My Answers to Questions Posed by Peggy Imai

Hi All,

I'm here to respond to the questions that were posted by Peggy a few days ago. I'll try to keep my answers as concise as possible. I'll answer the questions in the Oder of which they were asked. I'll start with answering the question about what motivates me here.

In general, there are multiple factors, both internal and external, that have motivate me here to learn and stay concentrated. Internally, I've always been a very self motivated person to learn things well and to perform well in my life. This is largely due to the fact that ultimately, I don't want to fail at things that I do. This doesn't mean I can't fail in the process of learning and growing as a person, it just means that in the end i want to be as successful as I can be with what I'm doing. This also doesn't mean that everything has to go or end perfectly, but the perfectionist in me works hard to see that the end produce of my work or my actions are as close to perfect as possible. Another internal motivator for me here has been the goals that I have set for myself to achieve before leaving here. Having goals, especially when it comes tp improving on something can be a key to staying motivated. For example, in my time here, I've been working everyday for for hours a day trying to learn the dance to fast Agbekor. it is a very fast dance that requires a lot of skill and stamina. So, to stay motivated to learn a dance that I do everyday I set daily goals for myself. For instance my goal for today was to get through five of the seven variations with no mistakes in the entrenches and exits, and I did and that felt great. Tomorrow, I will strive to build on that and that will help me to keep motivated to work. One final internal motivator has been my passion for this music. if you don't have passion for what you are doing, then you are less likely to even want to stay motivated to improve, so I am thankful for my passion. Now for some external motivators. Four me, external motivation usually come from other people like my peers, my teachers, and my family and friends. Here, my peers are very motivating because we are all learning, and growing, and going through this experience, together. Our teachers, both Joss and the Dagbe staff, also help to motivate me. Here, Joss is our group leader, but is very much a student along with us as well. She motivates me because I want to make her proud and I want to prove both through my actions and performance to the Dagbe staff, her original teachers, she has taught us well. Similarly, I want to prove to the Dagbe staff that their efforts to teach me have not gone to waste. Finally, my family and friends at home motivate me because they were the ones who supported my decision to come here and in some cases even made generous contributions to get me here. So, they motivate me because I want to learn things well enough to bring back and show them.

My answer to the second question is very similar to what I just said, so I'll just briefly address it. Basically, my answer is yes, I am a natural overachiever, although i prefer the term naturally self motivated. But, I suppose in a way everyone on this trip could be classified as an overachiever because we all took the opportunity to travel all the way across the world to learn what we are learning, when we could have just settled to be satisfied with just learning in the classroom back at school. Of course, we are all so blessed and fortunate to have been able to have this opportunity and have enough support to get us here, but I think to actually get yourself here goes to show at least some trait of someone who wants to achieve more out to the experience then they were getting at home. Even if we are all at least part overachievers, the Dagbe staff here are just exceptional motivators and educators, so that also plays a big role. Before we even started our lessons here, they made such a strong, natural effort to connect with us as human beings before connecting with us as teachers. For me forming these connections are particularly impactful because I feel like the more of a personal connection i share with someone, the more motivated  I am to work hard for them and strive to get to that next level to please them. The way the Dagbe staff made here feel so welcoming and homey, defiantly has had a major impact on my motivation to work harder everyday to improve my skills.

I'm actually going to skip the next two questions and move onto the question "what makes a good teacher?". Both Joss and Dagbe staff here have been nothing but good examples for what it means to be a good teacher. A good teacher for me, is someone who connects with students on a personal level to help build a trusting and healthy learning environment, but also has the ability to draw the line when it comes to keeping and gaining respect and attention from students. A good teacher is open to questions from students and the opinion of students even if they are different from their own. A good teacher doesn't use their power, knowledge, or skill as something they hold over student or as a tool to make students fell shameful if they are not yet at the level the teacher expects yet. A good teacher is someone who is willing to show students that they don't know everything and are willing to learn along with student and learn from student. Finally, a good teacher makes it apparent from the first day that they want to see hard work, growth, and success from their students both in the classroom and in life, and helps students work towards that. (A good teacher also is willing to put in the work to bring their students across the world on a trip to help them better themselves, their skills, their world knowledge, and their role as a human being. Thank you Joss!). 

The final question feels like it was asked with the intention of having a definite answer. "Does being in Ghana make a difference?" OF COURSE IT DOES! Just being able to wake up walk out the door and see a whole new and welcoming environment makes a difference. Being in Ghana adds a whole different level of depth, intensity, and pace to our learning. Being able to drum and dance with the winds of Ghana blowing in your face, there is just no way to simulate that in a classroom.Being here also gives us the unique chance and opportunity to learn about the areas, people, and culture that the music we learn comes from is a blessing and a remarkable educational opportunity. So, yes bing in Ghana makes all the difference.

I know that was a very long winded response to som of those questions, but i felt everything was very necessary to give my complete and honest opinion. As always, thank you for reading and following along with us on our journey.

Talk Soon,

Liz V.