FRIENDS ARE THE FAMILY WE CHOOSE

In our lifetime we meet many people and some of them become our very best friends. There are many ways of meeting people who can become our friends: we can meet at school, at an extra-curricular activity, like Ballet Class, Football practice, Swimming Class, etc., we can meet through mutual friends, we meet at the playground, and so on.

However, some friends will be our friends for only a moment, or for a month, or for a year, or for a lifetime…if we are lucky.

Friendship is a beautiful thing. I currently have several very close friends that I can actually consider my family, because we have been friends for more than 50 years! Now that is a very long time and feel very fortunate to have them.

When you are older and are able to travel you can also meet people in other states or other countries that can become your friends.

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” — Tennessee Williams

Friends however, can uplift you or they can bring you down. It is very important to choose friends wisely.

“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you; spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” — Amy Poehler

As we grow older we find that the most important things in life cannot be bought, and true friendship is one of them. Treasures cannot be compared to the joy a true friend brings. A true friend is someone with whom we can laugh, cry, share our dreams, be sad or be happy, be ourselves, and is always loyal.

“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.” — G. Randolf

In the animal species we find that friendships are made between animales who are completely different one from the other, and if they can be friends, imagine what kind of friendships we humans can build amongst ourselves!

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“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
– C.S. Lewis

Friends with whom you can laugh yourselves silly are a rare find. But, remember, never laugh AT anyone!

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, BUT RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO LAUGH!

Hello my dear students,

I am very pleased and proud to tell you that our webpage http://www.britishamericani.com has included the school’s HALL OF FAME. This is a space dedicated to showcase the achievements of our former students.

I have invited many of the ones who have already graduated from different universities so send me a photo of themselves and their diploma, and a brief description of their current work. Up to now eight have responded and you can see them published.

This is very important, because it is a way to see that anything can be achieved when you have discipline, perseverance, and dedication. I hope this inspires you to continue studying very hard, knowing that anything is possible.

Aside from this news, I think the circumstances require that we relax and have a good laugh. This is why I am publishing some funny videos for your enjoyment. Watch them with your family, have a good time, some popcorn and think that one day soon, we will be together again.

I send all my love and my wishes of health!

WELCOME BACK, BE SAFE!

Helloooooo,

So we are here, at the beginning of a new, very exciting  and very different school year. We are going to be learning digitally, not in our classrooms, like we used to, but at home! We are going to take advantage of the technology we currently have available, and learn and communicate through this small screen we call a computer.

I know many of you would just love to go back to school,  be with your classmates, your teachers,  and be playing together in the patio….so would I. I miss you greatly! But for some time we will have to take care and be safe.

Here are some videos that will help you understand this situation we are living. It is so important for all  of us to be conscious of what is happening and to be ready to help each other, so  we can stay healthy and return to our former activities as soon as possible.

 

 

Know that is is alright to feel scared, strange, sad… this is why it is of the utmost importance to speak your mind with your parents and teachers.

 

Let us be positive and have a great attitude, being happy will make time go by quicker and will make our lives a lot more fun!

CLAP ALONG! THAT’S AN ORDER!

 

Reach for the Stars!

This young man is Germán Padilla Choy, a former student who just graduated from University of Southern California Los Angeles with a Master’s Degree in AEROSPACE ENGINEERING. After graduating from High School German  earned his Bachelor’s Degree at the  Polytechnic Institute (RPI)  in Troy, New York.

German, at 24 years of age, has been hired by NASA to work in their Houston Space Center to work in their ARTEMIS PROGRAM. This is an  extraordinary achievement for any young man, but specially for a Mexican young man!

The Artemis Program is  a  government funded  spaceflight program that has the goal of landing   “the first woman and the next man” on the Moon, specifically at the by 2024.”

Imagine that! Our own Germán Padilla landing a spaceship on the moon! This is what happens when you reach for the stars. When you have a dream and work hard to  achieve it, when you persevere and are a disciplined person, anything you dream of can be obtained. So when someone tells you to “reach for the stars” you could actually do it.

