An Unattainable Dream: An Ideal Family

                By Vic Odarve

Even though all families can be robust and healthy, only a few appear to have it "together," while others appear to fight to keep their own. An ideal family is a caring environment in which happy and loving parents and socially and academically successful children bind the members together. The members of the family share pleasurable experiences and work together as a unit, while the parents resolve conflicts constructively through efficient communication. However, only a few succeeded in the real world; for others, an ideal family remains a dream and imagination.

A perfect family remains an elusive dream

 In an ideal family, parents, as prime movers, must provide comfort and emotionally fulfill all members. They must be cheerful and loving and spend positive time together with the kids, building their wonderful feelings and relationship in the process. Talking, planning, and working on certain things together builds strong family ties. Since every individual is unique and disagreements arise, conflicts must be dealt with constructively. Effective communication provides an emotional and sound environment.

Outstanding family results in a well-knitted and strong child-parent relationship bonded together by love. They look at their parents as models. They should love each other as much as their father loves their mother. They learn how their parents do everything to keep the family connected and bonded together; how activities are managed and controlled to make the world go around harmoniously.

An ideal family is like a beautiful sunset of Mayana

But in married life, it is not always a picture of beautiful sunsets; sometimes the journey is rough, and temptation abounds along the way. When I visited a friend of mine a few days ago, his family seemed perfect; a beautiful home with three kids, beautiful cars of the latest model, a beautiful wife managing good company; everything, as it would appear, was perfect. And he was just promoted to an executive in a big company; his career is in high gear. But after spending a weekend with them, I noticed their family was not a happy one. There seemed to be a feeling of disunity among them. The negative attitude of the children was clear, as was the insecurity of love, etc. The wholesome relationship was obviously missing an ingredient that could not be replaced by all their material possessions and professional accomplishments.

A happy moment

Sometimes couples’ relationship and life satisfaction set off to their lowest point; turning sour, humiliation, distress, troubling, sleepless nights, and, if not well attended, ending in divorce and separation. Even kings, princes, and celebrities in our society separate from their wives or husbands one after the other. In 1527, King Henry VIII of England, after feeling dissatisfaction with giving birth to his wife, a son, separated from his wife Catherine and married Anne Boleyn. This act was not approved by Rome and, after years of conflicting views, England established their own Anglican Church. There are celebrities, too, that have been very successful in their careers, but not so successful in their marriages. One of them is the famous Elizabeth Taylor, who has taken sacred vows eight times and still finds the ideal family elusive.

Henceforth, for several people, the search for the ideal family exists only in their imagination. The commitment of love and dedication for husband and wife and children is simply out of the spectrum; numerous culprits wreak havoc on the relationship, which finally leads to an ugly end... to divorce and separation. When parents separate, it creates a great pain in the whole family, but as time passes, children learn to adjust and understand that family life is not at all ideal!

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When a Child Smiles

                   By Vic Odarve

A baby's smile is more than just a smile. It's a smile that creates a bonding and attachment feeling. A child's smile is stronger and more enticing than any other smile. It's contagious in the sense that it may make other people grin. Children are God's blessings, and their smiles capture the mood of the day. When a baby smiles, we can't help but smile back. Something unusual is happening inside your heart, a sense of connection and bonding. This sensation has a significant impact on their growth. They felt comfortable and secure. Their manner of communicating and delivering essential information is through smiles. Your payback smile, too, helps the babies learn and understand the world around them. Thus, gradually, and steadily, connection and bonding emerge —A bond becomes stronger when two atoms share one or more pairs of electrons in a molecule.

Attentive and observant

 What makes their smiles more powerful, and enchanting are their innocent and fascinating faces. Their simple, sincere, and straightforward smiles can attract more than admiring looks. Their cheeks rise and the skin around their eyes bunches up... a true feature of a true smile. Their smiles are also bliss for all those seeking the happiness of other people. Unlike adults, whose smiles are often fake and superficial, children offer perfect smiles. Going back to our old pictures while we were still young, carefree, and eager to explore the world is itself a source of entertainment. Our smiles, then, were once powerful and fascinating, showing the world our innocence!

