Chapter Summary: The Amazing Journey

At this point in my life, the last thing I expected to do was to have the courage to follow my lifelong dream of being in the healthcare profession as an Occupational Therapist Assistant. But, a heartfelt presence remained within me when I first became introduced to this field as a young woman working at a hospital. There was also a calling to assist individuals and contribute to their care and recovery in their daily lives that persisted throughout my life. Being in a position of making a difference in the lives of others is an extraordinary privilege that I do not take for granted. The dream of being part of this profession was put on hold but never forgotten, when my educational pursuits led me in another direction as an Elementary School Teacher where helping at risk students reach their fullest potential intellectually, emotionally, physically, and socially was both challenging and rewarding. My career for the past 8 years has been that of a Certified Elementary Teacher with a specialization in Bilingual Education in Spanish and English as a Second Language. I have been fortunate in this manner because I have taught underserved children in a lower socioeconomic school who are at risk of failing due to their classification of being English Language Learners. And for the past three years, I have enjoyed being the PreKindergarten Bilingual Teacher for these exceptional children and made lasting friendships with the staff and parents at this school.

I was a cute kid. A really, really cute kid, up until 1st grade. Then that’s when I started to become the chubby cute kid. I loved junk food and would sneak into the kitchen late at night and find the unhealthiest food my mom had hiding in the kitchen then I would eat it all in one sitting, whether it was a box of chocolate granola bars, a bag of Lay 's Potato Chips, or some delicious leftovers, I would proudly devour them.

1. Read and summarise the article The Journey by Dean Carey located in on Ch@lk in IP Resources

My journey starts at a small Philadelphia public school, Greenberg Elementary School. At six years old, as most Kindergardeners are, I was a very curious learner; constantly asking the teacher questions about why birds flew and why dogs bark. I learned new games from my friends in the school yard and I learned how to add and subtract in the classroom. Learning wasn't just what I was taught in the classroom, it was also information that I picked up from people around me, such as my friends and family.

The inevitability of conflicts shapes our relationship and roles within society. This big idea is about how everyone has conflicts and how everybody is not perfect as a fairytale story, everyone struggles among the way to be successful and happy. I agree with this because everybody goes through the stage where they don't feel good about themselves mentally or are going through some personal issues. This big idea relates to me because I have had many conflicts and struggles as growing up. It reminded me of when my uncle who was like my dad passed away a little bit over a year ago. My daily life changed a lot and the way I viewed life also changed, I became closer with my family and appreciate everything I have and don't have.

My journey has been in many ways an attempt at finding myself and my place in life. Immediately after graduating High School I joined the National Guard. Partially because I felt compelled to do what I could after 9/11, but also because I had no direction in career or life. Truthfully, I just wanted to get as far away from my normal every day as possible.

Throughout life everyone has their own journey that they are going to take. Some journeys are goal oriented such as a search for adventure, recognition or riches. Sometimes the journey is to get away and to understand more of what the world has to offer. We all take journeys of self-discovery from childhood to adulthood that reveals our experiences which has shaped us. However, the journey is not always an easy road to take¬ but it is worth taking. When people go through their journey they may experience internal struggles, anxiety from making decisions, loneliness and reflect on their choices. Robert Frost’s poems, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “The Road Not Taken”, “Acquainted with the Night” and “The Gift Outright” are all

Aboard this journey of a story, we will be making many stops along what my life has come to be. We will start with my birth naturally, and move forward towards the present day. The journey may not be normal, average, or even outstanding for that matter, however these are the conditions that have molded my being. In the paragraphs to come, we will start with my early childhood, then make a stop at my adolescent years, and finally arriving at my adulthood. So here goes my attempt to hastily summarize one’s life to a mere two pages.

Through her I-shaped visor, Selendis continued to stare at the rising plume of smoke from the Butcher’s crash sight, just over some low rises, perhaps no more than a quarter-hour’s trek. Come on, Selendis. You’re a soldier, a fighter. You can do this. You can be up and away before he can even hunt you down. And perhaps if she was lucky, she could fly over to his crash site and strafe his ship too, leaving it useless and the bloody sadist to die alone on this world. There was no way she would stoop to his level and actually liquidate him from the air. Though it’d be exactly what he deserved. But no, that’s what separates us from the animals.

Xion got up out of bed and left her room. 'Being partners with Roxas has been getting along fine, I don't know what I was so worried about...' She met Roxas waiting outside of her room along with...Saïx.

The children slowly board the nostalgic buses and drove to the fields. She waves farewell, and once more glances at each of the children, knowing that one day she will never see them again. She hopes that each and every one of them becomes successful in life. A successful life they were not given because of poverty, language barrier, education, care, health, and a need of a second mother. She packed them the tools of life, education, emotional help, food, and love. This mother is Corrien Mateo, a graduate of Illinois State University, and a proud advocate for her students.

My purpose for this digital story was to learn as much as possible about my mother, there a lot of things that my mother has experienced in her life that I’m not aware of, and this project gave me the opportunity to learn some new things about my mother’s life. One thing I tried to accomplish through my digital story was to show the path my mother took in life to be successful, I tried to showcase how there were a lot of tough moments she had to deal with in just coming to the United States, and the difficulties she faced once she got here. The audience for my digital story is my UWRT class, one thing I kept in mind while creating is to initially grab the audience’s attention immediately so that throughout the story the interest would be high. I hope they give a positive response, I worked hard to make sure the audience would enjoy my story from the beginning to the end. They will experience it in a movie format with a slideshow of pictures along with continuous narration throughout, the narration will influence the understanding of my story. I tried to narrate the story in a way people can understand the hardships that my mother experienced in coming, and living in the United States. The narration could also hinder the understanding of my work, if for some reason someone can’t understand what I am saying it will be impossible to understand the story as a whole. I would describe my digital story as something a

“10 minutes till march,” someone yelled. Eric was fuming with hatersted, but he packed up the rest of his belongings and got into the second line to march to the small town of Assaye. Just when the 74th was all in line and ready to march the Captain yelled “This is where you will be during the battle. Make sure you know who is next to, in front of, and behind you.”

“Transformation is a process and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey to discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despairs.” Rick warren in above quote has said one single sentence but with a big meaning behind it. This quote sums up the journey of my life and how my journey to discovery started as tough, harsh and brutal, it also left me feeling futile, but look I am here, I have faced it. I never expected it to be a journey that was always on mountaintops, neither did I feel this journey to be in deep valley of despairs, never expecting it to leave me disheartened at points. But as it is said a straight road will lead you to dull journeys but if it is a rough road you will

The hangar was alive with activity and tense with expectation as Tensai peered through the pilot's access hatch, then as he crossed the threshold, he paused for a second, inhaling deeply and revelling in the pungent, heavy odour of burnt high-octane fuel and spilt oil. To him, this was the essence of power. Real authority. Not the kind lorded over by Kentali's political masters.