After graduating from ULACIT, I stayed there as a part time professor for five years. I was then 50 years old, and my chances of being hired elsewhere were almost non existent. It was then that I decided to re-engineer myself and turn into a full time professor. For that I needed to study Education at the University of Panama.
In 2003 I enrolled at the Faculty of Education Sciences (Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación) in an effort to obtain a degree in Middle Education with emphasis in Business Administration. It was an eighteen-months project which I finished with no problems. I was fired up and studying was my life. The expression “book worm” applied to my case perfectly.
The University of Panama is a state institution of superior, independent education. It was founded on October 7, 1935, with a student body of 175 in the fields of Education, Commerce, Natural Sciences, Pharmacy, Pre-Engineering and Law. As of 2008, it maintained a student body of 74,059 students distributed in 228 buildings across the country.
From 2003 to 2004 I was part of those 74,059 students with a passion for Education. That was before I discovered the extreme difficulty of teaching to high school students. My two experiences were very discouraging, mainly because of disciplinary problems. The difference between college education and high school education is huge.
To prepare this post, I went to my former Alma Mater and took several pictures of the Education Faculty inside and outside. It’s a beautiful building with an exquisite architecture style. It was pleasant to see how well the building looked, both outside and inside.
This is the way the Faculty of Education Sciences looked on the morning of June 28, 2009 at approximately 08:30 a.m. (-5 GMT). Here we go.
Picture of diploma obtained at the University of Panama as Professor of Middle Education with a Specialty in Business Administration. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
Photograph of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Panama. I studied Education here for eighteen months. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
An artistic version of the Faculty of Education Sciences Building emphasizing the pattern of the exterior. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
A view of the attractive architecture style of the building. Those endless boxes captivated me. I felt the same way with the Epcot Ball in Disney World. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
In black and white, the pattern of the exterior structure looks even better. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
I was so in love with the building I got naughty playing with its image. Thanks God for Digital Photography. I hope you won't mind. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
A last photograph of this beautiful building highlighting the endless boxes vanishing into infinity. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
Now you know how the building where I spend eighteen months of my life. Tomorrow I’ll show you how the building looked from the inside. As I mentioned earlier, the installation is very well kept. Somebody there has an inclination for plants and a helluva good taste. Good Day.
