• 32:07
  going to give up on my dreams and on myself and that sense of
• 32:15
  feeling hopeful and not giving up on myself and my dreams.
• 32:20
  I think that's the challenge that we we try to do when we try
• 32:24
  to have conversation with the kids.
• 32:25
  And sometimes it's not easy. And I think that's my personal
• 32:30
  challenge as well. Like how can I create an
• 32:32
  environment where they feel like they belong and they feel
• 32:36
  comfortable sharing, you know, their their thoughts and their
• 32:40
  challenges with one another. And yeah, it's, it's very
• 32:45
  painstaking, you know, it takes every single day connecting with
• 32:49
  them and creating a space where not just the students, but even
• 32:52
  the staff can also believe in the long term happiness of the
• 32:56
  kids. Because sometimes the kids were
• 32:58
  struggling. They, they show up, you know, in
• 33:02
  various ways, whether it's behavior, whether you know in
• 33:05
  different ways. And sometimes you know, it can
• 33:08
  be exhausting for the staff and for the educators as well.
• 33:11
  So also working with the staff and remember, you know, that's
• 33:15
  the purpose they are, they're acting like this, not because
• 33:18
  they don't like you, it's because something deeper is
• 33:20
  going on in their family. And then we have to really dig
• 33:24
  deep with the teacher for them to also understand how can I
• 33:28
  also pursue long term happiness for other people and for
• 33:32
  themselves. So yeah, it's, it's not easy,
• 33:35
  but that's the way that our school is working towards the
• 33:40
  long term happiness of each child is really working in
• 33:43
  partnership with everyone that is in contact with a student.
• 33:47
  And yeah, it, it's a great training.
• 33:50
  It's not easy. It's much easier to just think
• 33:52
  about testing and nothing else but really focusing on the long
• 33:58
  term happiness, meaning how they can be hopeful, how can they not
• 34:02
  give up? It's the real work.
• 34:04
  And that's why I love education. That's why I signed up for
• 34:08
  education. You know, I I love how you you
• 34:12
  use this word several times already in our in our
• 34:16
  conversation, the word training and and this is not training for
• 34:20
  SA TS right. But it sounds more like training
• 34:23
  for life because you know, whether they're there right now
• 34:27
  in school, but then when they get older, they go into their
• 34:31
  working lives, maybe start their own families, things will get
• 34:35
  difficult. And, and what you were talking
• 34:37
  about the importance of how do you, how do you have hope when
• 34:42
  seemingly everything is hopeless?
• 34:45
  How do you make hope when there is nothing around you?
• 34:48
  And, and I think that this deeper sense that like I, I'm
• 34:54
  working towards a, a, a goal, I, I'm reaching out and I want to
• 35:00
  support someone else who might be going through very difficult
• 35:02
  times too. And you said, I'm not going to
• 35:05
  give up all of those things sound like the training for
• 35:09
  life. That is not necessarily in a
• 35:12
  booklet that is curriculum, but it sounds like this kind of like
• 35:16
  swirling. I don't know this, this dance
• 35:20
  of, of different kind of energies that are taking place
• 35:24
  not just amongst the students, but also amongst your teachers
• 35:27
  and your staff. And I would imagine right this,
• 35:32
  this takes time to really like process and to like really
• 35:35
  understand. And, and sometimes people don't
• 35:38
  want to do the work of making sense of why.
• 35:41
  Why did this particular student walk into class feeling this way
• 35:45
  or a teacher walking in, dealing with something very heavy on
• 35:49
  their heart, but still having to smile in front of their class
• 35:53
  right to go through the, the, the lesson.
• 35:55
  So many things like that happen on a day-to-day, moment to
• 35:59
  moment basis. And I agree with you.
• 36:01
  I think that's what makes the school environment challenging,
• 36:05
  but also that's where learning takes place.
• 36:08
  And I wanted to ask this because, you know, you, you
• 36:10
  shared very openly and in a very vulnerable way about how the
• 36:15
  time spent at like when, when you're doing your graduate
• 36:18
  studies, It was back in Brazil and it was a year and a half
• 36:23
  where you got to realize your dream of studying at SUA at Soca
• 36:28
  University of America, but also be able to spend time with
• 36:33
  family. And then coming back.