I posted a video filmed by German on Lovemystudents’ page in FCB,  also in British American Institute’s page in FCB and I would like you to watch it,  German filmed it specially for you. Because of technical difficulties I could not upload it here, but you can go to either of those pages and watch it there. I highly recommend that you do.

Germán’s family moved to San Diego when he was about to enter 5tgh grade, so he could not graduate from BAI. However, he stayed in contact with some of his classmates and even attended our Alumni Reunion three years ago.

I held a chat with Germán a few days ago and he wrote…”I  have fond memories of having fun and learning lots and really liking all of my teachers and friends at British American Institute. I was very sad when we moved to San Diego for that reason. I think going to British was a great experience because I made friends that I still hangout with today and of course learned English from a very young age which definitely contributed to my success in getting into a good high school, great college for undergrad and also great graduate school and of course eventually my job.”

We are extremely proud of German and wish him further success in his space adventures and hope he keeps in touch with us so he can keep us posted.

German will be a PROPULSION SYSTEMS FLIGHT CONTROLLER, that means he will be directing the spaceship to its target, the moon.  Obviously this is a very complicated matter, one that requires extreme precision and knowledge. We are in awe of German’s talents and will be keeping an eye on him when the Artemis Program is launched.

 

 

 

DIVERSITY IS BEAUTIFUL

Look at yourself in the mirror. What do you see? What color is your hair? Your eyes? Your skin?

Everyone in the world is different from everybody else. We have so many things that make us individuals, and this is called being diverse, being different.

Can you imagine if everyone in the world looked the same? It would be soooo boring, wouldn’t it?

Yet there are some people who discriminate others because they are different,  because they have different color skin or hair or eyes or  because of the way they talk or dress.

This is not only very sad but it creates problems, because the people who are being discriminated against  feel like they don’t belong, and there are many times when they are bullied just because they are different.

One should always make an effort to make others feel good, happy and included, no matter what color their skin is, or where they come from. One beautiful thing about our world is that there are so many countries and people in each country have different  languages, traditions, customs, clothing, food, music, art and all this enriches us as human beings.

So let’s celebrate diversity! Let’s make someone from another country feel welcome in ours. Let’s accept ourselves as we are and know that each and everyone of us is beautiful in our own way!

 

 

British American Institute has been extremely fortunate to have had students from other countries and cultures enrolled, and  it still does!

Many years ago we had 6 children from India. Their fathers worked at an assembly plant here because they were engineers and they wanted their children to speak English so when they returned to their country they would be able to continue their studies  over there with no problem. You see, English is the official language in India.

We had two brothers who were from Japan for one school year. We had a brother and sister whose father was from Haiti and their mother from Romania; we had a girl from Ecuador and two sisters from Korea; we have a 3rd grade kindergarten student whose father is  from India, two brothers whose father is English, a girl from Peru and we’ve also had some American children enrolled.

It is both an honor and a privilege to have children from other countries as our students and you should take advantage and be friends with them to learn about their cultures and customs.

Varun hariharan is one of the Indian students enrolled many years ago here at BAI and I still communicate with him. We send each other emails and as soon as the pandemic is over we will meet, because he lives about an hour away from where I live.

I think it is very exciting to meet people from other countries! Here at school we have our own foreigner who is almost a mexican: Mr. Kay! And we are so happy that he is a member of our family!

Each one of us has special talents and what we are and how we behave toward others makes us unique, and this is beautiful! To have a whole planet filled with different human beings makes our earth extraordinary! Be proud of who you are!

 

 

Happy Children’s Day!

Childhood is so wonderful! Specially if you have a family who loves you, teachers who love you, friends who love you, siblings who love you…and it ends very quickly!

So enjoy the time you have now! Be creative, be silly, be adventurous, be curious; laugh, say jokes, jump up and down, have crazy hair…and if you are lucky you will continue to do these things even when you grow up.

