Personal Reflection

self-reflect on who I am as a person as well as opening me up to more career goals that match my

This reflection will discuss personal diffidence and how it has influenced my academic studies, including my practice within placement settings. Gibbs reflective cycle (Gibbs, 1998) has been utilised as it illustrates a clear structure for the process of reflection. To conclude this reflection will draw together the themes which have emerged and highlight a clear action for future learning that will be used in order to enhance my future practice.

When I arrived at the agency, the room was crowded and many people were waiting for their turned to be served at one of the several tables. The person that I interviewed for this assignment was Emily Hampshire, the coordinator of one of a program called 180. Emily has been with the agency for over a year and is currently the coordinator of the agency’s newest program. This program is a gang prevention and intervention program and was created for the local at-risk youth in an effort to prevent gang related crimes and help youth “change their life around”, as Emily mentioned. This program was created in collaboration with the local Police Department and the Mount Diablo Unified School District and in

When I first enrolled in the class, I didn’t know what was to be expected of me. I was scared the first time I logged onto the computer to see what the course entailed. Then, things changed and I was comfortable with my new lifestyle of doing work on the computer. I began by making myself a schedule with things that I wanted to accomplish each and every day. As I continued to do this and the end of the course started to become visible I started to grow more and more comfortable. I am happy with how everything has gone throughout this semester. I have learned a lot of things this year, as well as being refreshed with things that I obviously struggled with. This course developed me into a better writer; educated me on how to begin the

Throughout the semester we have gone over a lot of topics ranging from our short and long-term goals to our desired major and career choices. I have always had a general idea of what I wanted to do, and the only thing that has ever interested me was working with animals. But when I graduated high school I wasn’t completely certain if I wanted to major in veterinary medicine, so I came to school as an exploratory studies student. And when I first attended this class I didn’t think that it would really help me make up my mind and that it was filling up a foundational studies class that I could be taking. But throughout the semester I’ve come to find out that this class has helped me a lot more than I thought it would.

It won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it. These wise words are from my favorite teacher, my academic team coach, and an all-around great woman. At some point, without my realizing that it had happened, these words crept in and became my mantra. I worked hard to get where I am, and I’ll continue working hard, not because it is easy, but because I know that I will be better for it.

With tears falling down my face, I reflected on what I had gone through for the past seven months. I was talking to a crowd of concerned parents and depressed kids that were looking for help. I started thinking about where I would be if I wasn't as strong as I know I am now. I was thirteen, the youngest out of three speakers at an anti- bullying conference at my church. We were telling our stories about bullying. It was my turn to speak, my heart started racing, and it felt like it would drop to the floor. Even with flashcards in my hand to keep me on track, I felt like I couldn't speak. My pastor, Angela Jones, saw how nervous I was and came to comfort me and help me to calm down. She told me to tell my story and tell my testimony, so I did.

From a young age, I knew how I wanted everything that concerned me. When I had to do something, whether it be an assignment, task, or chore, I knew how I wanted it done. It was frustrating as I could not portray what I was thinking to anyone else. Nevertheless, I didn’t stop trying. It became easier when I grew older and I learned how to research, generate lists, and create vision boards. When I found out about this method of communication from my mother, I fell in love with it. She taught me to prepare, and moreover to be proud of productivity. I applied everything I had learned when the “new” iPad 4 came out four years ago. I believe in the power of planning.

After doing half of my intern at Living Water and taking two counseling classes at Trinity International University, I realize I do not have the gift for counseling. There are some skills that I do not have to make counseling a vocation. One of the skills is sympathy. I find myself praying for God’s judgement on people rather than their repentance. I have little tolerance for people conceited people. I try to keep conceited people as far away as possible, because I have a history clashing with them. If I was a counselor and I had a client that tried to sue me or do me any harm, any sympathy for the person would just go out the window in an instant.

Throughout my high school career, I have been able to greatly develop my writing. Prior to my senior year, I was already quite confident about completing research papers, which have been required in a number of my CHS classes. I also had a lot of experience writing expository essays. After all, the process of writing a thesis and then breaking up an essay into distinct sections has been preached ever since elementary school. Going into my senior year of high school, I still had a lot to learn in narrative and timed writing. My greatest improvement this year was in the the timed writing category. Before recently, I had always struggled to come up with enough ideas to write a logical essay in a short amount of time. This year, perhaps because of the sheer volume of timed essays that we wrote, I was able to develop a sense of calm and confidence at the start of each assessment. Under these conditions, I could think more clearly and logically. I am still struggling to master the narrative, even if that isn’t reflected in my grade. For me, it is always a very difficult task to start a narrative, and if I am not careful, the story quickly becomes repetitive and dull. Again, more practice should help fix this.

During my studies with the University of Oklahoma, my selected area of focus was counseling. In addition to selecting many courses that focused on theoretical approaches to counseling, I also completed the graduate certificate “Helping Skills in Human Relations”.

I found this exercise very helpful, reading the scores form each of the sections has given me a lot of insight into what I am good at, and what I can improve on in my field. I scored high in the adapting practice and in linguistics competence and health and health care disparities. To me, this shows me that I am good at communicating effectively in terms of making sure clients understand what options they have and how we can help them find the best decision which will benefit them the most. The results indicated that “Items contained in this…adapting such care to individual patients in the practice environment.” (National Center for Cultural Competence, 2). I have just recently experienced something similar to this, and I can see that even though I am at an internship, I can still see myself taking these things into my everyday life.

Before College 101, my concepts of topics such as goal setting and personal behavior were not at the front of what my college experience would be. However, the lessons taught in this class guide my actions in academics as well as interpersonal skills.

This semester I had a man in his mid-fifties who has a severe stutter. One long term goal that we worked on was having a more positive experience with stuttering, as well as difficult speaking situations. We have this goal to reduce the amount of negative thoughts he has about his speech, and to prevent him from avoiding speaking situations.

Repeatedly, the term adolescence is used described an awkward and reckless period in one’s life; a phase parents dread and individuals struggle to trudge through with their sanity. However, looking past the challenges that may arise at this point in a person’s life, adolescence is a time to explore one’s identity, make decisions for oneself, and take on new and exciting responsibilities. Adolescence is a transitional period from childhood to early adulthood, starting around 10 to 12 years old and ending at about 18 or 19 years of age (Santrock, 2014). Concerning my own life, adolescence is when I started making more decisions for myself such as what I wanted to pursue regarding education and the kind of career I want to work towards, what