My Reflection Paper

Based on the Clifton Strengths Assessment my top five strengths are strategic, deliberative, learner, maximize and individualization. As an individual, I rarely look into my weakness. I believe that when your too focused on your weakness, you forget about your strengths. Everything the book said is true, and we need to take the time to look at our strengths and make it perfect. It is true that in this world or the school system, we are taught to look at our weakness and correct it so that we can become stronger in our life. This book brings out the truth that I longed to hear for a long time. Invariably, I hear my professor tell their students that for them success in life, they must practice and look at our weakness. This book proves it wrong because for us to become successful, we must stay to our strengths’ path.

Over the course of the semester, there has been numerous amount of areas where I believe I have improved in comparison to high school. What has helped me in my writing is the writing class and the in-class writing workshop. The writing class that is located in the Kremen education building has helped me with my writing greatly because in the writing center the person in charge teach us lenses and we apply those lenses to the writing, draft, or reading that someone brings in. The in-class writing workshop has helped me because other students get to read my writing. This is helpful because I get feedback from many students and they let me know what needs to be fixed. A new tool I have been using is They Say I Say. The book is very helpful because of the information and examples it provides such as the templates. I have been applying the templates into my essays and I have seen a significant difference.

The other day my Dad and I talked about the Republican primary winner for the Senate seat in Alabama, Roy Moore. I remarked that I found the ten commandments statue Moore placed in the Alabama State Judicial Building, and his refusal to remove it, repulsive. I told him I thought this was a gross violation of the first amendment. The federal judge in 2003 who ordered the statue’s removal agreed with me, arguing that it plainly signaled an endorsement of religion. My Dad decided to play devil’s advocate, though he agrees Moore is heinous and is appalled by how the GOP establishment has accepted him. He asked: don’t most of America’s laws stem from the word of God? Was James Madison saying that American citizens shouldn’t be held to the ten commandments when he called for the prohibition of a national religion? I looked into the case after talking with him. The state of Alabama’s Judiciary stated, "Indeed, we recognize that the acknowledgment of God is very much a vital part of the public and private fabric of our country,” before announcing Moore’s removal from office. The Alabama government agreed with Moore, but removed him because he would not follow a federal order. I asked my Dad why he thinks people believe it would be okay to put the ten commandments in a state building. He responded by telling me about some of his dilemmas as a Christian today. My Dad is searching for morality in 2017 — to him it is absent from our society because of how we have strayed away from

It is easy to underestimate how much effort is required to complete a goal. A common struggle for college students in particular is finding a perfect balance between giving too much effort and too little. Time management is critical and giving too much effort wastes precious time while giving too little results in a poor grade. I have personally found that when it comes to achieving goals either academic or personal, you can never give too much effort. In fact, the amount of effort you put into your work not only determines whether or not you reach your goal, but also defines you as a person. Knowing this fact, I took steps this semester to ensure that I achieved my goal of straight A’s, not just for the class but for the assignments as well.

I decided to interview my mom, Maria, who is 51 and lives in Chelan, Washington. I selected my mom because she has lived in two different countries and was able to reflect on similarities and differences that she noticed. My mom grew up in Mexico, as a child she lived in a city, when she got into her teens her family moved to a small town in the southern part of Mexico and as an adult she moved to the US. I began the interview by asking my mom what sustainability was to her. She responded by saying sustainability is the ability to provide her family with the basics needed for their well-being while not being wasteful. According to Kuhlman and Farrington, “sustainability is concerned with the well-being of future generations and in particular with irreplaceable natural resources” (Kuhlman and Farrington, 2). It was interesting to compare both definitions as they both focused on the well-being of the future, and although my mom did not mention natural resources she did emphasize not being wasteful.

For most of my elementary and middle school career, I averaged about two or three absences in a given week. I hated class, didn’t understand why I had to be there all the time if I could come every other day and still get A’s. While this may have been true, albeit arrogant, I now see how I had misunderstood. It took me until my sophomore year of high school to realize how passionate I actually am about it. It was then, with the aid of two specific teachers, that I realized how the most noble and honest thing one can pursue in life is knowledge and education. These two history teachers, good friends to each other, not only taught me about the history of the world and how relevant it is to life today, but also taught me the two most important lessons I’ve learned up to this point.

"Born on the South side of Chicago." A statement like that can say a lot based on who you are but the experience of physically living in a community that has so much negativity towards it, can have such an impact on how others view you. I've grown to constantly be conscious of the impact the color of my skin has, from going to a predominantly black school from elementary to middle school, a fairly diverse high school, to being a first-generation college student at predominately white institution like Eastern; it has become extremely important to make a meaning out of life. The meaning of my life has been based on the experience of my ancestors, present family and shaping my own identity based on my personal experience.

