Middle School Reflection Essay

When I first got accepted into Stuyvesant High School, I heard countless of rumors stating: “Oh the workload is terrible”, “The competition is so fierce” or “Out of schoolwork, extracurriculars, or sleep: you can only pick two.” I found it hard to let it faze me, since I graduated from one of the most prestigious middle schools. However, the rumors transformed into reality when I stepped into Mr. Nieves’ Freshman Composition Class. The workload at the beginning of the year was brutal, coupled with assignments from other core classes that seem unaware of the workload of other teachers. Reading assignments were a regular, and there were journal entries and occasional quizzes to keep us in line. What made it bearable was the friends I made in that class; everyone had their own opinion about the topic we were talking about, and listening to other perspectives really broadened my horizon and enriched my learning experience in Stuy. Another thing that this class has taught me is the importance of time management, a skill that I will carry on for the rest of my high school career and life. When I choose to sign up for Mr. Nieves’ AP American Literature class in my Junior Year, I was hoping to relive the discussion-based lesson plans and meet more outstanding peers. I was not disappointed, to say the least, reflecting through all the experiences at the end of the course. The lesson plans he laid out for us were an interesting mix between small lectures and class output, and what I

Have you ever been stumped, or confused to the point that you wanted to cry? While you were suffocating on the near, seemingly endless, amount of questions you wanted to ask, did you weep? Were you drowning in the cesspool of fear when you read that paper? Did your report card and/or progress report do this to you? If this is the case, then follow these directions to be great and succeed in the 8th grade. How will I improve in my academics, you ask? Well, they could improve if I started practicing and studying harder, working hard and gaining necessary help, and gaining knowledge to pass classes.

It is still so surreal to reflect back on my first semester as an incoming college student in the ENC1101 course, analyzing at my progression as a reader and writer in literacy. Since the first day of class I set in stone my goals for this class: receive a 4.0 GPA, develop my connecting theories skills in writing, and become more aware of objectives for each Unit throughout the course. All of these goals became achievements that not only make others proud but most importantly give me self pride. In order to earn the grades and achieve these goals, I went after every opportunity that I was given as an incoming college student, such as office hours and extra credit. By taking this course I have gained confidence with the utilization of literacy, and made an addition to my group of impactful literacy sponsors. Once students are finished with high school they assume that there is nothing else to learn beyond the stereotypical five paragraph essay, but they are so wrong. I was able to obtain so much knowledge about numerous course concepts from Writing about Writing, articles, and my professor. These concepts will carry on with me throughout a bright future of writing courses, job interviews, and any other skills that require literacy. The four outcomes listed below will help illuminate how I improved as a writer, by being a driven college student and going out of the way to earn my achievements in this course. In the first outcome I improved comprehending scholar texts,

Many people experience exclusion in their lives; yet, when they feel included, they experience the process of healing. In the memoir Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Power of Adversity, Dw Brees’ journey to healing is explored. This experience of exclusion to inclusion is also discussed in Becoming Human by Jean Vanier. The New Orleans Saints accepted Drew, a severely injured quarterback at the time, just as Jean Vanier accepted people with intellectual disabilities into L’Arche. Withal, Drew is given the opportunity to motivate and inspire his team, and those people included in the L’Arche community are given the opportunity to develop new, meaningful relationships. For Drew, having this opportunity results in a milestone for the whole team that represents hope for New Orleans, while the people with intellectual disabilities being able to be in an inclusive community result in the maturity of the heart. Both works suggest that being inclusive towards other people, especially those excluded in society, by welcoming them into a particular community result in a person’s internal and external healing.

16). Arnold perceives himself within his relations with his family and the reservation, thus his self-esteem is directly tied to his place within the two groups. However near the end of the book, Arnold cries for his “fellow tribal members” future in the reservation (Alexie, 2009, p. 216) and acknowledges that he “was the only one who was brave and crazy enough to leave the rez…. The only one with enough arrogance” (Alexie, 2009, p. 217). Although part of his self image is still tied to his tribe, Arnold sees himself as independent from them. He has a sense of who he is from his choice to leave the reservation and the qualities that allowed him to do so. The experiences Arnold encountered along the way such as exclusion, individuals with highly independent self-construals, and the deaths of his led to changes in his self-concept.

My decision on a major field of study at Western Michigan University was a process that took much thought and reflection. With my high school teachers’ strong leadership, they inspired me to possibly pursue anything as a career. The long process of finding out what I want to do with my life started in the summer when I was trying to figure out what career would best suit me for the future. Im that kind of person where I need entertainment in my life, so I narrowed it down to some jobs I can't do, such as being a business major and sitting in a office my whole life, and accounting, because I despise math. During my thinking process, I utilized what subjects I enjoyed in high school that I’d like to learn more about in college. I came to a

anything we taught because I was either ahead or behind in what the new school was teaching. It has failed me, but has also told me I must push myself to do better so I can one day go back and help those who failed with me.

