Personal Reflection Essay

While I appreciated that one of my peers provided feedback on my work, I feel that the feedback that was provided did not fulfill the assignment. My peer did not provide detailed feedback on my paper that could be adequately incorporated in my review and revisions. Most of the information that was provided as feedback were simply statements that reiterated what the prompt question was. Please see the below feedback provided to me by my peer.

| |the intellectual conversation of topics that were discussed. I also enjoyed the learning |

In Aug. 2010, I completed my B.S. in Environmental science concentration in biology at Taylor University. Courses I have taken, allowed me to be familiar with different aspects of biology, ecology and geology. As a result, I was able to experience the tangibility of these fields, for example gathering and analyzing field samples. Furthermore, one summer was spent taking and examining water quality samples, as well as examining plants and animal specimens. For my senior project, I designed and completed a practicum, where I removed invasives plants from a local forest near my hometown. After accomplishing the objectives, the superintendent offer me the position of a natural resource specialist.

In the beginning of the year I was not confident in my writing abilities. I did not know how to format different types of essays, nor did I know the meticulous research that goes into each and every paper. When we started off with narrative writings I felt fairly comfortable, but little did I know that I was a grammatical nightmare. My most common mistake was forgetting about commas before coordinating conjunctions. I would also often times become wordy or improper whenever I wasn't sure how to get an idea across. Whenever the year started I was clueless on how to format any dialogue at all, but as the year progressed these dialogue mishaps dwindled down until in my final papers they were much improved. Finally, my greatest personal improvement

Improvement takes time, effort, and often times late nights. Many evenings I have labored overtime to improve myself. Often times staying awake till midnight to ensure that my daybook notes were the definition of perfection or even adding an extra paragraph to my essays to ensure that it would support my thesis. In English class, I explored my ability to read literature, writing essays, collaborating on discussions, and most importantly, learning. Regardless of my extensive background in each of these areas, I recieved the opportunity to expand and develop my skills more in some way as a reader, a writer, a collaborator, and especially a learner. Perfection is not always attainable, yet I should strive for the best adaption of my work.

The different activities I have participated in over the past 3 semesters have been incredibly rewarding! The majority of the activities I have participate in over the past 3 years have been on the USF campus, the organizations that I have completed these hours with were primarily with the offices of the Global Citizens Project (GCP) and the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement’s Lead Fellows Board (CLCE), but also some hours were completed with the USF chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and with the GloBULL Ambassadors. The various activities performed spanned a wide range of different things including planning events that help to promote leadership across USF with the CLCE, tabling at events and presenting presentations with the Global Citizens Project, and

When I interviewed with Brian and Jeff at the beginning of the summer I had very little idea what went on in the logistics world besides the fact that it is a rapidly growing field that needs more professionals now. I didn’t know anything that happened in the real world of logistics, only what I have read and learned in books at UMSL. There is a very big difference between reading about the processes, regulations, and technology and going in to work and experiencing how all those things are used in the real world. Aside from those things, I didn’t know that brokerage in freight was so prevalent.

The comments say that I display a growth mindset and also generate good ideas, but that normally I do not put them in the table and also, I do not take initiative when it is necessary.

As I reflect back on the past18 years, I am reminded of the many experiences and various people that have influenced me and helped mold and shape my views on education and learning. Many great teachers and coaches have all helped instill in me a love for learning. Difficult teachers, unfair coaches and challenging relationships with peers have helped me develop the desire to prove myself and to do my best to rise above and to learn in spite of challenges. Instances of cheating, injustice, apathy and school politics could have possibly stolen my desire to learn and grow. Instead these things have driven me to educate myself in order to bring about change and provide opportunities to do something more with my life.

I have established key relationships by partnering and influencing program leadership team by being the first point of contact for Finance & Service for CPS program if they have financial, O2D, contracting etc. queries.

