Jasmin Geografo- On science, Philippines, and ice cream

This episode begins with some women-on-the-street interviews asking two questions:

1- When you graduated from high school, what was it like? What did you expect your life would look like?
2. Did things turn out the way you expected?

Jazmin Geografo left the city of Manilla, Philippines (population 21 million)  to try her hand at teaching science in the United States, specifically, the small town of Knappa, Oregon, (population 1800)

 Originally, she sought to become a journalist major, but plans changed when she wasn't admitted to her preferred school. 

Listen in to her passion for teaching and cultural changes she's adjusted to. 

And her fun final activity for her students- making ice cream! 

Subscribe to the Women of the Northwest podcast for inspiring stories and adventures.
Find me on my website: jan-johnson.com

Transcript

Jan Johnson  00:02

Hello, listeners. Welcome to Episode 32 of women of the Northwest. Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Jasmine Geografo. She is a science teacher that came to us through the  cultural exchange from the Philippines. Welcome, Jasmine. 

Jazmin  00:23

Hi. 

Jan Johnson  00:25

So nice to have you here today.

Jazmin  00:27

Thank you. Of course, it is a pleasure to share my experiences in store you and your podcast. 

Jan Johnson  00:32

yeah. I had the pleasure my husband and I had the pleasure of having Jasmine stay with us for a couple of weeks in January when she first came to the United States until her apartment was ready. So that's where I first knew her.    So we are very lucky to have her. So Jasmine, tell me about living in the Philippines. What are some things that you see are really different here from their

Jazmin  01:07

living in the Philippines is a rollercoaster ride of different or various experiences every single day, like from the hassle commute, to meeting people that you know along the way. They're also commuting, plus the food like a lot of food that are very much easily available to you. And of course, the bonding of your family and your friends. I came from Manila, which is an overpopulated city. There are like if I'm not mistaken, 9 million Oh my people on a single piece of land. That is along with high rise buildings, informal settlers, public transportation and all So living in here in Astoria. It is such a refreshing feeling of being around with nature, a lot of trees, mountains, falls River in the sea. So I'm I'm really loving it here. Yeah, it is. Very interesting break from the city life that I used to live in

Jan Johnson  02:24

rain, right? Oh, gosh, I can't even imagine living in a place with that many people. I almost moved at one time to Oakland. It's near San Francisco. And I got down there and I was so overwhelmed with how large it was. No, I can't do this and came back to the little town to live here and said, What was your high school like that you grew up that you went to school? How large was it?

Jazmin  02:52

I studied in a public high school with like 1000 graduating students. I was very interested with journalism at that time. Oh, I was editor in chief for our school publication or school newspaper. Oh, fun. When I was in third year, they usually give the position to a senior. But they got it when I was in a junior level. The core memories of my high school were all those journalism competitions. Oh, yeah. I really enjoyed writing. I focused on feature writing, because I think it is the most creative. Yeah, sigh side of journalism, where you can actually use news and express it creatively so that your readers can relate.

Jan Johnson  03:54

Yeah, yeah. I didn't know that about you. So that's something that you could use at Knappa, also too, I would love to Yeah, did they know that you couldn't do that or you need to share that with them because I would be just a wonderful, wonderful experience for kids. What? What led you to wanting to go into sciences?

Jazmin  04:20

I didn't want to go into sciences. I was hoping to get a degree in journalism really, or in mass communication or in speech and theatre arts. Oh, like, I just it is more in linguistics part than on your rational on your rational critical thinking skills Science Board. I didn't get the entrance exam for journalism at a certain university and that broke my heart. Oh my god. When I realized it over the years. It's just God is leading me to something greater than that. And I pursued biology, which is so weird, because when I was in high school, this is really a funny story. Yeah, I got the highest final grade in biology, really. And then the brightest student in our class was doubting it like, I am the one going to school competitions for representing our school against biology, please be referred by logic newbies. And then why are you the one with the highest rate? I am supposed to be the highest grade. I was like, I didn't know. And then he said that you don't deserve that grade. So I can, I did actually message to him that, hey, I got the biology. Now you're questioning me? Yeah. But we have entrance exams in the State University. When you were in first year, and my friend invited me to take the entrance exam for biology, okay, for the qualifying exam. And then okay, I just go with the flow. Okay, so we have more options. And then the essay portion was about the reproductive health meal. Okay. And then before that qualifying exam, I came from a linguistics class, right, that has an activity of a debate about reproductive health.

