3 minute read
Arjan Aguirre
Mia Cruz
WRITTEN BY BILLIE ASUNCION
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AFTER NEARLY two years, no professor or student is a stranger any longer to the struggles that come with online learning. Every member of the Loyola Schools (LS) community has faced their share of growing pains when it comes to adjusting to the new setup brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For professors, this can take the form of struggling to reach out to students and make a meaningful connection amid the demand and mental strain of requirements. However, being able to invest in students’ well being is more important now than ever before. In Mia Cruz’s case, this struggle is exacerbated by teaching Ateneans while living in the United States.
Cruz is currently a Theology lecturer in the Ateneo. Despite the distance, she is able to make genuine, grounded connections with her students when teaching. She credits her ability to do so to the fact that with Ateneans, she can feel more comfortable— and that teaching in Ateneo feels like coming home.
AN INSTANT “YES”
While she has been living in the United States since 2004, Cruz returned to the Philippines in 2019 to teach in Ateneo during the Intersession term. She was meant to return the following year, but these plans ended up not panning out in the way she expected them to due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Cruz found a way to return anyway. When a fellow Theology professor approached Cruz in August 2020 with an offer to teach the Discerning Life Questions (DLQ) course fully online, she stated that she did not take too much time to think on her answer. “It was almost automatically a yes,” she says. handle teaching the course—especially in an online setting—her desire to come home to Ateneo overpowered her fear.
With this, she mentioned that being able to teach the course has been a blessing. One of her greatest realizations after teaching online classes is learning that, while she can be an online teacher, it is just as impressive that Ateneans can, in turn, be online students. “It amazes me that I can still be with my students in a way that’s real, authentic, and sincere,” she shares.
THE CAPACITY TO ADAPT
While Cruz is able to deliver her lessons with genuinity and grace, there are issues that she faces that are unique to her position as an online teacher based overseas. Notably, she cites that the difference in time zones between the Philippines and the United States poses a challenge for her. However, over the months of teaching, she has discovered her capacity to adapt to the online setting.
In particular, she observes that sharing in her students’ struggles and relating with them on a deeper level is the key to bridging the gap and making a meaningful impact during class together. This includes their shared struggles in online learning, as well as their goals and achievements.
“I learn so much from my students. A lot of the things that I ask you to do, I do too, [and] I’m interested in those too,” she says.
GROWING INTO ONESELF
With the slow yet steady shift back to on-site classes, Cruz finds that she is once again asking herself if she can continue teaching. Still, despite uncertainty, she is sure in her ability to connect with her students. something that will give me the chance to be there for my students,” she says.
In line with this, she shares that Ateneo is, and always will be, a home to her. Much like how a home functions, it is not a place that she goes to, but a place that she comes from. She notes that for a home that she has not been to in a while as is the case with Ateneo, she feels that she can return with a new sense of self that she feels that she has grown into over the years.
“I get to come home to that, and I get to come from that too. It’s not just the place, it’s the bonds I formed with my students, which I will always be grateful for,” she says.
Part of me is thinking, ‘Can I do this for life? How can I still serve Ateneo even if I’m far away?’ But I trust that there will always be something that will give me the chance to be there for my students.
