Life Reflection

Goals are like road maps; they get a person from one point to another. Goals provide the direction one needs to reach a destination. The best way to get results is to plan for the future, but live one day at a time. Think about the future; how does one define success? What makes one happy? What drives a person? What makes a person get out of bed in the morning? Does success mean family, money, security, helping others, improving the environment, solving problems, a career, or a degree? Whatever a student decides, the key to academic success is to strengthen one’s will to succeed and to do this one must set academic goals.

A goal is defined according to Wong are “well-defined plans of actions aimed at achieving specific outcomes or results” (102). Goals are a good way to set out plans to complete long term or short term. Also goals can give you motivation to accomplish an outcome. For example, you could write a goal on a piece of paper put it on your wall to remind you what you are working for. From my experiences, I put a sticky note on my mirror or write down a goal in my planner on what to accomplish for that week whether it is personally, academically, or Athletically. Also according to Wong some strategies to achieve goals includes “using positive self-talk, using the ABC method, monitoring your process, and keeping your goals in the forefront” (111). Not only setting and trying to achieve your goals can be easy but motivation can be hard to be and stay motivated to achieve those

Over the course of my life, I have had numerous people tell me that I am more than just a soccer player and that I can not always turn to soccer for the answer to my problems. Although soccer is just a sport and it will never be anything more than that, it has taught and shown me more about myself and my personality in my 16 years than most people would learn and experience in their lifetime. Through my experiences, I have crawled and survived through the deepest and darkest parts of the storms of life, but I have also been given the chance to grow and flourish through the stunning and glowing moments of sunshine and warmth. Without being given the opportunity to play soccer, I would not be the person I am today, let alone know the depths and sides of my personality that are buried deep within me. In looking back at my past, it is evident to see that if I had not been blessed with the opportunity to play soccer or been given such a stubborn personality, I would not be alive today.

Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” The summer of 2016, I moved here from Southeastern Wisconsin. Focusing on being positive was rough. Leaving friends and family felt like the end of the world for me. I have always thought moving here was a mistake, that I could do something about it. I have learned that I cannot do anything about it, so I might as well take Einstein’s advice and keep moving forward.

Setting personal goals is a vital component of student motivation, self-regulation, and achievement in academic settings. Goals are defined as a behavior or an outcome that one is consciously trying to perform or attain. Out of the twenty-two goals listed, I have compiled a list in the order of areas in which I need the most improvement. Additionally, I will further explain the first ten goals I have listed and the plans to accomplish improving upon those goals.

Going into this paper I really wasn’t sure what to expect. You do a lot more workshops then any English teachers I’ve had in the past. This also meant that I had to bring in a much rougher draft then I’m used to other people seeing. Letting other people read my paper in a raw unpolished state was a little bit nerve-wracking for me. Though, in the end, I’m really grateful for all the workshops and all the many different types of feedback it enabled me to receive on my paper

While reading Systems Thinking, The Systems View of Life and Learning as a Way of Leading, I felt as if I was experiencing many contradictory things at once. I felt as if i was in the past and the future, i was growing and shrinking, peering into a microscope and peering through a telescope all at the same time. I was taken on a journey through the micro and macro while weaving simultaneously through my own internal and external mental models of the world. This immersive reading experience sparked a strong desire in me to seek new perspectives and try to understand what others internal and external mental models look like, what they mean and what they feel like. The concepts and theories presented in the readings have helped me to solidify some of my own thought processes and ways of thinking about the world so I can put them into action and apply new practices into my community work and in turn create change. I do know one thing for sure, I want my contributions to be positive and go towards the common good. The readings reminded about how interconnected everything and everyone is and how fragile life can be. The readings have reinforced my desire to do good, be creative, think of others more than myself, but to not lose touch with self.

