21 lessons from 21 days of growing onion @ constructivism

recently, i realized that international students are one of the loneliest species. but that’s a story for another time. meanwhile, it’s was me, in one of those lonely days, decided to find a pet.

here in America, choosing a pet can sometimes become quite an issues. i couldn’t have a cat, the landlord wouldn’t allow it. fish, meanwhile, required too many supplies. squirrels… well, they ARE possible, but they wouldn’t let me pet them.

after a few nights of contemplation, i decided to embark on a fun, cheap, and healthy pet: onions. 🙂

and every day, as I sat still and watched my onions grow, I learned so much from this journey. 21 lessons, to be exact – and here it is

1. usually, the onion with the most leaves has the longest roots.
   
2. but sometimes, the onion with the longest roots doesn’t have any sprouting leaves.
   
3. in one of my onion, its leaves growing like crazy, but it has very short roots.
   
4. that same onion, with long leaves and short roots has a squeezed, weak bulb.
   
5. and if you haven’t realized it yet, i found that onion leaves are like how we humans present ourselves on the outside, roots are our inner self, our knowledge and mind, and the bulb is our physical health.
   
6. different types of onions have different growing rates and time of sprouting.
   
7. but even if they’re all the same, if the owner doesn’t pay attention to, say, ants biting the roots, then – you know what happen 🫠.
   
8. even within the same types of onion, each plant has a different time of sprouting.
   
9. as the onion roots grow longer, if the pot is not replaced with a deeper one, the roots will tangle and become a messy, twisted ball – just like our thought.
   
10. when starting to grow onions, it’s best to choose a cool direction, avoiding strong sunlight – putting things in a harsh condition is not always the best thing to do.
    
11. don’t water the plants whenever you feel like to.
    
12. when harvesting, cutting boldly is necessary. once the roots are long enough, the leaves will grow again.
    
13. drinking at Starbucks is no longer about coffee, it’s about getting a plastic cup to grow onions.
    
14. when setting your mind to “nurture” something, like growing onions, the whole world around you will gravitate towards that. for example, instead of throwing away an empty wine bottle, you keep it to grow onions.
    
15. the sunlight is vital for the onion’s growth. let the onions bask in the sun.
    
16. when the onion roots have not yet developed, it’s possible to put all the onion bulbs in one small pot. but when the plants grow, each one needs its own space to avoid competing for nutrients.
    
17. each garden and climate is different, so it’s necessary to observe and change the way of growing onions accordingly.
    
18. sometimes, forgetting to observe for a couple of days will make you surprised by how much the onions have grown.
    
19. sometimes, i blame myself for forgetting to water the plants, but looking at how the roots are still stretching, I know that the plant is trying to adapt without protection.
    
20. but most importantly, don’t forget watering for too long.
    
21. and finally, the journey of growing onions, for me, is like another practice of “Constructivism.”
    
    Constructivism is one of the four major theories in learning science, which holds that in the learning process, instead of passively receiving information, learners play an active role in constructing knowledge through four processes (Baviskar et al., 2009):

• Eliciting prior knowledge: I elicit my prior knowledge about personal development and team development.
• Creating cognitive dissonance: I “contradict” the concepts of growing onions and personal development.
• Applying new knowledge with feedback: I try to connect the knowledge about personal development with growing onions, and leave out what seems awkward.
• Reflecting on learning: I write down what I learn on my phone’s note-taking app. I read it over a few times, then rewrite this article, organizing my thoughts in what (hopefully) is a coherent manner.

But if you ignore all of the above lessons, do you know what the best thing about growing onions is?

I don’t have to buy onion leaves from the supermarket anymore! 🫶🥳😎 🌱💎🤌🏻

and if you’ve made it this far, thank you – sincerely.

as of this week – i’m on a 30 day writing challenge. each day – a new post.

my dream? to have at least one of these blog to be useful for you. that – is the kind of thing i’m living for. ! ❤

see you tomorrow!

References:

1. Baviskar, S.N., Hartle, R.T. and Whitney, T. (2009) Essential Criteria to Characterize Constructivist Teaching: Derived from a Review of the Literature and Applied to Five Constructivist-Teaching Method Articles. International Journal of Science Education, 31, 541-550. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701731121
2. Driscoll, M., & Burner. (2021). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (4th Ed.). Pearsons.