Don Quijote Dialogue 2 (with Amable) – D57

I have been a “little” sick and my nose was dropping like a faucet, so I didn’t enjoy too much the Don Quijote dialogue. Today Karen joined us and brought Manchego cheese, quince jelly, and crackers (very thoughtful and Spaniard). Ana Isa also joined us for the dialogue. We discussed chapters IV and VI.

Later, we went to see the new MPC space and to visualize what we would like it to be and make a wish list. After that, it was lunchtime and I went home since I was sick. 

I’m thankful for… – D48

As I already told you, we decided to move the Thanksgiving activity for until everybody was at the MPC. We gathered and circled up at around 10:30 and started to say what we were thankful for. It was a great activity, very emotional, and there was a lot of crying (only the ladies). I liked it a lot, and it made me reflect of what I’m truly thankful for. It was kind of difficult to put it into words, but when I finally said it, it was great. Just seeing everybody share what they are thankful made the environment a very trustful one.

What I said was this, “Well, I’m thankful for being me, for having the capacity to actually think for myself, the capacity to make decisions, and with what Javier just mentioned, I mean I was trying to put this into words and I think you explained it very very well. I mean this series, I don’t know if I can call them coincidences, but as Alejo was saying, I mean we were studying economics and we were only three semesters from graduating and while as different from Alejo I did started the semester, but then we encountered in the faculty and we started talking about the assignations and all that stuff and he mentioned the MPC, and then while, I mean, the whole Deirdre McCloskey dialogue was like a huge coincidence for me, because I then realized that when I saw you guys and the group, I knew it would be a great group, so it encouraged me to actually make that move from what I was studying and get to the MPC. Well, actually it was the whole day. At first I attended the conference of Deirdre McCloskey and then went to the dialogue, and after it… I mean, I was working with this idea of education the whole year and when we had the dialogue (although it was not the best one (laughs)), but after I was talking with Bert, I mean it was just a, I don’t know if a coincidence of events that led me to actually make the decision that I was going to get to the MPC. And of course, for my family for supporting me. I’m thankful for that. And yeah, I’m thankful for being here, for having the capacity to reason, and to I mean, practically live with you guys and learn from you and from the people around me.”

I say a lot “I mean” haha. 

Culture of Learning and Unschooling – Dialogue with Dale Stephens, D3

Is the actual educational system good? Is college the only way of learning? This is what the MPC is all about. It is about finding new ways of learning, of creating a new culture of learning, a student-centered and self-directed learning. The traditional, teacher-centered, educational system is becoming more obsolete every day that passes. So, what is the future of education? That’s what we are trying to change at MPC. It is about learning how to learn, becoming a self-learner. On Thursday, we had Dale Stephens, a Thiel Fellow, as a guest on our dialogue. We discussed his new project, UnCollege, and his upcoming book, Hacking your Education. He thinks college is not the only way to become an educated person nor that college is the best way to do it. He is in favor of unschooling, of letting oneself discover and learn by life experiences.

What is a Pioneer? – Dialogue with Amable Sánchez, D2

“Si no sabemos lo que somos, ¿cómo podemos saber lo demás? (“If we don’t know who we are, how can we know the rest?”)

- Amable Sánchez

We had the privilege to have a dialogue with Amable Sánchez, a passionate for Don Quijote de la Mancha, and a great Spanish scholar. The subject was to discover what is really a pioneer. Before, I thought that a pioneer is a visionary, someone who dares to think differently, that leads the path and takes risks, an adventurous. While discussing with Amable, he told us the following Latin expression. “Nosce te ipsum”, which means “to know thyself”. It seems so simple, but at the same time so complex and abstract. How do we get to know ourselves? What is to know oneself? Life is a process to discover who one really is, and in this process one must take adventures in order to cross the sea.  

First day at MPC – D1

The day finally arrived. After happiness, skepticism, joy, anxiety, and excitement, it was our first day at the Michael Polanyi College. The day started perfectly. I woke up around 5:15 a.m. and was at the College just 10 minutes before 7 a.m. We all had breakfast together and just chat, getting to know each other a little better. There were a few students who I already knew and of course many others that I was seeing for the first time. Also there was Bert and Ingrid, our mentors throughout this journey. After breakfast, we made a dynamic about the 7 dispositions, questioning, and habits of mind we will be working through the next three years. It was interesting to see how different opinions were given although we only knew each other minutes before. Then, Bert gave us our “survival kit” for the MPC, which contained play dough, a couple of laces, a small Rubik’s cube, tissues (for cleaning the future tears I assume), a notebook, a pencil, an eraser, and post-its. We then, discussed the use of each element in our survival kit and gave a true meaning to each of them, which at first seem to be random objects. 

Later, we read our first assignment, a two-minute speech about our dreams. We also had to read before this day "Let your life speak", by Parker Palmer. This book is about finding your true vocation, your mission in this world, the meaning of your life. It was great that we started the MPC doing this, because this way you can get to know each member a little more, you can share your dreams and passions, and start building a culture of respect and support toward the mission everyone has. By the way, here is my speech!

On the afternoon, we saw the documentary, "Anatomy of a dancer", about the life of Gene Kelly, one of the best dancers in the XX century. To be honest, before watching this film I didn’t like nor appreciate too much dancing, but something changed my mind after this film. It was Gene’s passion for everything related to dancing. Dancing was his world, his life. It made me wonder if people could really find their true vocation and passion, as Parker Palmer’s book is about. I wonder how many people live without ever finding what’s their true vocation and only do what they think society think they should do, such as getting into college, finding a nice work that probably they don’t like but that pays enough to live well, creating a family, and settling for the rest of their life. What about what they like? Have they forgotten what is really their passion? Have they lost their creativity and settle with how the world “needs” them to be? Are they happy? Will they ever be happy? I don’t know any of those questions, but I certainly know that I don’t want to become one of them. I want to live every day of my life doing what I am passionate for. I want to explore my creativity, grow my intellect, and be really good at what I do, fulfilling my goals and dreams throughout my life.

So, this is how my day ended, a little tired but good tired. Like those days you know you are productive and feel no regrets at all of having wasted not a single moment of your day.

Why I want to be an MPC Pioneer

Written on August 17^th, 2012

A few months ago, I started thinking that my education so far, at school and at the university, hasn’t been so good. I have learned many things, but never the essential abilities to actually think by myself. Most of the important things I’ve learned happened outside the classroom, and in my perspective that’s not the only way it is supposed to be.

I started learning about this new culture of learning, student-centered, in a seminar with Albert. Although it was a very good seminar, I encountered that almost none of my other courses had that focus. I came to realize that most of my classmates are only studying at UFM because they want their title in order to get a job, making the class and learning environment mediocre and without a good system of incentives to learn. The saddest part is that most teachers don’t care at all. They are fine just the way the system is, and they don’t care if most of the classmates take the university as a joke, wasting their time and only simulating they have learned something.

I don’t want my education to keep on that track. I want to learn in an environment in which students are there because they want to become a better and more prepared person. I believe in this system because nobody is here for a piece of paper or because someone else told them to be here, but by their own conviction and desire to learn.

I want to really know what is my passion, become a more educated person, and learn how to learn what I like. I believe this program will allow me to do that. I think this as a great opportunity to improve my education, learn the abilities to reach my lifetime goals, and become a better person.