Today I am humbled and extremely grateful to everyone for helping me reach a milestone of 10,000 Facebook fans. I would not be here without the help of my family, friends, multiple organizations, and of course, all the teachers and English learners around the world who have promoted my work. Thank you all SO MUCH for supporting my vision of learning through real-life context and visual arts. You have all helped change the way we think about education in this digital age- both in learning and teaching.
For some people, 10,000 fans may not be a lot, but for me, it's something I never dreamed of, so every single one of you is a big deal to me!
I want to share a story with you all. When I first had a vision to create this blog, I was a terrible drawer!! Below are my first few drawings of my logo, which was my first illustration for this blog. I have never shown these to anyone because, as you can see, they are not great at all!!! I remember clearly sitting at my desk, feeling very down and telling my husband, "Why did I think I could do this? I can't even draw a simple face!" He told me that everything takes time and I needed to believe in myself and have patience. I had so many lesson ideas, which I wrote down in my "ideas" notebook every day, but I could not make them come to life. I knew that no one would understand my vision until I took full control of everything. So I practiced A LOT until my fingers hurt, taking every opportunity to draw anything, including my family members. Then I started to learn Photoshop in my free time by watching YouTube lessons and reading books. It was only in August 2014 that I started to design and illustrate. Today, four months later, I've achieved things I never thought I could achieve.
For some people, 10,000 fans may not be a lot, but for me, it's something I never dreamed of, so every single one of you is a big deal to me!
I want to share a story with you all. When I first had a vision to create this blog, I was a terrible drawer!! Below are my first few drawings of my logo, which was my first illustration for this blog. I have never shown these to anyone because, as you can see, they are not great at all!!! I remember clearly sitting at my desk, feeling very down and telling my husband, "Why did I think I could do this? I can't even draw a simple face!" He told me that everything takes time and I needed to believe in myself and have patience. I had so many lesson ideas, which I wrote down in my "ideas" notebook every day, but I could not make them come to life. I knew that no one would understand my vision until I took full control of everything. So I practiced A LOT until my fingers hurt, taking every opportunity to draw anything, including my family members. Then I started to learn Photoshop in my free time by watching YouTube lessons and reading books. It was only in August 2014 that I started to design and illustrate. Today, four months later, I've achieved things I never thought I could achieve.
 |  |  |  |
I am, in no way, the best illustrator or a perfect drawer, I just wanted to share what I have learned: you can accomplish anything as long as you keep trying even through failure. Although I was very pessimistic about my abilities at first, if I had given up after I discovered I was terrible at drawing, my notebook of ideas would still be sitting on my desk. Now all those ideas have come to life and into your classrooms, homes, and schools. Everything takes hard work if you want to get somewhere. This is what I have learned and seen through my parents, my family, and my husband.
So please, if you have a dream, don't be lazy and don't give up on it just because of your age, your background, your education, your limited resources. If your dream is to speak English fluently, then take advantage of every possible resource out there. We are lucky to live in such a digital age where there are many things for us to learn from, use and share with each other ....all for free! Just don't give up too quickly, give it another shot! Even if you tried and it didn't work out again and again, at least you'll know you tried.
Related Lessons:
Things That Are Orange
Describing Your Symptoms
Saying You're Welcome
So please, if you have a dream, don't be lazy and don't give up on it just because of your age, your background, your education, your limited resources. If your dream is to speak English fluently, then take advantage of every possible resource out there. We are lucky to live in such a digital age where there are many things for us to learn from, use and share with each other ....all for free! Just don't give up too quickly, give it another shot! Even if you tried and it didn't work out again and again, at least you'll know you tried.
Related Lessons:
Things That Are Orange
Describing Your Symptoms
Saying You're Welcome
RSS Feed
