My Personal Experience : My Overall Academic Experience

American History was challenging; I do not believe I had taken as many notes in one class as I did in that one, we worked from bell to bell, it took some serious adjusting. The course was quite intimidating at first, but after a month or so, I grew accustomed to the number of notes we took, and the material we had to study.

My overall educational experience at West Los Angeles College was great. I have met professors and counselors that changed my life. They believed in me before I believe in myself. Those mentors have been encouraging and supporting me unconditionally. I dream that one day I could have the chance to make a difference in the life of a student like those heroes did. Being involved in the community have supported me tremendously in my journey. As an immigrant, a low-income family and a mom, without the support of programs like the EOP&s, I wouldn't be able to achieve what I have accomplished in my

How has Service, Scholarship, Leadership, and Fellowship influenced my educational experience? To be truthful, these Hallmarks didn’t really register with me until my second time around in college. Before, I spent most of my time trying to find myself, or what major I wanted to be in and then finally making sure that I completed all the required classes so that I could finally earn my college degree. I was the first person to go to college in my family. I wanted to make something of myself and still do.

I have learned so much in this class to prepare me for a successful college experience. There were some topics that caught my attention more than others. Such as, time and stress management, University resources, and critical thinking.

I didn’t always suffer from anxiety. My childhood was bright and vibrant and rarely was I seen upset or irritated. I’ve played sports my whole life from only 5 years old. Everything from T-ball, to gymnastics, to soccer between the ages of 5 and 12. After school, if I didn’t have practice, I loved to ride my bike or play with my border collie, Molly, on our 5-acre property. When middle school came around, I was the starting server on the volleyball team, I averaged a rough score of 60 for a 9-hole round of golf, and my tall thin build made me a great addition to the basketball team as well. The sky was the limit in my young eyes and I already knew I could achieve great things if I put my mind to it.

Today I had attended my first class of the Summer 2017 semester. I enrolled into the course EDUC 252 for multiple reasons. One reason for taking this course was that it is a requirement for the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS), an undergraduate degree program at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and this course fit perfectly into my busy schedule this current semester. Another reason for my enrolment into the course EDUC 252 was my pursuit of becoming a teacher. I believe this course will help me as a prospective educator with providing me with various opportunities to develop myself as a reflective practitioner. I have been interested in becoming a teacher for as long as I can remember. Unlike many other children who often had a list of aspirations when growing up, I was adamant on the fact that I wanted to become a teacher and would always announce “when I grow up, I want to be a teacher.” I believe this is a result of the positive impact that my former teachers had on my educational experiences. These teachers played a significant role in my life, helping me to build and accomplish my educational goals. Some of these teachers, I still keep in contact with. For example, over the last few months, I have been shadowing and volunteering in my former Kindergarten and Grade 6 and 7 teachers’ current classrooms.

When my mother was young and just starting in school she was told she would be nothing more than a house wife. All that I am, all of my personal and academic success all derives from this one incident. Imagine that, Imagen being young and having someone older and a respected member of the school system in your young eye tell you that you well never amount to anything more than a house wife. Why my mother was told this? The same reason I was told that it would be highly unlikely that I would ever read higher than a fifth grade reading level. My mother and I are dyslexic.

Throughout my life, I have grown up around individuals with exceptionalities. I was taught, judging other individuals is never the answer. Instead I had to learn to understand why others had different struggles growing up than me. I gained a good sense of understanding from my mom. My mother has worked in the healthcare field for the past 16 years. She has experience in managing and working in group home settings as well as assisted living programs. During this time, I have volunteered to help with various activities such as calling bingo, serving food and supplying entertainment for my mother’s residents. These experiences have helped mold me into the person I am today. Through these experiences, I gained the feeling of happiness by spending time with children and extraordinary people. More importantly, my past experiences have excited me to work in a classroom with children of different ages, backgrounds and exceptionalities.

Learning is something that no one can truly escape. Personally I feel like I learn a billion new things each day from my surroundings, people, the media and books. As I have dived into college, I have learned so much from all my teachers and classmates. Lately I have been learning so many great things in my Acting I class that pose as new techniques to better my acting abilities.

