2020.08.26 学校生活

Hello everyone! My name is Miguel Tapia, and I am from the Philippines. I am currently the sub-homeroom teacher of the Grade 7 Immersion class, and also teach English to grades 7, 8, 10 and 12.

Before coming to Assumption Kokusai four years ago, I used to work at a Japanese company back at home. I was really excited about working at Assumption. One of my cousins graduated from an Assumption school in Manila, which is known to be an elite school where celebrities, politicians, and other important people graduated from. To me, it was such an honor to be working at Assumption. Never have I imagined that I would one day work at the Assumption school in Japan and interact with other sister schools in different parts of the world.

Being a sister school, Assumption Kokusai sends students to its sister schools in the Philippines and Bordeaux, France for a two-week homestay program. In the duration of the program, the Japanese students join in the classes, stay at home with a local Assumption student, and experience the unique culture of the country they are in. I had twice the opportunity to go as a teacher-chaperon to each of the trips to the Philippines and France, and the experience was one-of-a-kind. Not only was I able to immerse myself into the local culture, I also experienced first-hand what it meant to be in the Assumption family .

Assumption is driven by five core values, and one of them is “ONENESS.” This is especially true when I went to the Assumption schools in the Philippines. There, we were welcomed with open arms and treated like family. The students and teachers in Assumption San Lorenzo and Assumption Antipolo were very kind, loving and hospitable. As a Filipino, I was proud and happy to see how my fellow Filipinos treated my Japanese students the “Assumption way”ーwhich is to treat one another like sisters (or brothers, for that matter.) That is why, whenever the Filipino students come to Assumption Kokusai every spring, we try to give back moreーif not the sameーhospitality that we receive whenever we visit the Philippines.

Being a part of the Assumption meant that you have a family wherever you may be in the world. And
even though I am away from my family back in the Philippines, I am never alone…

Because Assumption is with me, here in Japan.

　
August 26, 2020（Wed）
Miguel Tapia