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.

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,

Recollection of past experiences has proven to be one of the best teaching tools in existence. It is not just the reminiscing of the past that benefits us; it is the critical thinking that follows said reminiscing that is the most fruitful. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and much can be learned when reflecting on past situations. These observations, in turn, have the potential to guide our future decision making as well as our future actions. As I ponder the events and actions that have lead me up to this point, I have found that I have done much better at handling my workload and personal life simultaneously than I previously assumed I would. If all goes marvelous and I continue forward through this semester while maintaining my current work ethic, I postulate that I will finish this semester strong and continue to not only learn, but to fully integrate all of this fresh knowledge into my mind to be readily available for years to come.

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

Dr. Paul Farmer once said, “That’s when I feel most alive, when I’m helping people.” And that could not be truer for myself. I am fascinated and committed to improving the health of medically underserved regions spanning from my home within Appalachia and far beyond to international borders. Today as I write this, I triaged over 100 patients alongside nurses and medical students in the Dominican Republic; further learning what it truly means to become adaptable and use inter-disciplinary strength. Each member of our team in the Dominican Republic brought with us unique backgrounds, all of which combined to positively impact the lives of our patients in need. As an experienced EMT and emergency room medical scribe, I offered my knowledge of

Athletics has also taught me how to be a leader and a better friend. In my high school career, I was captain of both my football and wrestling team. I was also asked to be a guest speaker at the Rutherford Junior Football banquet. The league consisted of children from the ages of 7 to 13 years old. Part of my speech was to reinforce the great principles football will instill in these young athletes. I found that the younger athletes began to look up to me. Not

Developing an awareness that there are layers of meaning to an idea/concept; openness to finding patterns and connections and exploring the multiple possibilities and interpretations.

Ms. Kim Ferguson Tannor came to talk to the class about her passion for her job as an Physician’s Assistant. It was interesting how she structured her presentation by talking about how to merge your passion and your purpose. Which is what we are slowly pursuing this semester. Ms. Tannor is a 42-year-old second generation American who grew up in Long Island, New York. In 1994, she went to Virginia State and graduated with a degree in Biology. Then she returned and graduated with a Master’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Biochemistry. I actually never knew that you could have a specific focus for Biology in graduate school. I thought the specializing came in medical school for Biology majors. She had the career goal of being a doctor at first. One of the first lessons she gave the class is how important accountability is. She had gotten caught up in the freedom that college offers and she wasn’t being a good student. She had been put on academic probation by the end of her first semester in college. But what was motivating to me is that she acknowledged that she did something wrong and got right back to work. I have admitted when I’ve messed up but usually I feel bad for myself for a period and I don’t get right to work. If she can mess up and bounce back, so can I. She also stressed that you may be letting someone else down who is looking up at you and you can’t do that. This is very true for me, I have two younger sisters and plenty of younger cousins who I know

There are many expectations at my workplace, some are rather time consuming and slow-paced however, thus far I can say the duties in which I have performed are very enjoyable and insightful. One of my major duties is centered around me shadowing the various staff in the building. In one instance, I shadowed my supervisor, Peter Rego, during one of his physical assessments of a patient who was suffering from persistent shoulder and back pain and from that session alone I gained profound insight in regards to treating pain. Furthermore, in the better interest on my learning and to better grasp the concepts of Physiotherapy, another one of my duties includes reading and studying rehabilitation books. Some of these books include the “How to Treat Your:” series by Dr.McKenzie. These books are rather insightful and I find them to be helpful in terms of furthering my interest and understanding of the work of Physiotherapists. Moreover, reviewing and analyzing the documents of patients at the clinic is another one of the duties I was assigned with at my placement. This is an integral part of a Physiotherapist's job; despite the fact that it may be tedious, it is pivotal that Physiotherapists create, organize , examine specific documents in order to effectively develop rehabilitation plans for their patients.

There are many discourse communities that we participate in life, one of the mine was J.R.O.T.C or Junior reserve officer training corps. The point of the program was to promote young people to be better citizens. I felt I exemplified these point as I participated in teams, was a leader in the classroom and a staff member in the program. I

Throughout my writings in English 2201, I have become a better writer, where my work in both the Category 1 and 2 project shows my abilities. Each category was designed to help and develop my writing and I believe it did that. There were many process that took place while writing and I think it allowed for much improvement. Each part of my writing process played an effective part in having an overall successful paper during the semester.

Because I finished my hours a few weeks ago, I will be generally reviewing my time at Lacey Spring and reflecting on the impact the school had on me and the difference I made on their student’s lives in the classroom overall.

Participating in the Sixth Year in Administration course work at Sacred Heart University has allowed me the opportunity to develop myself as a researcher and professional author through writing a thesis. This process took place over three classes with the final class running simultaneously with Internship II. The tertiary course involved conducting the specific research, analyzing the data collected, and writing the analysis and conclusion chapters of the thesis. Creating a useable survey was a more challenging process than I anticipated. With appreciation, I was granted permission to use a survey developed by Wertz, Carpenter, and Fewell as the foundation of my thesis. Items were added or deleted to meet the needs of the North Haven Community. To gain face validity, I reached out to professionals in other districts to review my survey and share suggestions to improve it with me. After the survey was disseminated, the responses trickled in. Upon receipt of responses from various staff members, I realized that I would need to convert some of the verbal answer choices to a numerical code prior to being able to analyze the data. Luckily using software such as an Excel spreadsheet this could be done without much complication.

Weekly lectures enabled me to learn several different academic skills. These lectures lubricated the transition from high school to university. A significant change that happened was the development in studying strategies. "Science of learning" module mentioned "spacing out" method in studying. That was quite useful for me as I used to cram before exams rather than dividing my time into smaller portions as well as complaining about the lack of time. However, I mastered time management, and thus I am appreciating studying, and it boosted my grades. We also reviewed novel tools in the school such as MAP, Avenue, and Pebblepad. Now I know how to use the MAP to explore various programs and gateways, which was pretty helpful for choosing my second-year program. Furthermore, I learned how to use the Avenue for the other courses and Pebblepad for the future study options. The fact that my employer may use my Pebblepad page is important because it provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate my abilities rather than a single perplexing resume.

Throughout my life, I have turned to the Bible for guidance and understanding. My mother encouraged me to be involved with the church. Two previous experiences that impacted my life included learning that no age limit applies to God’s kingdom, and my future is planned.