When I started the 2015 Fall semester things were going swell I was very excited to start college and to start learning.I was very much more interested in figuring out what would be the best major for me to select.Going to college was something I wanted to do because I felt like it was the best option for me to find a career and a job I would love doing.While attending classes my mom started dealing with injuries and started experiencing pain with her right knee.I soon learned that bad knees, runs in my family and she has been dealing with it for some time now.Going to school during that time wasn't hard due to the fact she was still working and able to walk around by herself.But as soon as the semester was over I started to consider going to school. I wondered if school was for me at one point and time. So I talked to my old high school guidance counselor and talked about how I need to buckle up and get on track to success.Knowing that school is very important I decided to focus completely on school and nothing else.

Throughout my time here at UW Green Bay, I have learned many things about my education and about myself. While I have learned that you can get a degree, and a job, by gliding your way through classes and applying no effort, I have acquired the belief that you get out of college what you put into it. I believe that if I apply myself and try to challenge myself I will be far more successful in my educational pursuits. Through this realization, I have learned the two most important lesson of all; fearing failure is a waste of energy, and anyone can make a difference in the world.

This semester has certainly come with many surprises, even in WPC 101! In WPC 101, the most pleasant surprise was that it didn't feel like a class my Professor Rachael brought us together like a tight knit family and we all seemed to really care about each other and our highs and lows, this was my most pleasant surprise because I found in most classes students really don't mingle between each other but the bond we built in WPC 101 was one of strength and friendship. The most interesting thing I learned in my other classes was how to break down a big topic like commerce and discuss fascits of it in an organized and professional way. I found the breaking down of large

All throughout the summer of 2016, I had spent my time volunteering at the Chinese Christian Mission kid’s summer camp. After my summer vacation ended, I found myself really appreciating the accompaniment of children and wanting to continue my involvement with them. I seeked out for more opportunities to work with children and discovered an afterschool homework club through a friend's facebook post. After reading up on their website, I was interested in helping elementary school students develop essential math and literacy skills. It was my objective to enhance their self-esteem through improvement in academic skills and ignite a passion for learning in a safe and caring environment. Starting out first as a tutor, then becoming coordinator, I have volunteered with Learning Buddies Network for more than a year now.

I’m one of the millions of American students whose first language is not English that had to overcome barriers to fit in. Twenty-two years ago, both of my parents crossed the border illegally in search of a better life leaving behind the growing poverty, crime, and violence. Neither of them finished high school, my mother dropped out of third grade and my father went up to the eighth grade. My parents didn’t drop out because they were dumb or lazy, they had to work to support their parents and siblings. Unlike others, my parents had to work the fields from sunrise to dawn with barely enough money to eat. Due to their educational experience, they didn’t want that for my sisters and I. One of the first educational experiences I remember is being enrolled in the head start program and my mom having to walk one mile and a half throughout the year’s extreme weather. In head start, I remember that I learned how to count to twenty, learned the alphabet in Spanish, and how to write my name ‘’Veronica’’. My mom decided that my sister and I had to learn Spanish first at school for us to properly communicate with them.

Coming from a small town high school, I knew that my experience at the University would be a game changer. But, what I did not expect to go from being the best of the best in high school to thinking how am I going to survive not only this semester but, the next seven years of my life as well. I was a star student at my high school and I didn’t really have to try to make good grades, but here at the University of Memphis I am barely on the same level of the average student. I never seriously study in high school and I almost always procrastinated on my assignments, but always did well. I have learned that these habits will not work in college, but I have yet to brake them. I know my learning styles and always have and nobody knows me better than me, but I am still fumbling around trying to grasp this whole college thing. I have my goals that I want to accomplish at the university, my personal goals, and my story that I want to leave behind all in line and set up, but struggle with finding the right path to make those goals a reality. My experience as a college student as opened my eyes to a completely different way to approach education and I must evaluate and adjust myself to insure that I am successful, so I can reach each and every one of the goals I set for myself.