It was 28 years ago, in March, that BAI was founded, and I still remember my students and many of them keep in touch with me, and now have children of their own.

This has been an extraordinary experience and what makes it so is YOUR LOVE!

Celebrating my birthday with Miss Tanya

Former students

The Lion King, with Luis Francisco and Monica Gallego

And here are two photos of the founders of your school when they were children!

An Easter Message to My Students

Be Brave Enough to Do What is Right

Hello everyone!

I have been talking to you about loving yourself enough,   for your own benefit and that of others. But sometimes loving ourselves requires a lot of courage.

This is a quality that one must develop in order to succeed in life, to attain our goals, to do our best, even at the face of adversity. Sometimes life presents us with difficult challenges and we must have courage to face them.

I think this subject requires that all of you discuss it with your teacher and talk about it with your parents and friends.

I really hope you follow these lessons ideas, because there will be  many times in your lives  when you will need to be a courageous person, and your bravery might even save lives!

 

Love Yourselves Enough

LOVE YOURSELVES ENOUGH

Hello Students and Teachers,

Today  I will talk  about  a very important subject, which is : LOVING YOURSELVES ENOUGH!

All through your lives you will encounter all sorts of people: people who are kind, people who are not, people who mean well and people who do not; people you can trust and people you cannot trust, people who will do good things for you and people who will not.

While you get old enough to know what  sort of people you are dealing with you should rely  on the experience of your parents, and of the people who really love and care for you.

You will always find a bully, who is ready to make fun of you; or a classmate who is not empathetic to your needs and feelings.

You have to love yourself enough to be strong, to not give in to these person’s insults, to be strong enough to ignore them or to ask them to stop being disrespectful.

You have to love yourself enough to do good things for yourself, actions that will make you a better human being, and to say words that will not harm or offend anyone else.

You have to love yourself enough to avoid talking to strangers, because if you do not know someone you don’t know if they are going to act in a kind way towards you or if they are going to take advantage of you.

You have to love yourself enough to listen to what your parents and teachers tell you that is good for you, and be strong enough to resist temptation.

There will always be classmates or people who will try to make you do things that you know are wrong. Resist! Resit with all your might! And if you find that it is very difficult to resist, tell your parents or teachers immediately, but never, never do something that you know to be wrong or hurtful.

Never, ever, accept the invitation of a stranger or even people you might know casually, who tell you they will give you candy or toys or a puppy if you go with them. Never go with anyone except your parents or a person they give you permission to go with.

If you are in a public place, like in  a movie theater, or a park, or the beach,  for example, and someone  touches you, immediately move away and tell your parents or an adult.

You should always take care of yourselves. Always love yourselves enough to do it.

We are living in difficult times, this is why you should be especially careful and respectful of your parent’s and teacher’s rules.

People who love you enough want you to be safe and happy.

So remember, love yourselves enough to take good care of yourselves and to think before you react.

I know this is especially difficult. Most of the time we just react to other people’s words or actions. But it is far better to think before we react. This  will give you time to think if what you will say is either helpful or kind; it will give you time to think if what you are about to do is good for you or not.

A long time ago, when I was in the university and I was just 16 years old there was a girl in our group who loved to make other people feel bad. She used to make fun of every other girl and laugh at them. When she saw me  she would laugh at me and say things that she thought would make me react angrily. But I always resisted.  Never reacted. On the contrary, I always ignored her. Eventually she got tired of not getting a reaction from me and left me alone.

Many years afterwards, we met at a party and she came to me and told me: “Lilian, I have always admired you, because of all the girls I teased and made fun of, you were the only one who ignored me. I am sorry.”

So many times it is better to ignore the bully, unless they are doing physical harm to you, then you should tell and adult immediately.

There is a saying by a great german author and  philosopher who lived many years ago, his name was  Friedrich Nietzsche, he  said:   “Whatever does not destroy you, makes you stronger.”

This means that all that you live through, the sad and difficult times, will make a better person out of you.

So always love yourselves enough to resist what is not good for you and to do what will make you a better human being.