Jan Johnson  06:56

We're all prepared, I was

Jazmin  06:58

all prepared for it. And I already memorized this law, what are the predicaments of people about it? What are the ground rules or laws or when this will be implemented? I have it all figured out. I just kept on writing and writing and writing. I ended up in biology. Like, and then my biology professor at that time also encouraged me to, you know, you should take the biology program. Okay. After your prerequisites, yeah, with the biology program. And when he told my parents about it, they were very excited about Yeah. Because you can actually dive into many professions. When you have biology degree to medicine, you can do a search, of course. And the academe? Yeah, go for biology. Yeah. It's like when I think back, when I recall those moments, those little experiences that God gave me there were, they were all like puzzle pieces

Jan Johnson  08:14

that put together to put together

Jazmin  08:16

for a bigger picture for bigger, more grand plan for

Jan Johnson  08:22

me. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. So did he teach science in the Philippines to

Jazmin  08:29

I thought science into food beans,

Jan Johnson  08:31

and how did those classes compare to here?

Jazmin  08:36

First off, as I think the discipline the Philippine schools are highly bureaucratic. There were a lot of protocols on who to meet when this is the problem on who to approach when you got the certain student disciplinary issues, highly bureaucratic, but in here, you can actually talk to everyone about it, and they will help you in it. And that is a very good experience for me, because by then I can actually solve issues quickly and handle them professionally. And when it comes to students, the Filipino students, they are there is like a hidden, not hidden but the teacher and the student are not that close to each other.

Jan Johnson  09:51

You don't become personal with your students.

Jazmin  09:53

Exactly. That's because there are a lot in the classroom.

Jan Johnson  09:57

How many students do you have in a classroom?

Jazmin  09:59

I The smallest class size could be 3530. And then for public school, the students can be as large as 770 students, students.

Jan Johnson  10:14

Oh, by yourself.

10:15

I yourself. Oh, that sounds awful. Sounds

Jazmin  10:21

so you don't have enough time, energy and resources to get to know them personally,

Jan Johnson  10:27

right? Yeah. But even they keep track of their grades and

Jazmin  10:30

Exactly. Wow, yeah.

Jan Johnson  10:34

Wow. That's a lot. I get this a lot. And then, but Okay, so when Ed and I went to Tanzania, and we sat in on some schools, some high schools, you know, but I mean, the classes were not that large, but they were maybe 35 or 40 students. But those students came in and they didn't talk to each other. And they just sat down, and they were ready to learn. And I mean, they had like, it was really, I, my mouth dropped open. Because it wasn't like here, were they all coming in? And they're all talking and it's hard to get them settled in and get them started. And to do that, but is that like that in the Philippines where the students are? Just come in ready to learn? Or are they is it hard to get them all settled in and

Jazmin  11:23

some classes, they're just easy to settle in, because these are the competitive classes,

Jan Johnson  11:34

right? And they want to learn and they want to want to learn.

Jazmin  11:37

And I am totally different as a teacher in the Philippines, as I am a teacher in here. Like, I am not the nicest teacher that you'll ever meet, when I always seem to. Because I had to be because those kids are a lot like they are 40 to 45 in a class, if you're just trying to be nice to them to be friendly to them to get to know them personally, they might cross boundaries, right? It will be a lot of headache for classroom management, right? So that's it, they just come prepared, ready to learn in the class, they don't actually read their notes, they know that they will share what they have read, which means that we get they have an idea on what we are what we will be talking about the biology chemistry class. But in here, since there are smaller class size, I really enjoyed getting to know the kids personally. It's a good cultural experience for me. I get to know what they do on the weekends.

Jan Johnson  12:52

You probably found out some different things because I'm guessing that your students in the Philippines we're not going out hunting on the weekend.

Jan Johnson  13:01

Or owned guns or were fishing or

Jazmin  13:06

the freshmen were like, Mr. Josh, let's go hunting. And I was like, Wait, are we allowed to go? Because no one is allowed to own guns or ya know, to be in the field shooting animals just like that. Yeah, it's totally okay.