• 36:36
  You know, there were, there were, there was a, you know,
• 36:39
  this period of, of grief, right, of losing loved ones and
• 36:44
  navigating a brand new job where you're stepping into leadership,
• 36:47
  the pressures of leadership. And again, all of that's taking
• 36:52
  place, well, you're, you know, trying to really inspire your,
• 36:58
  your staff and, you know, really encourage your students.
• 37:01
  I just want to ask, like, what, what was that experience like
• 37:04
  for you? And how did you find the courage
• 37:07
  to not give up through that? Because you're, you're, what
• 37:10
  you're doing is you were modeling exactly what it means
• 37:13
  to expand yourself and to really like lean into the training of
• 37:16
  life. Nothing gets past students.
• 37:19
  So they pick up on the good, the bad and the ugly.
• 37:22
  But you know, from your experience, like, yeah, what was
• 37:25
  it like having to show up to school and and undergo all of
• 37:31
  that, but at the same time realize that there is a light at
• 37:34
  the end of the tunnel? How do you get through that?
• 37:36
  Yeah, Thank you, Scott. I don't think, I don't have, I
• 37:41
  don't think I have a, you know, there is a podcast that asks me
• 37:45
  questions like this. So I really appreciate you
• 37:48
  taking that perspective because this is really behind the
• 37:52
  scenes. And I think that's so empowering
• 37:55
  for everybody who does that on their own way.
• 37:59
  In my own experience, it was really difficult, as you know,
• 38:04
  it is for everybody else who are going through grief.
• 38:07
  And for me, losing 3 people in 10 months was even more intense
• 38:12
  because it was my grandma, then four months my dad, and then
• 38:15
  four months my uncle. So it was from five of us to
• 38:18
  just my mom and I, And I had just, you know, I had just came
• 38:22
  back here to America. So my mom was by herself and
• 38:26
  going through so much. And yeah, I remember feeling so
• 38:31
  overwhelmed and feeling like I'm going to survive one more day.
• 38:36
  And at that time, things were going like crazy at school and
• 38:41
  being able to, you know, after the pandemic, especially, the
• 38:44
  kids were not sitting in their seat for six hours.
• 38:49
  And, you know, teachers coming back and having to deal with so
• 38:54
  crazy, you know, so much crazy stuff and so many emotional, you
• 38:59
  know, charges after the pandemic, too.
• 39:02
  So it was really intense. It was very draining.
• 39:08
  I felt like for four months I didn't have the strength to do
• 39:13
  anything else. And I will literally go to work
• 39:17
  and then survive and then come back home and not do anything.
• 39:21
  Because I felt like if I don't talk to people, if I don't
• 39:25
  interact, if I just isolate, my feelings are going to calm down
• 39:30
  and then I'm able to just be myself again.
• 39:33
  And I realized that I was doing that for four months and nothing
• 39:36
  was working. You know, my, my, my depression
• 39:40
  was still there. I was still feeling on the edge
• 39:42
  and I was really tired. I'm like, I don't want to feel
• 39:45
  like this anymore. I want to just expand and feel
• 39:49
  free and just be able to thrive again.
• 39:53
  And that's when you know my practice of changing them.
• 39:55
  You're holding it. You're really keen to being able
• 39:58
  to understand that my circumstances do not define my
• 40:02
  happiness. Even though that's how we felt.
• 40:05
  I really started to see my practice in a different way.
• 40:10
  You know, feeling happy or feeling hopeful, not because
• 40:14
  things are hopeful, because I had to create hope because what,
• 40:18
  what is the other way? There's no other way.
• 40:22
  And just little by little, being able to connect with, you know,
• 40:25
  my community, my Buddhist community was so important at
• 40:28
  that time, really making me understand that everybody goes
• 40:32
  through tough stuff and that's not the end of the world.
• 40:36
  You know, we're going to make through as long as we keep
• 40:38
  moving forward and keep chanting and just keep, you know, making
• 40:43
  causes to really be able to transform.
• 40:46
  And at that time, I remember I had a student that, you know,
• 40:52
  he's graduating this year, but he came to my office because he
• 40:56
  got in trouble. Every time somebody gets in
• 40:58
  trouble, they come to me because I'm just as principal.
• 41:01
  So OK, here we go. And then I'm like, why?