Having grown up in Ghana when I was younger, a deep sense of curiosity in learning science had been ingrained in me. In my everyday life I tried to understand natural processes and gain a sense of understanding for common scientific processes such as photosynthesis and many others. As a middle schooler and later on a freshman in Texas, this passion of science continued to grow as I took part in many science competitions and tests including: TAME, UIL and TMSCA. Since moving to madison 5 months ago, I was excited to find new opportunities in a new school and school district to learn more in science. Upon doing much research, I found out about this program and I was elated because this program will provide me with much more experience than the

Have you ever just felt like high school was too easy? Well I have because I felt like the teachers just passed you on. They didn’t give me a challenge like I was supposed to have and from that being, now I have to prepare myself for the college life and teach myself the things I was supposed to be taught in high school. The school I came from didn’t have a math teacher or a history teacher all year so we just sat in the class rooms and played everyday all day and I still ended up passing and that school was Albany Early College. They told me that I would finish high school with an associate degree but all I got was a discombobulated school and an uncontrolled school. The next school I went to didn’t care either. They showed me that I can skip class everyday and still pass with an A average. Despite all the things I didn’t get taught in high school, I did learn some unique aspects that I can reflect on and use for college. The skills I reflect on are annotating, using the Cornell note-taking system, and how to be on time for school.

Middle school was alright, but it wasn’t the best. Sometimes I just had some days where I just never felt like doing actual work. I had some amazing memories with some good friends, I learned new academic skills for real world solutions, and just getting closer to high school has me kind of nervous. The memories I have are some good ones, and some of them are terrible. The academic skills I learned are very important and I should know forever because I could run into a problem when I need it. Overall, my middle school experience was alright.

During the course first semester of freshman year in English 101, I have learned multiple foundations when it comes to writing. When I first entered college, the only knowledge when it comes to writing was the basic of gathering a bunch of information on a piece of paper. Knowing that writing wasn’t my strongest suit throughout my academic career, it was challenging for me. Going through my first college class, which was English 101, I realized that writing is more than just putting words on paper. I have learned the purpose of writing and the structure to make a solid concrete essay such as to create the thesis statement to acknowledge what the reader is going to read and a technique to help edit and limit word, together with discovering a connection with myself in writing.

The first smart goals I chose are to learn to become a leader and to have better time management skills. I chose these because I work on a small unit with no assigned charge nurse. Any day you go in to work it could be your day to be charge nurse so everyone on the unit needs to be able to step up and be a leader. Time management is a skill that every nurse needs to learn. In my opinion, if you have good time management skills it can decrease your stress level and make your workday more organized and enjoyable.

Mmm, you were right the rates are not very generous. I am going to be completely honest; it does put me off a little, from experience how much work will be needed to make this first course a success, which is crucial to ensuring that people feel it's worth signing up for the whole series. I would only want to do this if I can offer something meaningful and valuable. Having spent three days last week rewriting an advanced specialist course for Pilates teachers, I know just how much time these things take as I am sure you do.

The book describes students overcoming obstacles as, “overcoming obstacles and challenges, in solving problems, and in adapting to organizational change” (Whetten & Cameron p82). I learned the English language abstractly, which I overcame and I managed and organized my time for work, home, and school. When I come to U.S, I could not speak decent English. Also, I had a young child and I was a single mother. I could not take my child to a hospital without having a language translator. I was actually disappointed in myself for the way I needed support from the interpreter every time. I finished high school in my country of Somalia, and during that time I had learned limited English, but it was not sufficient enough for me to talk with others. After six months when I came to Boston and I started working. I used to try to learn excellent English all the time so I can communicate with others, but it was not easy to me. Learning English is tough when you have children and you are an adult. It was not easy going to school when you do not have money to pay for school. For that reason, I used to search for schools that taught adults English for free. It took me couple of years until I could sign up and study at a community college. I received support from my teachers and tutors so I can learn and understand the language. Today I overcome that obstacle and I’m pleased with my hard work and honesty in my life and in university.

Patience is the key in accomplishing anything. My most challenging class this year would be my Math Analysis Honors course. My main struggle was fully understanding the curriculum that I avoided my sophomore year, with Algebra 2 Honors. The curriculum was knowing the domain and range of a graph, I assumed that this notion would stay in Algebra 2 and not follow me into my next math course. Starting off the year, the class was simple as it was review of Algebra 2, however days later I am faced with domain and range. I took tests that dealt with this concept and would always get those specific questions wrong. I remember, my teacher saying how most concepts in math would never go away and would be there when taking math in college. My first thought was getting help right away and was exactly what I did. I stayed after school in the Godinez Grizzly Lounge where I got aid from a tutor who took her time in fully explaining the essential way to understand domain and range. After a couple of weeks attending tutoring sessions with her I felt more confident in working with domain and range and was able to get these questions right on the next test that I had. Learning how to figure out these two concepts on a graph was harder as a result of giving up my previous year. I knew, however that I needed to address the issue differently and that's what I did. Although I may not be an expert, I can now figure it out without having to guess or give up on the question. Aside from a challenging