Personal Narrative: My Passion For Helping Others

Those who develop culturally responsive faculty development programs should examine the foundational principles upon which they are built; they will demonstrate the level of commitment to developing a cadre of culturally responsive educators. Any program, curriculum or agenda that does not have at its core the intention of creating an equitable society for everyone is a tool to maintain hegemonic practices (Gorski, 2008). While there is no set model or format for culturally responsive faculty development, there are certain traits that should be evident from such a program.

I was wandering in the mall recently , aimlessly as some of us do, basically waisting time. In my travels I came across a kiosk that sold various cellphones, chargers, and other accessories. The young man behind the counter asked if I needed any help, I answered as most of us do with a "no, I'm just looking."

Venezuela was one of the very first colonies to gain their independence from Spain. At the time Venezuela was a Spanish ruled colony and the people of Venezuela felt that Spain was ruling their colony terribly (Adelblue). The people were led by Simon Bolivar, whose nickname was “The Liberator” since he liberated Venezuela and worked with San Martin to liberate most of Northern South America (Adelblue). Venezuela declared their independence in 1810 and finally gained their independence after the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 (Minster). Three symbolic elements of the Venezuelan Revolution are used to portray Simon Bolivar, the speech Simon gave to the Second National Congress in 1819 to encourage the type of government he had in mind, and the high taxation which was the main cause of the revolution (Ellis and Esler 705).

Starting high school can be a little scary, especially when you have no guidance from siblings, like me, being the first one from my family to have an education. But that did not stop me from succeeding, I?ve always been confident and determined. I?m an enthusiastic when it comes to trying new things. Who would have thought I was going to be a good athlete plus a book geek, when in my past years I was just a regular kid. I was pretty excited about joining a club that had a connection with high school, that way I didn?t have to start from zero, I always want to be a step ahead. Fortunately, in summer, a high school coach was recruiting freshmen for running either cross country or track, they both involve running, so I considered it like the same sport with different timing. And this is when it all started. Running

Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.

When it comes to my passion most don’t understand it the way I do. For the past three years my passion has been lacrosse. Since I was a freshman at Sandalwood High School my interests for the sport have grown and my devotion and commitment have reached new limits. Most people don’t understand lacrosse, they just know that it is a sport “with sticks and stuff”, and while I don’t take offense to ignorance; sharing my passion with others is never a burden. Lacrosse is one of the biggest parts of my life as of now and I believe it will continue to be for many years to come, but there’s more to the sport than most people know. Lacrosse has a history behind it older than any other sport in America, as well as the fact that as of now,

Hi iam Edgardo Flores i was born in casa grande, az not that far away from our state capital,Phoenix, Az.theres nothing better to do in a hot summer than going out with the friends to a lake and have a blast riding jet skis boats and my favorite, swimming!My activites of the day are shooting,riding horses,and my favorite one is quad riding.Thats right! ive been doing these fun exciting hobbies since i was 9 years old.pretty young huh?

Growing up in a very traditional Asian household, I was pushed every day to achieve any goal I sought out to accomplish. Whether it was playing piano, practicing the viola, or studying for school, my parents were always supportive with any goal I had in mind. One of the main reasons why I am who I am today is because where my parents originated from and their desire to follow the American Dream for not just them but my sister and I.

Since childhood, I often envisioned myself working with the homeless and needy population. I would take inspiration from Jane Addams, St. Francis of Assisi, and other altruistic leaders who are too cliché to mention. I was not sure how long I had felt this way, but a couple of years ago, I found a letter in my third grade handwriting outlining my life goal: "When I grow up, I want to help the homeless." I was a starry-eyed adolescent, then.

The agency I volunteered to work at was the Graffiti Church Ministries After-School Program on 205 E 7th St. During the school week, usually Mondays, I would take the train to this program and strive to make the kids’ days at least a little bit better. I would almost always arrive at 3:15 PM exactly and would first help the children with their homework. Helping the children was shockingly much more troublesome than anticipated. I would have to explain exceptionally basic concepts to someone who knew next to nothing about it. I remember distinctively helping a kid, Jamel, with his homework and it proved extremely difficult for me to explain the concept of time to a first grader. I attempted to clarify that a quarter, as far as time, is commensurate

I've been fairly busy as of late. Notably, yesterday was a pretty interesting day. I'm not exactly feeling well, think I'm coming down with something. How often is it that a Jedi contracts a cold? Just not feeling as spry, I think. My stomach is churning as I type, something is missing, think I might have to take a reprieve sooner rather than later. Maybe I'll be gone for a cycle, maybe I'll be gone for a year. I don't know. I just know that I need to focus on other things. That's not the point of this entry, however.

My strengths are experience I have from my practicum and volunteer, hard-working personality, and observation skills. I independently interacted with patients and families and provided therapeutic play and activities in pediatrics and PICU. I also observed child life specialists in NICU, surgery, emergency department, and trauma. Observation enables me to interact and communicate effectively with patients and their families. I respect the individual differences such as culture, religion, and their unique needs.

As a Venezuelan international student, sharing my voice in English has been a challenge. When I first came to the Community College of Aurora, fear clearly affected my learning process and social life. As I struggled with the language barrier, I received a call from the school to attend a Student Government meeting, where I first met Kathryn Sturtevant. Since then, she strived to discover and understand my professional and personal goals and has pushed me to overcome challenges that have shaped me as a better human being. As advisor of the Student Government Association in which I am Vice-President, Kathryn has incorporated a variety of trainings such as Strengths Quest and True Colors that are meaningfully aimed to improve and empower not only myself but

From a young age, athletics were a very important part of my life and soccer was my passion. Whether it was playing on boy’s teams and summer leagues, or refereeing tournaments and coaching soccer camps, I was constantly trying to improve my game. When I came to college, I was excited to have the opportunity to continue playing soccer. Unfortunately, I received several concussions and I had some complications that ultimately forced me to stop playing soccer after my sophomore year. At first I was distraught, all of my personal goals were gone and I was no longer working with my teammates toward the goals we set together. However, I realized I needed to find new interests and new objectives to work towards during the rest of my time in college.

I live in Lake Elsinore, California and have noticed a large number of homeless walking and begging on the streets. While it is easy to look away when whole families of homeless are on the side of street with signs asking for money, I have instead looked for churches that specialize in helping the homeless. By talking with individuals at local churches who have helped the homeless I have learned that giving food, instead of money, is the best approach. By giving food, instead of money, the help I am giving will probably go to feeding their family instead of their addictions. So one year ago I started showing up at a local park every Saturday, brining orange juice and milk, alongside a local church, who gives food, to feed not only homeless adults but also children. They thank me but in reality they give me an internal sense of gratitude for what I have and self-esteem that I never had before. I especially enjoy feeding the children of low income families, their smiles as they receive their food make me feel that this world can indeed be a safe and loving home.