This week we were to think about, or capture some element of our “natural world.” With this share, we should capture this imagery in some simple, rich, descriptive words. I chose to focus on my family motto or credo. Certavi et vici is one of those family mottos that you find on the coat of arms and family crests that you can buy for coffee mugs, plaques, and t-shirts. I was enthralled with my family crest, motto, and coat of arms a couple of years ago while teaching high school. To me it represented much of the essence, or credo of what composed my family and our identity….or what I would like my identity to be.
The graphic that I’m sharing is created by a former student of mine, Manny Rivera. Manny was a great kid that never found his place in my classroom. I held him back in the two years I had him as a student. He never did any of the work that I asked of him. Never cared about anything…except anime. He would sit in class with a notebook and feverishly scribble in the notebook day after day. I asked him once to show me what he was doing. In the notebook he had incredible anime drawings, complete with the Japanese characters. I asked him how he learned to draw and write like that. He told me that he went to discussion forums on the Internet. He was learning how to read, translate, and write the Japanese characters. He also was studying the form and function required in drawing of anime. I was shocked. It was incredible. I began to try and lure him into reading and writing for class by having him recreate art for various classroom projects. The graphic that I shared for this week is my coat of arms that he built in some computer drawing application.
The haiku, or twaiku is available below.
Certavi et vici
I fought and I conquered
The aftermath of dreams