• 41:04
  What's going on? You know why you're not paying
• 41:06
  attention in class? And then he said, because I'm
• 41:09
  afraid that my dad is going to become homeless and he lost his
• 41:15
  job. And I'm afraid that my dad is
• 41:18
  going to become homeless and that he's going to make bad
• 41:20
  choices again. And I don't want that to happen.
• 41:24
  And so I'm like, holy cow, how can I, like, share hope with
• 41:28
  this kid? You know, I'm also feeling
• 41:30
  hopeless too. But I really talked to him and I
• 41:33
  say, you know, don't worry. I really appreciate how much you
• 41:36
  really care for your dad. And that means the world to him,
• 41:39
  regardless of what he's going through.
• 41:41
  He's so lucky to have the general reasons sound like you.
• 41:43
  And please, whatever you you need to, if you need time, if
• 41:47
  you want to talk anything, I'm here for you.
• 41:51
  And yeah, things like, you know, of course, you know, he's, you
• 41:56
  know, his family was able everything is OK.
• 42:00
  But I really felt at that time, he really helped me to
• 42:02
  understand what it means to be hopeful.
• 42:06
  And, you know, little by little, I was able to also create that
• 42:09
  in my own life. And yeah, being able to overcome
• 42:13
  my own sadness and my own grief through the work and really
• 42:21
  being able to study and chanting, connecting with people
• 42:25
  and making causes was such a beautiful foundation that I was
• 42:29
  able to create, not based on fear, but really based on a new
• 42:33
  foundation in my life. So I'm very grateful at the end
• 42:37
  that I had the opportunity to go through that by myself because I
• 42:41
  feel like that gave me a new foundation in my life.
• 42:44
  And I feel like now that I am the continuation of my family,
• 42:49
  you know, being able to do the same things that they have done
• 42:52
  for me. So I see more as a heritage that
• 42:55
  I received from my family and that I want to keep moving
• 42:59
  forward. So yeah, for those, I'm sure
• 43:02
  many, many of educators might, might be going through some
• 43:05
  really tough things. And I appreciate, you know,
• 43:09
  everybody who's doing the hard things and really building that
• 43:12
  foundation in their life. Yeah, it's definitely not easy.
• 43:16
  But I was so tired of feeling like that.
• 43:19
  I'm like, that's it. I, I don't want to feel,
• 43:22
  continue to feel this way. And I think the practice was
• 43:26
  really important for me. The training was very important
• 43:29
  for me to make causes too so. Wow, thank you so much for
• 43:34
  sharing that Ducati. And I I mean, your, your, your
• 43:37
  heart is just so big and expensive.
• 43:40
  But I also just appreciate you sharing very honestly that yeah,
• 43:45
  life gets really heavy, can be very difficult.
• 43:48
  And then you find yourself in in situations where you have to
• 43:53
  make a decision as far as how do you how do you want to show up?
• 43:57
  How do you want to show up for yourself?
• 43:59
  How do you want to show up for others?
• 44:01
  And when you were sharing this story about, about this, this
• 44:05
  student of yours and the student, right, with a lot of
• 44:11
  troubles at home and then feeling comfortable enough to,
• 44:14
  to share that with you, right? Saying, Hey, this is, these are
• 44:17
  some of my, my deep feelings about what's going on.
• 44:20
  And I'm, I'm scared by naming that for you to step into that
• 44:26
  space with that student, right? Basically leaving all of your
• 44:31
  anxieties and fears, but willingly going into the anxiety
• 44:35
  and fears of another person. I feel like that is true empathy
• 44:39
  and and it's never with this sense that I'm going to fix it
• 44:42
  for you, but it's it sounded like you were there as like an
• 44:46
  ally that you were there as a friend.
• 44:49
  You were there to tell them like you're not alone.
• 44:52
  And, and there's something so empowering about that because
• 44:56
  from that, that decision on your part to go there with, with
• 45:01
  this, the student, you probably realize that like that, that
• 45:06
  sparked something within that student to take an action to, to
• 45:11
  say something to, to, to show that hope.
• 45:15
  And, and then that serves as a reminder for you back in your
• 45:19
  world of anxiety and fear and uncertainty that it's possible,
• 45:23
  right? And, and so I feel like this,
• 45:27
  this empathy, this, it's like a superpower, right, that you have
• 45:30
  to really hone, right? And as part of the training, but
• 45:34
  it, it's, it's contrary to what often I think people assume if
• 45:39
  you're going through a lot of stuff, self isolate, right?