Reflecting back to the first semester of English 5A, I have made progress in my writing abilities but feel that I have more room for improvements. The class discussions and peer review were useful to me because I was able to get a different perspective on my essay and take different idea suggested. My goal for the second semester is to learn more about how to construct a strong thesis and be able to hook the audiences into my essay. After looking the rubric and reflecting on my essay, I could improve on incorporating quotes to help my essay be more effective instead of adding a quote without any explanation about it.

I think my life does reflect my values. I really believe in helping others, helping around the community, and giving back to those in the community. In my life I’m always looking for ways to better myself and make an impact on those around me, which I do all of those things every chance I get. I love to help out around the community by helping out at elementary schools when I have free time; when I’m not working, not participating in extracurricular activities, and not doing family related things. I definitely think my life reflects my values.

My first client sat in silence, save for the occasional kissing sounds he made. He had been involuntarily committed under the Baker Act the day before. Since he lacked family or friends, I was appointed as his guardian advocate and became responsible for overseeing his treatment and protecting his rights as a patient. I mentally rifled through my training manual. It can get better. This phrase peppered the pages in my mind, but advice on helping nonverbal, slightly suggestive clients was scarce. Ask open ended questions. I heeded the manual's suggestion, but his stubborn gaze met each attempt. Frustrated, I left with a promise to return the next day.

Life is an expedition. At times your success tangent is positive, and at times it goes down. But the aim should always be campaigning for your set milestones and keep on gauging your success. When it comes to me not me exactly everyone life is a protest and you have to be a rebel. The cloud of people is still dragging towards the so-called remarkable piece of paper and guess what is that a Degree. And don’t worry I was under the same umbrella. I was a daydreamer of seeking admissions into an XYZ for under-graduation in the engineering dominion. But alas I couldn’t sweat that much to get that much. But the seeds of XYZ were germinated in my mind. Life shows you the shades of black and white as an act of Mime. I was a part of a route that was contesting XYZ blindly without knowing the purpose of their lives. I never pondered over that a degree from any institute is not a patented orientation for the secure future.

When I first start to think about my life, who I am, and who I will be, I begin to reflect on everything that has ever happened to me in the seventeen years I have spent on this Earth. I think about the things that make me who I am today; the cracks and openings of my heart which have shaped my soul to be the way it is. Growing up is never easy; however it is something we all have to go through. I once believed I was being raised by two loving parents, in a comfortable home, filled with laughter, tears, and stability. All seemed right growing up, but for reasons I’m not quite sure of, I always felt alone. My perception of this seemingly normal household with my two loving parents was in fact a façade. The reality of my upbringing was so vastly different in ways I truly cannot comprehend. My parents divorced when I was eight years old, however they continued to reside together. My life as I perceived it became clear to me only after my mother and I left our “Home” though it was never truly a home, but a house filled with secrets, pain, and shame. I began to understand my loneliness was fact and not just a feeling. My life was clearly defined by my perception of my family’s dysfunctionality. This experience has enabled me to take a path in my life different from my upbringing. I will turn this nightmarish life into a new passion for helping others.

As I was reading this book, I kept having awe moments because I have either seen the material covered in real time or have thought about it. Out of the five career strategy components, the two that stood out for me were extending experiences and networking/connecting. Reflecting on my educational and professional career, these two themes have been the most relevant.

On September 10, 2011, my life drastically changed; I was involved in a horrific car accident. It was a normal night, my dad, my step-mom, and I were on our way home from dinner. As we were crossing the intersection, a car made an illegal left turn in front of us and we hit them straight on. I was sitting in the backseat on my phone and, for the only time in my life, my seatbelt was not on, therefore, I hit my head on the chair in front of me hard. There were minimal damages for them, however, for us, the damages were crucial. I remember running out of our totaled car into the street crying, panicking, and the next thing I know, I am in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I sustained a mild concussion, memory loss, and a bruised knee.

My reason for failing to meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP), or my lack of successful completion of credit hours attempted, is due to emotional hardship. During the Spring semester of 2017, I stopped showing up to classes entirely a little bit before midterms. I stopped going because of the state of my mental health. I am currently diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder, Major Depression, and Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder.