Personal Reflection

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.

NCSSM Residential and Online students must have a high level of maturity, whether living away from home or working daily without teachers or supervision. Please help us understand why you are mature enough to manage your own deadlines, schedule and academic interest.

Before, I begin my story, here are a couple of the theories I have incorporated about my college experience. The first is Schlossberg 's Transition Theory. As a Transfer Student, this model has helped me understand my transition process through her model. Her theory is grounded in adult development literature. A transition as she defines is “ any event, or nonevent”[ which] results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles.” ( p 37) In her model, she talks about the meaning of the transition for the individual based on three topics: type, context, and impact.Then, she moved into the transition process which is described as reactions over time and as three different phases; moving in, moving through,

I am very proud of myself for completing my master’s degree this past May. This is my highest educational accomplishment thus far. Also, I feel blessed for my job as a Spanish teacher at Jackson Elementary. Working in a Title I school district has given me the chance to develop new strategies and skills to meet of disadvantaged, at-risk students. Nonetheless, one of my aspirations is also to be an ESL teacher, so I can help English language learners and assist new immigrants with their acculturation process. Additionally, one of my goals is to obtain my Ph.D. with an emphasis in ESL so that I can be properly trained to assist my school district with programs to significantly improve the program for ELLs in my school

Week two and three were very interesting and eventful. The most impressive part was learning to use and work with the SCM. The system is a state of art and navigating through the system was educative. Any information you need on patient to help you complete your care effectively is precisely, focused and clearly documented in SCM. However, the second week I was still a little nervous and I chose to work with a client with less complex issues but curious enough to want to learn about heart sounds in a client with arterial fibrillation. I also wanted to practice taking pulses manually. My client was very cooperative, optimistic and determined to leave the hospital and go home. At the end of my shift I was so sure that he would be discharged the following day; but to my surprise; when I came back the following day, his countenance had changed, he spoke less and seemed uninterested in everything around him. During my six hours, my client had been moved at least four times from room to hallway then another room and back in the hallway before I finished my shift. This made me really sad and I felt helpless I could not help but wonder if this was the reasoning he was unhappy. I did my best to make him feel cared for and provided as much comfort as I could.

I began my journey at CCRI in the Fall of 2015 after realizing that my life was not progressing in a direction I was comfortable with. I had previously attended three semesters at another community college in my early 20's but did not complete the program due to unexpectedly starting a family (whoops!) and dropping out of school. I had no support network and no money, so I did the only thing that made sense... I got a job. Over the years I worked menial jobs for greedy bozos, eventually acquiring a trade and securing steady reliable income. At first, I felt accomplished to have ascended the ranks and provided for my family, but as time progressed it became apparent that, unless I made a change, I had little room left for career growth.

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.

My work ethic and my ability to fulfill my commitments shows how much of a dedicated and hard-working person I am, in terms of achieving my goals. Academically, I have been set on a course of facing on challenges to overcome. Since childhood, I have been placed in the Gifted and Talented program where my peers and I took advanced and honors courses, in which we would focus on rigorous and tough tasks; due to my effort, I was consistently one of the top students in my classes. However, when I entered Bronx Science, I realized that I would have to put even more effort in order to stay on top of all my classes and continue to do well. Sophomore had hit me hard, taking two AP classes, one honors, and one biology research class, but receiving relatively well grades by the end of both semesters had shown that I worked hard throughout all year in order to succeed and achieve my goals of being exceptional in my academic career. My extracurricular activities additionally demonstrate my determination, work ethic, and ability to fulfill commitments. Starting in June 2015, I worked as an intern at the Jackson Heights branch of Khan’s Tutorial, a medium-sized tutoring and mentorship academy. I initially planned to only intern for the summer, in which I would aid instructors, grade papers and homework, and do other simple administrative duties. However, I decided to continue interning past the summer because I was determined to continue working and I enjoyed the work environment at Khan’s

“Contributes to team goals in and out of meetings” –I rate my performance in this area with a “1”. Although I complete all the assigned tasks on time, I still need to work on advancing the team’s progress by “articulating merits of alternative ideas or proposals.” When working with team, I often feel pressured to deliver my suggestions and ideas because I am afraid that mine is impractical and not substantial compared to others’. In addition, in most cases, my ideas overlap with another team member’s, which further discourages me from sharing mine. From now to the end of this semester, I strive to contribute more of my ideas to the group. I will overcome my fear of expressing my thoughts and new suggestions by actively participating in weekly group discussions. I usually speak once or twice during discussions, but I will aim for a higher frequency and quality in my input. For example, not only I will offer my solutions to the group, but also I will ask questions about and express my thoughts on others’ solutions. Regarding meeting the assignments’ deadlines and producing quality work, I perform very well in that area. However, I must improve in assisting other team members to complete their assignments with “similar level of excellence.” I will use GroupMe to communicate with my team members regarding their progress on the assignments. I may check up on them once in the middle of the week and once near the deadline to make sure that every team member stays on track.

The nature of a human person is to learn new things and improve his capacity as days move on. Experience is described as the best teacher by many psychologists and people are encouraged to include their experience even in job application. This shows how important experience is. Positive psychology assists so much in asking questions which in themselves when answered can have a very positive impact on an individual (Kolb,2014). It is mostly concerned with things that are tasked to make the person happy. A famous saying says that the secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others add their troubles. The question asked at this stage is to ensure that they inspire and cultivate positive emotions and nurture relationship with the major aim of making the person happy.

English Comp I have taught me a great deal. This subject has helped improve on some writing skills that I never payed attention too as I began my writing career in middle school. I have improved in a major way in several subjects that can impact a person’s writing in a dramatic way. Evidence from three of my EN113 papers this semester provides evidence that suggest that I have succeeded in improving on my organizational skills, identifying grammar issues, and elaborating and describing events in more detail. Reviewing my previous papers, I have realized that I am still working on improving my MLA format.

I believe everything that happens in life has its own purpose for occurring. Whether we truly know the reasons or not, God does. One day you could think you are having the worst day ever and that you just want to give up on life, then the next day things could be completely reversed. God gives us hard times to make us feel stronger and help prepare us for more challenging events in the future.

Q1. There are a few different ways I learn and remember new things well: the first would be through physical or kinesthetic learning. Growing up I played a few different sports and loved being able to tangibly learn new skills and see the span of growth when I was able to push myself further athletically. Through those experiences I also learned how to collaborate and work with other people as a team, utilizing everyone’s strengths to accomplish goals. Another way I’ve been successful in learning has been through the combination of visual, aural, and verbal practice. In 2015 leading into 2016 I lived in Guatemala and spent much of my time trying to practice and learn Spanish. When I could hear, write, and visualize the effect of a word or phrase that helped me to retain and recall what I had learned.

For each of us, there comes a time when we can look back and pinpoint the exact day that altered the course of our life, for me, one of those days was April 13, 2010. I was 14 years old when I fell off my bike and broke my elbow. After consulting multiple orthopedics, I was told I would never regain my range of motion, but with the help of a certified hand therapist, I was able to regain full range of motion and prove the doctors wrong. Months later I had surgery to reconstruct my elbow that had not healed properly, but again I was able to regain full range of motion thanks to my therapist. While the doctors were able to fix my arm, it was the therapists who were able to give me my quality of life back. It was at this moment that I knew I wanted to be a therapist. During my freshman year of college, I began to develop an ulnar claw which eventually led me to undergo ulnar nerve transposition surgery. After spending countless hours with a certified hand therapist I knew this was what I wanted to spend my life doing. I had been going to school with plans of applying to physical therapy school, but the experience I had recovering from ulnar nerve transposition led me to alter my course of study and transfer schools. Today no one would ever know that I had something wrong with my arm or hand other than the scars which motivate me and remind me of the impact an occupational therapist had on my life, and my ultimate goal; become an occupational therapist.

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.