Personal Narrative: My Mentor

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

As a former mentor for ABC Learn, a non-profit agency providing additional literacy training to at-risk students, I was taught to take pride in building a strong relationship with the students and families who face numerous problems from social and economic integration.

The sun was beating down on me as I apprehensively stepped up to the big box that held the folder with my fourth grade teacher’s name pasted onto the front. Helpers were asking my name, but my mind was on the awful rumors about Mrs. Glassic. A hand was reaching down into the box, shuffling through the folders when abruptly, it came to a halt. It felt like years, but eventually, the manila envelope arrived in my hands, labeled “Mrs. Glassic”. As my stomach dropped I thought back to a week before, when I heard awful rumors about the meanest, strictest teacher at Green Valley, Mrs. Glassic. On the first day of school I was apathetic and not looking forward to the school year. Quickly, I found myself growing closer and closer to Mrs. Glassic, the patient and encouraging teacher that is determined to find what’s best for her students. For those characteristics, I admire her.

Human development perspective examines the biological, psychological and social development of individuals pertaining to behavior (Hutchison, 2015). The ecological system is a theoretical perspective that examines the individual within the environment that it lives (Garbarino, 1992). There are five subsystems to consider when examining this the individual subject within this perspective; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. According to Garbarino (1992) the ecological perspective tries to explain how the environment effects the development of the individual. The ecological perspective also explores the risks and opportunities in the social environment that affect the subject within each sub-systems (Garbarino, 1992). Risk can be described as any thing that threatens development of the individual, while opportunities support and assist in the development. This paper will review the effects of the environment on an individual by applying the ecological perspective to the life and experiences main character in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

My senior project began with me stepping into a unique and exciting world; an adventure into modeling. I found myself wanting to learn everything regarding becoming a model and ways to break out of my shell and into a new comfort zone. The goals I planned before I finalized this project is to be in my first personal photo shoot, why? I loved seeing how rewarding it is to be photographed, and the self-esteem that builds within. The beginning of this project I had questions about what sort of person I am now and how I will shape afterwards, my road to gain these answers by how much work and effort I can accomplish this summer. My progress so far hasn’t been enough to modify my mindset into a people person professional, this has made shape into

The golds or the outcomes that I hope will occur as a result of my mentoring relationship are being able to grow no only as a person but also as a professional. Also, I want to be a lifelong person and always have a good attitude and look the positive side of negative situations. Another goal is to show the care that I will have for my mentor by always respecting his point of view. The desirable attributes that I possess is that I have a good sense of humor. However, I am a responsible person and respectful. Also, I am social and I like to converse about anything I like to fill the silence. Also, I am friendly and an easy going person. The ways that I will imply these attributes with my mentor is by always having a smile and have a good attitude.

When registration time rolled around in fall 2015, I only needed 12 hours to graduate in May; however, I knew I would be bored and yearned for a class that was meaningful and would end my college career on a positive note. When Dr. May mentioned the mentoring at-risk youth class I was hooked. Although he tried to talk everybody out of it, I knew that this was going to be a perfect fit for me. I have always enjoyed working with youth, whether it was through coaching cheerleading, volunteering in the local elementary school, or spending afternoons at a halfway house for abused and neglected children. By signing up for the mentoring program I was able to try something I had never tried before— using my love for youth to create a lifelong one-on-one

In my thirteen years of schooling I have studied under more than fifty teachers, all of which have dropped a coin or two into my academic piggy bank. But, when I think of a person who has had an important influence on my life, one name stands out in my mind more than others: Mrs.Cox. This woman was one of a kind! As both my second and third grade teacher, Mrs.Cox had two full years to fill my head with the wonders of science, math, reading, and writing. Within this time frame she taught me with strategies I had never seen before and ultimately helped me gain an in-depth understanding of the core subjects in a way that made me realize that with unwavering focus and commitment I could master anything I was given.

Senior project has definitely been a defining moment for me in my high school career. Senior project is basically a project all about what you want to be when you grow up, along with a few extra topics. I chose neurology and The BRAIN Initiative as my career and topic. I accomplished many things throughout this long process. I also gained so much knowledge about neurology

I was surprised when I learned that I didn’t have only one mentor, but I had three mentors. I was anxious as to who was going to be my mentor and felt scared that I wouldn’t be able to create a connection. One of my mentors had work that day, so I had to arrive a little earlier to have a quick talk. I thought this was going to be my only mentor but it wasn’t. I also, have Dani Barajas and Adrian Camacho as mentors.

Even as a young kid in elementary school, writing was one of my weakest subjects. I always sighed when one of my teachers mentioned a writing assignment. It started in elementary school and continues to affect me to this day. Starting out my junior year, I was hesitant to have Mr. Zollman as a teacher because I heard he was a tough grader. I soon found out that was true, but he ended up being the most helpful teacher to get me through my writing problems. Mr. Zollman helped me get through my struggles of writing papers, and he taught me to be a stronger writer.

Last summer I wanted to work and earn a little cash and distract myself and not be home all summer. I didn't know where to apply so I applied everywhere I was even open to working in the fields my parents told me that the fields were the last place they ever wanted me to work. My mom and step dad Raul always told me that field work wasn't easy and that it was not for me but I didn't listen.

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

Caroline, my sister, is the type of person who loves animals and says she wants to save the world. She thinks her jokes are the best, but she’s the only one that laughs. She is always willing to help someone out if they are stuck. She knows how to put a smile on someone's face. Whenever Caroline answers the phone, even if it wakes her from a nap, she always smiles first and then talks. “Because a smile can change any meaning” she always says. She is a 20 year old junior at “UW-Madison for my undergraduate degree in anthropology with certificates in archaeology and classics” (C. Schlinsog, Personal Interview, May 31, 2017). She is very smart, she is taking summer classes so she can graduate early and go on to graduate school. She has a big future ahead of her.

English has never been my favorite subject in school. My family has always considered me to be talkative and very social. Therefore, it left all of us, including my teacher, quite in the dark when trying to figure out why I was doing poorly in my fifth grade English class. My teacher’s name was Ms. Johnson, and she was a very high spirited woman. She would always encourage me to simply express myself in my writing.