Their smiles are powerful

Children could make others smile. Their gestures and smiles are very interesting to observe, especially if they are doing funny things in a crowd. It can brighten your day and make you forget about your daily toxic stress. It changes your depressive mood to a happier one and sets the tenor of your day. Hagler, who has been involved with the foundation for children for over a decade, said seeing the kids' smiles on their faces brings a smile to my face too. Over the long term, smiling can have a positive effect on our well-being, improving our health, perception at work, social life, and making us feel happier and less stressed. A good smile can help release emotions, especially those emotions that might be bottled up inside our hearts.

 Therefore, children’s smiles are something that connects us together to their world; they are so unique and interesting that it makes others smile. Their smiles are more than smiles! 

 

     

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Quizzes That Students Love

       BY Vic Odarve

One student quipped after the quiz, "It was so simple but challenging." 

Students love this type of quiz. They find the quiz on finding the determinants, inverse matrices, and eigenvalues, and eigenvectors give them the opportunity to test how far their learning has progressed on that course. That is, taking a simple but challenging quiz!

Engineering Mathematics Quiz

What makes it simple? It is simple because the given matrices during the quiz were almost like the examples discussed in detail during the classroom session, except for a change to one of the entries in every row. This type of quiz is challenging because it uses open notes, books, and other related materials. Laptops are allowed where they can use the program MS Excel. But everybody must observe the "strictly no borrowing materials from classmates!" rule.

Another word of caution! Solutions must be legibly written and presented in detail, or step by step. Laptops are used only for counterchecking or guiding as they are works in progress. That’s it, and nothing more!

Why does this type of quiz work?

Open books, notes, and related references during quizzes are welcomed by engineering students. Mathematics, especially dealing with matrices, is difficult to work with. As the size of the matrix grows, so does the difficulty of computation. Rules are sometimes complicated and require complete understanding before our confidence in getting the correct answer develops. Memorization of procedures does not work well if done without understanding, as you will soon forget the procedures as the solution progresses. Most often, in matrices, a change of a single element or entry will change the whole environment of computation. The solution is very sensitive to the slightest changes in the initial condition of the matrices. Just like in chaotic theory, any error in a single step can produce a large error in the final answer. That’s why opening notes, books, etc during quizzes works well with matrices. The main objective is to familiarize students with the algorithm on how to get to the final answer.

The reason is clear. Let the students learn the basics of matrices' operations. With almost all computation nowadays done by a computer, we are preparing our students for this world ahead. It is then that the classroom learning comes to work in the open fields after completing their course. In the real world, computers and engineers work hand in hand in the industrial fields.

What was the result?

As expected, silence engulfed the whole classroom as the quiz started. Everybody was busy and concentrated on their work. There will be no searching for solutions on another piece of paper. All eyes were on their own paper. The time limitation for the quiz was enforced. A real-world in a classroom!

What was the result of that quiz? Sixty percent (60%) of those who took the test passed. Failed students came to me for various reasons. Some confided that they had not prepared well and were not listening during classroom lectures. In summary, failed students had reasons with the same denominator. It's the same old stories! They are still clinging to their old bad habits! They vowed to change the old ways. They blamed themselves for failing the quiz! One thing is certain: the lecturer is not to blame!

So, what is next? Some wept and, admittedly, vowed to change for the better! Then I told these poor youngsters, "Go and change your ways, for it is not too late. More quizzes are coming. Unless you change your ways, you will not pass this course. "

Sounds biblical? Yes. Students must change their ways to pass the course. In the early parts of his preaching, Jesus often told the crowd to change their ways and believe the good news so that they would not perish. Everybody must be prepared.

He said, "The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the good news. ""

1,15 Mark

"I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did. "

13:3 Luke

That’s it. Failed students must change for the better, for they will not only pass this course, but one day they will also meet the One sitting on the throne for final judgment on all mankind.

 

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