My Personal Reflection On My Life

The definition of family to me are the people who are in my life loving, supporting and caring for myself and others in my family. My personal definition of family goes against the traditional definition as I believe nonblood related people are considered my family (i.e., really close friends). There are many changes in the American family over the last several decades that demand a change to the definition of family. There are more gay and lesbian couples forming families, people of different races marrying and more women who are single raising children without a male partner (Seccombe, 2015, p. 2). All of these are examples of how and why the definition of family is changing. Additionally, American families are changing due to social trends

Beginning the writing process, I established for myself a mental roadmap. I asked myself what I was trying to say, and what the goal or intent of the writing would be. Was I attempting to persuade my readers, or to be didactic instead? I considered the "how" part of the equation later, and honed each sentence word for word. The how part of the writing process was relatively simple compared to the question of what to say, and why. I had to imbue the paper with social commentary, for there was much to say about these readings.

Don’t leave any white spots. Remember to diversify your colors. Mix colors to create new ones. And never, and I mean never color across the boundaries. The invaluable teachings of my kindergarten teacher screamed at me when I picked up my first color pencil in almost a decades. After a break encapsulating my whole of adolescent years, I was ready to finish my final art assignment due in Nursery.

Life is hard. Life throws curveballs and throws a wrench in your plans from time to time. Sometimes this life on Earth can be more than we ever could imagine. And sometimes it gets the best of us. But what do we really know about our life and our purpose on Earth? How soon do we know about God, our Creator? Who is really in control of our lives? Man vs. a higher power?

A family can be defined in many ways, but the common denominator in all is the love and fulfillment one gets by being surrounded by family members. Families can sometimes be at odds with each other, but the strain of this type of relationship usually creates an upsetting feeling to the people involved. People want others to rely on, talk to, do things with, share, love, embrace, and be part of. No matter what the family dynamic is the qualities the word family has will remain the same, as time goes by, and life evolves once again for every person living their

Throughout the past year, I’ve built many relationships that have allowed me to reflect on not only myself, but also the work I want to do and what my role can be in that work. These relationships have occurred with my peers, upperclassmen Civic Scholars, the community partner I worked work with, the students I worked with, and Civic House staff.

One's dream and aspirations to supersede in life must be stronger and greater than limitations set forth by others. The experience that were bestowed to me during my short life has elevated me to the woman I am today. Please walk with me as I give you the opportunity to see the world from my eyes:

We took numerous fascinating surveys during the course, however the Values in Action (Via) helped me clarifying my strengths and weakness. Among my top 5 strengths from the survey, I strong believe that honesty, creativity, humor, perspective and kindness are my core leadership style. Those are explained below:

I am a female, I am upper middle class, these two aspects have shaped my experiences in school and the way I view my life. These two aspects come with enormous expectations that contributed to the way I view and act upon daily situations. My economic social class I have have grown up in has opened many doors, some that are positive and some that are negative. Next, being a female in today’s society is like being on a roller-coaster, some situations are fantastic, other situations I wish that I was a male. My identity in society and my gender have had a great affect on my viewpoint of the world and how I chose to live my life.

Everyone has their own unique beliefs and motives that push them through their lives. I have many different beliefs instilled in me that mold my day to day life. These beliefs have been formed either by learning from my parents, or by personal experiences. One major conviction of mine is the pursuit of happiness. There are many ways to strive for happiness, and all people are unique in the fact that no one shares the same goals. My happiness comes from a core of beliefs. Religion is an extremely important part of my life, and I can thank my mother and father for that. Another belief of mine is that hard work pays off; in many situations I have been shown that a good work ethic goes a long way in being successful. I also believe in being an optimist throughout life’s trials and tribulations. Many things can upset me in day to day experiences; however, I believe it to be crucial to obtain a joyous attitude. These beliefs have become priorities to me and carry me through my life, and help me to succeed.

My mom always says “Amigos son un peso en el bolsillo” In other words, friends are there one day and gone by the other, just like money. Moreover, the English equivalent is ‘fair weather friends’. I have to admit that I did not always agree with my mother. However, at the time I moved from Puerto Rico to Texas my perspective on friendships changed. There may be some people who believe that friends are forever, but, because of my past experience that has led me to believe that real friends do not exist.

breathe or function at all and would be an empty shell for one cannot operate or function without it.

When I started to imagine myself in before starting this class, currently, and in five years as a symbol I had a few different ideas. I first thought more metaphorically, but then decided that it was clearer if I drew myself in actual life situations. In all three drawings, I included a door. This door separates the counseling room from the outside. In the first drawing, I am about to enter my first session with my client. I have my fingers in my mouth, which is a reoccurring nerves tick. I also have sweat running down my face and big eyes. Personally, I was scared to enter the session. I feared being filmed as well as messing up. I have a thought bubble above my head to represent what was going through my head. In that moment, my thoughts were jumbled. Every technique we had learned thus far in class I seemed to have forgotten. I was worrying about making a mistake and I could not think clearly. I was overwhelmed both physically and mentally.

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.

As I descend the stairs from the stage, trepidation saturates my body. During my performance, I retained my focus on Angelo 's table to observe Patsy dancing in her seat, while Angelo sat back with his arm stretched along the back of the sofa, wearing a smile on his lips as he watched me. But John, his angry glare remained on his bottle of beer most of the time. When he did glance my way, the fury that spewed forth from his penetrating glare was terrifying.