• 45:42
  Let, let things let, let the dust settle down.
• 45:46
  When in reality, what you're describing is actually no, like
• 45:49
  there's this is actually the moment where we need to really
• 45:53
  engage with others and think about how can we contribute to
• 45:57
  their lives as well, Because hence that's going to then
• 46:01
  reflect back on ourselves. So you know that that's a really
• 46:05
  powerful example, I think of you really carrying out the work of
• 46:09
  a global citizen, someone who genuinely cares for others is it
• 46:13
  recognizes that interconnectedness and through
• 46:16
  empathy is able to help them take action based on their own
• 46:20
  sense of hope, Not hope that you've necessarily given to
• 46:24
  them, but that they've like unlocked within themselves.
• 46:28
  And so, yeah, I mean, that's just wanted you to know that
• 46:31
  you're doing really amazing work and that, you know, it speaks to
• 46:35
  yeah, so many like that, that heritage, right?
• 46:38
  Or the, the inheritance that you were talking about of so many
• 46:41
  people who also were going through a lot of things but
• 46:45
  willingly decided like, no, Ukati's going through something.
• 46:48
  I I want to be there for her. I want her to know that she's
• 46:51
  important and that she is she deserves all the happiness and
• 46:55
  that she will get through this. And and I just think that, yeah,
• 46:59
  the, the work that you're doing at that school is, is so needed.
• 47:02
  And it's very much presenting itself as a model for I think
• 47:07
  what, what all schools should be striving to do.
• 47:11
  So, you know, I wanted to ask you, well, if, if it's possible
• 47:16
  even, right, this this concept of global citizenship, when,
• 47:20
  when someone asks you if you can just kind of like summarize this
• 47:24
  briefly, how what are some of like the kind of important
• 47:28
  components of global citizenship that you really kind of make
• 47:32
  clear that this is this is what we really need to focus on.
• 47:37
  I think that we've kind of touched upon many different
• 47:39
  things, but if you can kind of bring it together a little bit
• 47:42
  more, that would be, yeah. Very interesting.
• 47:45
  Yeah, thank you so much for for some summarizing of what I
• 47:51
  wanted to share. And I think this component are
• 47:54
  reaching beyond my reality and acting and thinking for the sake
• 48:01
  of others. For me, from my own personal
• 48:04
  experience and from my childhood experience working in soca
• 48:07
  education, not working in living Soca education in my, in my
• 48:11
  life. For me, global citizenship means
• 48:14
  that, you know, being able to have the compassion to reach
• 48:17
  beyond my reality and thinking about the sake of others and for
• 48:23
  the greater good of the other people, you know, the people
• 48:27
  around me and people around the world.
• 48:30
  And for me, that is exactly how I was.
• 48:33
  I was able to breakthrough Scott.
• 48:35
  It wasn't like you know, me, me, me because it was me for four
• 48:39
  months and it didn't work out. I had to think about somebody
• 48:43
  else and thinking about somebody else pushing my limits of what
• 48:49
  felt so uncomfortable to do. Like I would reach out to people
• 48:52
  like, hey, do you guys want to meet up and study?
• 48:55
  And people are like, yes, Yukari, please, I'm struggling.
• 48:59
  And I'm like, no, I gotta go now.
• 49:01
  I already texted them asking, you know, I will literally force
• 49:05
  me to just meet one person on the weekend so I could connect
• 49:10
  and share and really showing up, showing up for other people.
• 49:14
  I wasn't showing up for other. I was showing up for myself.
• 49:18
  And I remember, you know, meeting people and I'm like,
• 49:20
  gosh, you have no idea how, how difficult it was for me for,
• 49:24
  for, to be here. It was so difficult, but I'm so
• 49:27
  happy that I have you to even like have the opportunity to
• 49:31
  just grab something enchant and study.