Jan Johnson  13:24

To bring that brings up another thing. How is it for you? Let's compare. In America, how often there have been school shootings, and is that something that happens generally in the Philippines or not? Let's talk about that a little bit.

Jazmin  13:43

That is not happening in the Philippines. There are cases of extrajudicial killings, but it has something to do with the government policies and war on drugs. Okay, so those are targeted people. But when it comes to school, by the way, the International Court is actually looking through that extrajudicial killings. They're being taken care of by the school shootings. This mass shootings never happens in the Philippines. Yeah. Schools are the safest place to be with and even churches that you don't expect someone to just shoot and kill you. On a normal Sunday.

Jan Johnson  14:43

Yeah. So that must have been a little disturbing.

Jazmin  14:47

It's disturbing for me and for my parents, like being away from home right when they have read this news that they were shootings in elementary school they will Have you experienced the lockdown? Are you doing the lockdown drill? And then? Yes, you are. And I don't think the students deserve that. Because in other places, it's not. It's not happening. It's not a thing. Yeah.

Jan Johnson  15:17

Yeah. Who, who? Okay, so you've got your classes and you're doing? Are you doing any electives besides that? So you've got you're doing biology and physiology, no. Integrated, integrated science

Jazmin  15:34

and science.

Jan Johnson  15:35

Okay. And there's science, what do you enjoy the most?

Jazmin  15:39

I enjoyed the furthered science, what I enjoyed the most is how mature the students are, when you present them with a topic that requires their critical thinking skills. I once tried doing scientific essay, and I was surprised by their opinions on global change. Okay. Yeah, it was a new perspective for me, because I just thought, though, you know, you can, the government can try this policy is that's what that is what I have in my mind when I was drafting the rubrics. But they came up with something personnel, like, as far as I can remember. They are saying that the people should act collectively. which needs to be something like a revolution within themselves. They just have this self awareness on how they can contribute to help solve a problem. But without the self awareness. The government policies will just be a waste, right? That's the source of all therapy. Oh, wow.

Jan Johnson  17:09

Yeah, and encourage that something you want to encourage for them as young adults turning into young adults. So you got to do a fun project with your freshmen. Tell us all about that.

Jazmin  17:24

I visited Portland during Easter with my friends and they took me to salt and straw. It's an ice cream parlor. They have weird flavors, but actually ended up tasting so good. Like strawberry vinegar. And honey lavender. Oh, for an ice cream. Yeah. You only hear that for like scented candles, but they have. And then there was limited edition. flavors of ice cream. Okay. It says their students student inventor series. Oh, yeah. Oh, and then when you read that, I was just like, I am doing that on my class. I'm gonna imitate or copy that implemented in my class for a final exam. So my freshman class, we discussed about, you know, physical changes, chemical reactions. And scientific method that can be used in the lab. Yeah. So for their final exam this semester, I asked them to do their own limited edition ice cream,

Jan Johnson  18:42

flavor ice cream, how fun is from

Jazmin  18:45

planning, to executing it, modifying it? They were just called Food Science. Yeah. They were just so excited about it. Like they were discussing that, no, it has to be something like only our group can make. So they, they ended up with so many interesting flavors of ice cream.

Jan Johnson  19:11

So now your next step would be to present it to freet and scoop here. Surya that has, you know, unique flavors. Yeah, that would be really fun. Yeah, and

Jazmin  19:24

then I just realized that in doing that activities, when you give students their autonomy to learn how they want to learn. It will be an exciting experience for them right? In learning and the teacher doesn't have to do all of the work. Right? Right. Right. You can just come up with one big idea. And this is gonna be

Jan Johnson  19:55

one thing that they'll always remember. Ya know, they may not remember or chapter 22 science book, but they're gonna remember this, this activity. So tell me more about the exchange program. How would a person find out about that or what? You know how that works?

Jazmin  20:15

Day one cultural exchange program is a cultural exchange program between the United States and the Philippines. They do not only do it for the teachers, they also do it for doctors. Oh, for students for researchers. Yeah. And then this opportunity can be open to anyone that are currently teaching.