Throughout the semester we have written several different types of essays. Those being informing essays, essays with research, and essays about personal experiences. For me, half of the battle was choosing the topic. After choosing the topic and writing a rough draft we most times would have a peer review. The peer review helped me to see my classmate’s ideas and opinions about my work. Taking their suggestions helped improve my paper in the end. I also used the paper checks to see how I was doing with my paper. Over the semester I have improved on several things. These being vocabulary, over explaining myself, and grammar. However, there are some things that I haven’t improved on but would like to.

On Section 3 (Build Your DREAM Team) Module 1 (Develop your Social Network) Exercise 2.16 (How To Maximize Your LinkedIn & Facebook Profiles & Expand Your Networks) I began to reflect on what I learned in order to evaluate and maximize my social capital and build my brand. Since I did not have a LinkedIn.com profile, I started from scratch. I was very skeptical about creating a LinkedIn.com profile because once something is on the internet, it is forever, which I was reminded in class. However, prior to class, I learned that LinkedIn is an important factor in networking, finding job opportunities, and in the hiring process. Therefore, it is essential for me to have a profile to help me find a job and enhance my career. Without a social presence, I am invisible. As Professor Harry suggested, I pulled up his profile and started on mine. I began to realize that I have a gap. Everything I was involved in at high school was no longer significant. I was starting over. Some elements could carry over, but the majority could not. In class, we learned that creating a LinkedIn.com profile now, as a freshman, will help convey how much I need to do to make the difficult transition from college to the professional world a bit easier. I learned many things from completing my profile. I realize that it is important for me because as I was completing my LinkedIn profile I got a sense of direction and awareness as to where I am headed and what I need to accomplish to be a candidate for the

5) For 24 years as STE 13 /11 LW, I have demonstrated exceptional and effective communication skills in many projects where I have made public presentations in front of City Councils and in public meetings. These public meetings included Senator’s representatives, hotel and business associations. As and SRE I presented I-15 Managed lanes Middle to the community on several occasions. In addition, I have also represented Ct to governmental and other representatives that visited my project, including the Governor of California, a Japanese delegation, the media, and SDSU engineering students. I successfully served as an expert witness in several instances and worked with State’s attorneys and successfully defended Ct in a $ 15 million tort case. My writing, oral communication, and analytical skills were successfully demonstrated in my claims reports and oral presentations that clearly presented Ct’s side, resulting in the DRB ruling in Ct favor 90% of the time. I have served as the D11 Design’s representative in the Construction/Design joint task force to improve the quality of plans, communication, coordination, and lesson learned with Construction. I have also conducted and participated many preconstruction, PDT, CR, STM, status meetings the majority of D11 and I-5 CM/GC Corridor projects. As STE for 6 years, I have led a Statewide CTAC quarterly meetings where HQs CADD and IT get updated on the districts' training and equipment deployment efforts, challenges, and successes. I

Writing provides an outlet for careful thought and expression. Ever since I was young, I have always been exposed to the world of reading and writing. I started of creating stories about my friends and our imaginary adventures and now I am analyzing the effects of discrimination to the American Dream. Writing allows you to go places and consider circumstances that you may not have otherwise done. For me, I had the opportunity to grow up in a house that loved the art and beauty that came from a good book or written piece. My dad a history teacher turned librarian would always bring home books that he thought would peak our literary interest while my very English mother always enjoyed reading a good Jane Austin with some tea every chance she was given. I will have to admit, reading was always my favorite part about English. However, in my later years I have come to appreciate the art that goes into a written piece. The sitting and tapping of pens or feet as you wait for a point to form in your head that will catapult your mind over any writer’s block. The feeling when you have finished a piece and you are satisfied with it has always brought me joy.

This is the first time I’ve ever talked about this subject in this detail in anyway to anyone, I feel like I’ve always struggled expressing myself in anyway and I hope by writing I can help myself in someway. I apologize if I get lost in my writing and go down a path that may be off topic, I couldn’t really help it and I hope you understand that this is a direct reflection my train of thought. I also ask that anything I write here be kept completely private, I’m am in no way asking for help and even though these are very serious topic I do not need help (If this doesn’t make sense now, it most likely will by the time you’re done reading this essay).