• 49:35
  And I feel like I'm so fortunate to be able to be here and
• 49:38
  challenge that. So from my own experience, you
• 49:41
  know, like really quibble citizenship is this sense of
• 49:46
  acting, act and compassion to really reach beyond my own
• 49:52
  immediate reality and also understand and learn from, you
• 49:56
  know, one another from their own cultures and create, really
• 50:00
  create an action that can impact both oneself and others in a
• 50:05
  very mutual and positive way. And you know, through studying
• 50:09
  the psychic kid has own sense of global citizenship.
• 50:13
  I was it, it really gave me this framework, right?
• 50:16
  That it's courage, reason, wisdom and compassion and really
• 50:20
  became the foundation elements for global citizenship.
• 50:23
  And it's always like, how can I act?
• 50:25
  How can I base everything on this humanistic framework that
• 50:30
  even though we're so different, but we are all we all have the
• 50:35
  same potential in our lives. And I feel like that gave me the
• 50:40
  empowerment to just really continue to act and work for
• 50:44
  that purpose, to really expand beyond my self centeredness and
• 50:50
  really help me to become a better person and overcome my
• 50:53
  own sense of, you know, challenges as well.
• 50:56
  Thank you so much that I, I, I love what you shared and how you
• 50:59
  shared it. And, you know, it's backed by so
• 51:02
  many rich experiences that you've had to really like
• 51:07
  overcome and, you know, prove to yourself and the sense that
• 51:12
  like, you know, you, you can do so much more than you realize.
• 51:16
  And you know, it's not just about you kind of paving this
• 51:21
  new path forward, but you also have you bring with you so many
• 51:24
  others and your efforts of like showing up for for other people
• 51:29
  in a way also is showing up for yourself, right?
• 51:32
  They're, they're so connected and yeah.
• 51:36
  And so it's just very encouraging to to hear you share
• 51:39
  that and then a nice reminder for myself as well in terms of
• 51:43
  things that I need to breakthrough in my life too.
• 51:45
  So thank you so much, Ducati. And you know, we're kind of
• 51:49
  starting to get to the tail end of our conversation.
• 51:52
  It's been so wonderful to to hear about your, your exciting
• 51:55
  journey of, you know, living in different parts of the world,
• 51:59
  but at the same time deeply engaging with communities around
• 52:04
  you, with young people striving together, you know, going
• 52:08
  through hard times and also very, very joyful times.
• 52:12
  As you're expanding this learning environment and
• 52:15
  extending soca education to, yeah, the school and, and the
• 52:20
  wider Orange County area, I wanted to ask final question.
• 52:25
  This is the book or movie recommendation.
• 52:28
  So, anything you'd like to share to the listeners?
• 52:32
  Yeah, I, I think there's so much people and examples that really
• 52:41
  can talk more about what it means to be an educator who
• 52:46
  cares for the long term happiness of the students and
• 52:51
  books and, you know, movies that really help me to also think
• 52:56
  about my own biases and really worked around the things that I
• 52:59
  needed to work for. One of my favorite movies and
• 53:05
  kind of organizations that I love and I feel like they really
• 53:09
  embody that is the Freedom Riders.
• 53:12
  I'm sure you probably heard about them.
• 53:14
  And yeah, I, I usually bring, they usually come to my school
• 53:19
  every year to work with the kids talking about social emotional
• 53:24
  learning and everything. So I'm so excited that this
• 53:27
  partnership kept going. And yeah, she was, she came for
• 53:32
  my masters as a professor and we were able to spend 3-4 days
• 53:37
  together just really talking and understanding what he means to,
• 53:42
  you know, be that kind of educator that Erin Growl is.
• 53:45
  So I highly recommend for your writers and for biases As an
• 53:49
  educator. One of my favorite movies is A
• 53:53
  Monster. It's a Japanese movie that talks
• 53:58
  about biases and for any educator in the world, I highly
• 54:02
  recommend. This recommendation came from
• 54:05
  one of my best friends from Soka School in Brazil.
• 54:08
  Shout out to Louise. He's doing his PhD at Sok
• 54:11
  University in Japan right now. But he recommended me this movie
• 54:15
  and it's just incredible. Highly recommend you Scott to
• 54:18
  watch as well. And one book that I was thinking
• 54:22
  was also it's it's in Portuguese.
• 54:25
  So maybe you can read, but it's about positive education.
• 54:30
  You know, I really, I'm really interested in how we can bring
• 54:33
  the best from the students. And as an assistant principal, I
• 54:37
  have to deal with consequences and discipline very often.
