Personal Narrative: My UNCP Journey

Looking at school, I had an okay first semester. I started the morning with Algebra II and photography, which was a class I really enjoyed. Then my advisory is with the ASB officers and we either do homework or we talk about events we are planning for our school in the future. From lunch, I had AP U.S. History and then I'm a TA (teacher's assistant) for my mom and then go to yoga. Seems like I had an easy semester at first. Nevertheless, that was my feeling until the second semester came. I now have three hard classes in a row. That includes pre-calc and this class, Honor's English III, along with my AP U.S. History. I still TA for my mom and have yoga, but those three hard classes make academics a little

Upon considering the events and experiences that have been a precursor to my interest in CCU, I am burdened with the decision of expressing a single cumulative moment that bears the most gravity upon myself to this point. Could it be the diligence of a dedicated family that bears the most impact? Could it be the countless teachers, instructors, and counselors that have selflessly invested in me? Is it the economic, political, or geographic tides that have surrounded my existence? Perhaps it falls within the lines of the many passages of books read or entangled in the conversations made by superior minds? Or is it held in the delicate grasps of a fragile moment too unknown to be remembered and too small to be noticed? Could it be that, in a

At the start of my second Junior semester, a close friend of mine died in a car accident. This took a toll on me. The grieving period hindered my focus at the beginning of the semester, but I was able to refocus on my tasks (running was a great help), and gradually move forward out of my grief, processing my loss and focusing on my studies. By the end of the second semester I had nearly straight

Now that I have completed my first half of the semester in Montclair State University, I feel like I have accomplished a lot within these past few weeks. My goals for this semester was to start off academically strong, make new friends, trying new things, find a major, and getting out of my comfort zone. So far, I have accomplished more than half of my goals. I am doing well in my classes, exploring new places, and I met the greatest group of people I can be friends with.

Throughout the semester I have faced many difficult and different challenges. One major challenge has been to be acting as a single parent again. Recently my husband left for another deployment which has left me alone to care for our children. It has become my sole responsibility to take care of our children and transport them to and from daycare. I also have to make sure I have childcare lined up if I pick up shifts at work. Another thing that has fallen on my shoulders is the responsibility of all of the housework. Instead of having my husband's help with cleaning and putting laundry away, I now have to rely on myself, which I hate. Another challenge I have faced this semester is getting back into a good school routine. When I left high school

I put too much on my plate: I accepted a job as the music department assistant on top of my other job, was persuaded into joining We The People, took a couple of difficult classes online, and decided to take a dance class on top of all of it. In addition, I was laurel class president and I had just been called to youth committee. I also experienced some emotional issues during the first half of the semester that impacted my happiness and productivity level.

In Q2, I visited stores with Kristoffer Anderson, in Dristict 5. We focused on stores on the 59 Highway (328, 359 and 107). These visits focused on Associate Communications. I got to gauge how stores are utilizing their breakrooms and training facilities. After this visit, I was ablet to channel my communications correctly. I also learned that stores were not readint the Communications newsletter on the monthly basis.

There were a couple of issues that I ran into during the semester that were not significant; but they were things that I needed to figure out in order to be successful. When road blocks get in the way it is sometimes difficult to want to continue. I

My time at CHS has been very different from the majority of graduates. Unlike most, I did not attend Colchester Schools prior to attending CHS, rather, I received my education at Grand Isle Elementary School. For me, going to high school meant saying goodbye to most of the friends I had known since I was little, and embarking on a new journey of making all new friends. This was a scary time for me, while my two siblings and a number of cousins had gone to CHS, I personally knew very few of my future classmates. Therefore, for the first few weeks of school in my freshman year, I walked around being unsure of what people's names were, and how exactly I was going to make new friends. However, I believe this experience has overall made me a better person, and has prepared me for the change of going off to college very well.

This semester proved to be the most difficult for me. I thought prior semesters were difficult; juggling my family’s declining health, school work, my teaching career, my two children and my marriage, however it became even more challenging. The death of my mother has been the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with. Be that as it may, I am thankful that I had my classwork to help keep me busy. It was part of my base line that stayed the same when everything else around me fell apart and changed. I was thankful for the group work, classmates, and peer review buddies that gave me words of encouragement and an outlet to vent. In the entirety of my counseling degree program I feel the one thing I have learned is that no matter what happens

This past Fall was a very difficult time for me both academically and personally. Within a few weeks of starting my freshman year of college at High Point University, I became very homesick. Along with adjusting to a new academic environment, I questioned my major and struggled with my new classes. I quickly learned that I needed to work even harder to succeed in my classes. I utilized all the resources that were given to me: I met with my professors during office hours, started study groups, requested tutors and met with academic advisors.

I have found a habit of building building castles out of daydreams, of dancing with delusions of grandeur with nothing under my feet and more than one occasion it has resulted in extraordinary disappointment. So, in an effort to keep me from watching my high hopes inevitably come crashing down, I tried to keep my mind blank when it came to my first year at Penn. No expectations; no disappointment. I figured I would find some sort of path to go down once I became acclimated to the Philadelphia atmosphere. That being said, I allowed myself to indulge in the simplest of goals: make friends, do good in school, and join a club or two. The simple things that everyone looks forward to when going to college. Now, with three weeks under my belt, I can

A few weeks ago I completed my second semester and first full year of college at Arizona State University. I thought I could balance personal life and academics since I had one semester under me and it being my second semester. However, it was more difficult than I thought. In the beginning of the semester I was doing pretty well and checked in with my advisor frequently, then all of sudden I started slowly digress. Since I wasn’t really into the campus lifestyle my peers encouraged me to get out more and get the full university experience. I didn’t manage my time well and got sucked into attending football games and participating in events around campus. Unfortunately, everything got hard towards the end of the year and I got hit with terrible

I have been going to Udall for a while, though I went to a different school in sixth grade and returned my junior year. I was glad to have returned and am now still getting to know people who were not here before. During my middle school year, I had developed a passion for writing and began writing short stories. When I had an assignment involving any sort of writing, I would jump at the chance to create something that would have my reader wanting more. At fourteen I had actually began writing a book, although it changed often over the years and evolved so much to where I now have ideas for many more books in the future.

Looking back at this quarter, I’ve definitely had my fair share of successes and mistakes. Upon pondering at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the quarter, I can sincerely say that I completed about 90% of my objectives. For example, before coming to college I had promised myself that I wasn't going to let myself fall into the party scene and put going out with friends before my schoolwork. Although there were many temptations, I constantly reminded myself that I was here to study first and have fun later. Thus, I only attended a couple of parties at the beginning of the quarter. This allowed me to have fun, let loose, and experience college parties while not letting that affect my schoolwork. Moreover, another goal that I had set for myself was to take care of my physical and mental health throughout the quarter, not let myself gain the notorious “freshman 15”. Therefore, I created a workout schedule that included working out 6 times a week and limiting myself to splurge on junk food once a week. This schedule didn’t seem to difficult as I had enjoyed working out and counting calories before coming to college. Considering keeping up with this schedule during midterms I was able to follow through. I would workout in the mornings to allow myself time to study during the evenings and I would snack on fruits and veggies throughout the day to avoid overeating in the night. To my surprise I was not really tempted into eating a lot in the dining halls, this was most