Jan Johnson  20:52

Okay, so it goes both directions. So someone from the States could also go to the Philippines. That's

Jazmin  21:01

okay. But mostly, I think it's from Philippines to United. Oh, I

Jan Johnson  21:05

see. Okay. And so is there a cost to it? Yeah, do a cost to apply or a cost to, you know, be a part of the program.

Jazmin  21:18

There's a cost to apply for the program, which is so minimal. If you'll only find the right person to connect with, because they have access to the school districts needing teaching positions. I say, yeah, they are going to help you prepare mentally, emotionally if you really want this program.

Jan Johnson  21:43

Right. Right. Yeah. So so far, you've been here for one semester. Are you feeling anxious and ready to begin next year?

Jazmin  21:52

I am actually excited to begin next year. Yeah. Yeah. From cleaning the lab to organizing everything in the lab, to making the science room. Personalized for me? What will I be needing when I teach science? I need to figure that out for the next semester.

Jan Johnson  22:16

So you will, for sure be here next year. And yeah. What about? Do you have other friends that are in the Philippines that you would encourage to come here? Yeah. Yeah, I think we need a math teacher. Music teacher?

Jazmin  22:34

Yeah. Well, I would say that being in the cultural exchange program takes a lot of work. It is not easy to send out applications, it is not easy to wait for the response of their applications. I think if I may get if I may get more spiritual thing, things will actually work out if the opportunity is for you. Right? If not, if it didn't work out the first time. If it keeps on failing, it means that

Jan Johnson  23:12

the doors closing

Jazmin  23:15

something out, there will be no more exciting for you a more fit opportunity for you. Yeah, yes. And I was anxious when I applied in this program thinking if I could make you thinking if I could be away from my family and friends. Yeah. But one thing I realized that I am still living by now is you don't have to believe everything that your brain tells you. Okay, because our brain is actually adapted, or has evolved from survival instincts. When they have to preserve their life to save their life, and they're living out in the wilderness. And that's the same thing that's happening now. Like, your brain will tell you not to do it, because it will not be safe. You will not feel comfortable about doing it. And you don't have to believe everything that it tells. You should just surpass you should just make that obstacle away for you. Yeah, yeah. And when you actually surpass that certain obstacle or challenge you will look back and say to yourself that Whoa, they didn't all of that away from 7000 miles.

Jan Johnson  24:44

Alone. Right, right. Yeah. You met the challenge. Yeah. What? Okay, when you first came or even the time that you've been here so far, have you felt like people have been welcoming to you or is there something that that, that you would recommend that people did to make people, you know, newcomers feel more, welcome more.

Jazmin  25:09

I was blessed to be in a place that all the people, all in the community are just welcoming. I think I am really in the right place at the right time. They are so welcoming, like all of the Napa community are so hospitable. I didn't feel so welcomed like this even before. Like, it has become easy for me because there were people showing up for me on the days that, you know, I can even show myself. And this people are gaining their generals, and they just love helping people without expecting something in return.

Jan Johnson  26:03

Yeah, yeah, it is. I think it's a good community on the whole Yeah, it

Jazmin  26:08

is a good thing. Yeah. And the kids are the same. They are always checking up on me like, especially on the first few weeks that they have. Yeah, like, Hi, mister. Somebody need anything. Okay. Like, yeah, yeah, I

Jan Johnson  26:26

hope you haven't felt any type of prejudice. Have you?

Jazmin  26:31

I haven't. I haven't. Yeah, they were very welcoming. They are very specially with the kids in here. They are very vocal on what they think of you. Yeah. No Filter. No filters. Exactly. Yeah. And I think I think that, you know, I'm starting to love the community to love the people in here.

Jan Johnson  27:05

Yeah. And it takes a while to get to know places. Yeah. When when everything is. What do you look forward to doing the summer?

Jazmin  27:14

I'm looking forward to do a lot of trails. I would love to go camping out in the woods.

Jan Johnson  27:22

Try that. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that'll be fun. It'll be fun. Anything else you'd like to share with us? Um, I think that's it. Okay. All right. Well, thank you so much. For all your story. I'm especially excited to hear about your journalism interests. Some of that, but I'll have to put that to good use.

Jan Johnson  27:48

All right. Well, thank you jazz. Thank you, Jen.