In college we all search for our true purpose in this world. We scheme and plan for the future, choosing majors that we have great passion for. Even, majors that we can make tons of money doing. Through the journey of 4 or even 6 years of college we graduate with the knowledge of that purpose. College is the way for us to see growth and knowledge in life. Also, the people we meet and interact with in college or even, the classrooms we learn in. Classrooms are actually a huge part of growth in that purpose we are all searching for. They have the ability to hold the most experiences we have throughout the years. Think about it, do you still remember that one time in fifth grade when you got caught passing notes in class? I know I do. This because that was one of the most embarrassing memories for me ihat classroom that I was in for that whole school year. Memories and experiences is what those classrooms or spaces hold. As a dance major, I've came in contact in many different classrooms. At Sacramento State there are about 3 major dance rooms, not including the ones in The Well. But, it's not just the dance rooms that I have been in, there are multiple halls around campus where I have gained the most important experiences beneficial to my growth in my purpose. I would like to mainly focus on 3 spaces. Two of these spaces would happen to be dance rooms, if it isn't too obvious. As for the last space would be one of my favorites. These three spaces have truly been apart of my

On August 2017, I started my freshman year of college. My first class was FIQWS 10108, the sun was shining bright, as I was nervous to start my first day as a college student. We first went over the syllabus and discussed what was expected for the class. I was shocked to find out that we would be writing three lengthy papers. I’ve never been an excellent writer so I was worried about writing the papers. My fears soon diminished as my professor began guiding us through the writing process.

ugust 9, 2014, Michael Brown’s body laid in the Missouri sun for four hours after being killed by a Ferguson police officer. As his body lay there, I sat in my kitchen packing for freshman move-in with tears of anger streaming down my face. I knew the unarmed Black teen could have been my older brother or a high school friend. What I did not know, was that Brown’s death would be my intellectual and personal catalyst. Just days after Brown’s death, I participated in my first protest. As I walked chanting “Black Lives Matter” through the streets of Atlanta in a crowd of passionate, disillusioned, mourning, energetic comrades, I found my niche.

Last summer I was on vacation with my family and I was just scrolling through my news feed because I enjoy being up to date with the world’s happenings. As I sat on a rocking chair, sitting off to the side a little so I could still use my phone while it charged., I saw a headline along the lines of “Powerful Letter by Stanford Victim”. Clicked on it. Read the entire letter. It was hard to do, and somewhere in the middle when the author sent into detail of when the she was sexually assaulted, or when she had to go to the hospital afterwards, I almost shut off my phone.

I have always had a strong faith in my religion, and have never had any shame in expressing it. I never really questioned or challenged it until August 23, 2015. That Sunday was a day that changed my family’s life for what seemed to be forever, since we had to wait until September 9,2016 to get back to somewhat the same. We had to wait a whole year to get the answers that would slowly piece back my family. The day had started out rather normal my family and I had just eaten our Sunday dinner and were all just laying around relaxing for a bit. Well, my mom and dad were in their room laying down watching television, when all of a sudden I heard my mom yell “ Chris, Chris, come on talk to me”. I ran into their room since I had heard the sense of fear in my moms voice. As I got through the doorways I looked over and seen my dad seizing in his bed. My heart instantly dropped, my mind instantly went blank in a sense of shock. My mom instantly had me help her get my dad up and turned over on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his tongue.

To begin, I have to establish a disclaimer: The person I was working with was currently an inmate at my place of employment which is a Juvenile Detention Center. In any event, I cannot legally state his name, so instead of stating his name, I will call him Joe Smith. Furthermore, Joe Smith is originally from Mexico and was brought over by his mother when he was ten years old. Joe Smith has been in the United States for six years, but he has been in and out of school for several years due to his criminal activity. The detention center offers classes for the inmates, but Joe used to skip the classes up until recently. In any event, Joe’s spoken English is far greater than his written English. The times where I worked with Joe (there were many of them) we mainly worked on his written language and reading comprehension (phonics mainly). In any event, Joe was definitely more of a naturalist English learner rather than an academic one. If I had to categorize Joe into a proficiency level, I would say he is beginning to intermediate when it pertains to writing and reading, but advanced speaking wise. In any event, Joe is a male and he was technically in the 9th grade but should have been in the 11th grade (according to his numerical age).

It felt as if each step I took was going to be my last at any second. It has been sixteen hours of just plain hunger, thirst, and exhaustion which worried me very much. I was walking for hours just to get to the “other side” while being 3 months pregnant. My over thinking became extreme but my main concern was if it was really worth my babies life incase something wrong happened? Who would have thought anyone could physically and mentally survive this kind of thing let alone a pregnant one, luckily here I am about to tell you the living nightmare I went through. I would not wish this experience on anyone walking on this earth, this journey was something I will never forget.

Among the eight intelligences displayed in the video, I’d have to say that I’d possess three out of the eight. Starting with logical-mathematical, I do quite well academically on tests and have been ever since I started school. Of course I’ve had some tests where I didn’t do as well I would’ve liked. However, I would classify myself as a proficient test-taker. Often times, I will take the logical approach to thinking and am good with working with numbers and calculations. Especially when I was young, my grandfather would force me to do a bunch of simple arithmetic and I would hate it but I’d get it done pretty easily. Specifically on the subject of math, I’ve always been quite extraordinary on the subject. In my middle school, they allowed all of us to take a test to see whether we could be placed in the advanced math class or stay in the current math class. I ended up placing in the advanced class and did math a grade level above. Currently, whenever I tell people that I’m a sophomore currently taking pre-calculus, their face is usually quite surprised and shocked. I would also add that verbal-linguistic intelligence is something I feel I possess. I am bilingual, speaking English and three dialects of Chinese; Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taishanese. My parents spoke Taishanese as well as the rest of my family but they pushed me to Chinese school when I started preschool at the budding age of five. There, I was mostly taught in Cantonese as well as a class in Mandarin. I would