• 54:42
  And what I learned from this book, but also working at, you
• 54:46
  know, the school together with my principal, is that the best
• 54:50
  way that we can bring the best is by praising the students.
• 54:54
  Praise, praise, praise not because sometimes that they
• 54:57
  deserve, but because we're praising the humanity of the
• 55:00
  student. And when you praise them, when
• 55:02
  you see them, that's the way that they can, they bring their
• 55:05
  best self and they are able to relax and just be the best
• 55:08
  versions of themselves. I see that all the time, year
• 55:11
  after year. I have kids with so much, you
• 55:14
  know, they struggle being to school, but through this
• 55:16
  positive framework and by praising their humanity, we're
• 55:21
  able to really bring, bring that, you know, positivity in
• 55:25
  the people's life. So there's a book that is called
• 55:29
  Angry Angryness doesn't educate calm educates.
• 55:34
  So as in Portuguese, I don't know if English wise it makes
• 55:38
  sense, but it's really about this positive framework and as
• 55:42
  educators, how we can really bring the best into students and
• 55:46
  really by praising their humanity.
• 55:48
  That's what I've been learning at the school.
• 55:51
  And yeah, I'm so grateful to continue to learn from my kids
• 55:56
  and continue to learn from you, and I'm excited to be here
• 56:00
  today. Yeah, thank you so much Ukadi
• 56:03
  for those recommendations. I have seen Freedom Riders, but
• 56:08
  I, I have not seen Monster yet. So at first I thought you were
• 56:12
  going to say Monsters Inc like the Pixar movie.
• 56:14
  No, but this is this is different.
• 56:16
  So I'll look into that. Thank you so much Ducati for,
• 56:19
  for taking the time to be on my podcast and see, share your
• 56:22
  journey and share your incredible insights and these
• 56:26
  really touching moments of interacting with with your
• 56:31
  students and your, your, your fellow educators and being an
• 56:35
  example of like what it means to persevere, what it means to, you
• 56:40
  know, create hope from from nothing and just showing up for
• 56:44
  others. I think that's so important,
• 56:46
  that's so needed in the world that we live in where again,
• 56:49
  self isolation and kind of like apathy is really just, I don't
• 56:54
  know, rampant, you know, given the very troubled times that
• 56:57
  we're living in. And so choosing not to shy away
• 57:01
  from that and really decide I want I'm, I'm right there with
• 57:05
  you. I'm right there praising you,
• 57:07
  praising your humanity, the way you phrase it.
• 57:09
  I love that. And letting you know that for
• 57:12
  whatever you need, I'll be here. I think that is the mark of a
• 57:17
  truly humanistic educator. So wanted to give you the last
• 57:20
  word. Any final thoughts or send offs
• 57:22
  that you'd like to share as we wrap up this conversation?
• 57:26
  Yeah, so, you know, I've been working at the school and it's
• 57:30
  called International School for Science and Culture.
• 57:32
  We doubled, you know, the number of students at our school and I
• 57:37
  feel like it's an amazing opportunity for anyone who like
• 57:40
  to come and visit and do any exchange program.
• 57:43
  We're so open to really partner with different people.
• 57:46
  And yeah, just in a nutshell, we do the trial and education, the
• 57:52
  project based learning is so important and STEM education.
• 57:56
  We cannot be citizens nor global citizens if we don't understand,
• 58:00
  you know, technology, engineering.
• 58:02
  So it's very important. And yeah, we're doing some
• 58:05
  really serious hands on work with the kids.
• 58:08
  So I would like to keep the invitation open.
• 58:11
  If there's any educator who like to partner, visit, contribute in
• 58:16
  their own way, doing workshops, whatever, we are here to have to
• 58:21
  continue to have the partnership.
• 58:23
  And yeah, I'm so grateful for this podcast.
• 58:25
  Thank you so much, Scott, for the opportunity for me to share,
• 58:29
  you know, my own thoughts and my own experience.
• 58:31
  And yeah, I look forward to more partnerships.
• 58:35
  And yes, all the best for your podcasts and for everybody who's
• 58:38
  listening. Good work.
• 58:40
  Keep going. You got this.
• 58:43
  And yes, love for humanity and peace.
• 58:45
  Thank you.