Reflection Essay

    Over the course of this semester, I can gradually see a change in my writing process. I have been able to think about the topic, I am given and write a well thought out essay. However, I am not the best in the essay department, I have been meeting with my teachers, peers editing my papers in order to obtain their sense of the essay I’ve written. In previous years, I would write essays and think they were well developed, but that wasn’t the case. As a writer, I never really knew how to edit my own work but with time I have been able to change that. I have been able to read the text in

My goal for this semester is to do what I have been telling myself forever, putting in work and dedication into whatever I want to do. I know that this semester is not going to be easy, but I will make sure that it is not difficult by reaching out to people on campus. I have already reached out to career advisors via phone so that I can get help with opportunities that could help me in this upcoming semester to succeed. In the past three semesters, I had a problem with seeking help with my advisors, professors, and centers on campus, but I have improved and I now have a personal tutor that can help with my English courses this semester. This will be helpful and convenient for when I am not able to meet with my professors or other free tutoring services on campus. I will make sure that I stay on top of my academics by finding a sacred place on campus where I can devote my time of studying into. I want to excel in all my classes and that is not meaning to get an A in everything, but leaving each class knowing the material. If I do not know the material I will go to my professor or TA and ask for clarity before I leave so that I can keep up, because all it takes is one day to fall behind. I plan on raising my G.P.A to at least a 2.4 this semester. This will help give me the stepping stone I will need in excelling in my spring semester because this year I will make it a habit to continue the academic schedule that I have created for this semester. My academic schedule will help

I used to be an introvert. I spoke only when necessary and solely when I was called upon. Friend to none. Shadow to all.

As I sit here and write this literacy narrative, I reflect on a time in eighth grade when I read a book regrading civil injustice. Back then I wouldn’t have thought to use such fancy words. Instead, something along the lines of “a black boy my age got killed for whistling at a woman! And the murderers didn’t even get in trouble.” So much confusion was attached with my not so politically correct summary of the book. In fact, we read this book in the upmost politically correct way as possible. Derogatory terms such as negro, nigger, and colored was to be renamed and replaced by the word African American. Simple. Nothing too hard to do in eighth grade just switch a word or two around. But how ironic we didn’t go over any set “rules” for the white character’s. No negative connotation related to the word “white” at all. In fact, when we had class discussions for this book it was normal to say “Hiram the white boy went to visit his grandfather in Mississippi.” But if I was to talk about Emmett Till, African American would always be attached to his name. I can admit just like any other person in that class it was weird but we never put too much thought behind it. Just abided by the rules and read.

Every person on this earth has a past that shapes them and makes them into a unique individual. I am a 19-year-old student who has a life that may seem to have little flaws from the view of an outsider, but in all honesty been a journey of difficult ups and downs. I have found that many of the readings we are required to do in university will not personally touch us or make us reflect deeply on our own lives. This certainly was not the cas e when I read the personal essay titled Ghosts and Voices: Writing from Obsession by Sarah Cisneros’, because I found that I connected on a deeply personal level to three principal aspects of this piece of writing. First of all, I was also ostracised as a younger child, but in a school setting not at home. In those difficult years when I felt like I had no one, I escaped into the worlds created in books and through trying to write my own stories. Secondly, like Cisneros’, I found myself deeply connecting with some of the books I was reading and in them found the girl that I wanted to become. Lastly, this entire piece was how Cisneros’ discovered her voice as a writer. She found that the best way was to write what you know best, basically using your own experiences to draw your readers/audience in, which is also something I am well versed in not only as a writer but also a performing musician. I truly connected with this piece by Cisneros and was able to find many key parallels between our personal lives that really struck a chord with me.

I have completed courses in philosophy, creative writing, community-based cross-cultural experience, cultural psychology, psychology, theology, old and new testament and world history. These courses have helped me to understand human nature with regard to human logic, moral reasoning, and social norms that vary between cultures. Upon completion of these courses I have learned that health outcome is influenced by multiple factors including the environment, level of health literacy, and how one interacts with others and solve problems based on social and cultural norms.

As a 14 year old reader and writer, I never saw a true significance in the subjects. I would often become flustered and overwhelmed when forced to do a writing assignment. I just couldn’t understand why I was being forced to perform a task that, in my opinion, made no impact on the world around me. However, my Sophomore year, my perception began to change. I had begun taking an Advanced Placement World History class. This class made a big impact on me as a reader and a writer for many reasons. Although, I can’t recall every lesson I was taught during the course of this class, but what I can recall is a much more impactful lesson. The lesson that continues to shape how I view literacy and the modern world.

As the first semester of my first year as an undergraduate student has progressed, I have realized how quickly time is passing by. I can easily recall back to the beginning of the semester when it was Frosh week and how nervous and excited I felt as I was about to commence the new chapter in my life that is post-secondary. As the mid-semester quickly sneaks upon us with another five weeks left, I have found myself to be stumbling from morning to morning and from deadline to deadline. I am mentally and physically exhausted as well as overwhelmed with the amount of work I am required to complete; I am burnt out.

Though there was an impressive amount of points and ideas which I will touch on in a few sentences which I appreciated from JD Vance's lecture, what made me willing to listen, swallow and immerse myself in what he was saying was the fact that he pointed out that while there are going to be differences in culture, in opinion, in almost anything there can be differences in… what’s important, what’s an essential part of trying to fix America and restore people’s hope in the American dream is to come at problems and dilemmas from the other side, with a new perspective.

I believe that existence is dependent on connections. Life only exists in ecosystems where energies are undoubtedly interrelated but I think as humans we often overlook the significant beauty of our ecosystem. I’ve learned that the three most important types of connections we make are relationships with other beings, the understanding of ourselves, and deep ties to our natural surroundings. Without these connections, life cannot be. In my experience, I’ve seen how art and creativity develop a language through which connections can be made.

When I first started this class I had no idea what to expect, I was nervous since this was my first college English class. After the first couple of classes, I realized I did not have anything to worry about. You were a great teacher that I got along with well. When we had our conference projects mid-semester I was feeling very good about what the second half of the semester.

My main goal for this class was to figure out how to make university cheaper and, writing my personal statement. This class offered me more than just two things I was looking for, instead I was informed about workshops and introduced to new ways of researching. I am happy I took this class, it made the process of transferring easier.

As I woke up this morning in the middle of my college career, I was faced with the simple choice of what to eat for breakfast. Seems like an easy enough task, but it took me fifteen minutes. At this same point in my life I am faced with the decision of quitting my job now or waiting until I start my new one in March. Not as easy of a task. The choices that I make can be right or wrong, but either way I will learn from them. If I make the right decision, good for me and my life can go on smoothly. If I make the wrong decision, then I will struggle to fix my mistake and learn from it in the process. People are faced with choices throughout life. Sometimes these choices can be as simple as left or right, while others are much more

Happiness, enjoyment, ecstasy, these sense of feeling people always talk about, which lingering around my ears ever since I was a little kid, gets me tired from even giving a try to dig in and to truly understand what it means to be happy, to enjoy, and live in ecstasy. But there is one moment, the moment which crumbles my thought, has impacted me deeply that makes me wonder: Why do people wish for happiness, isn’t happiness expressed through our laughters and on our smiling face? If not, then what is that authentic and permanent happiness we can get? This all starts from the last parent meeting at the end of my elementary school life, which influences my attitude, my personality, and my plans for the future that is close at hand.

In life, there are a lot of events that can certify one’s challenges. People pass through a lot either to make it in life or to achieve a certain target. Despite this, the only thing that can stand out of this hustle is happiness. This is a feeling that has no limits in one’s life. It’s not negotiable not purchasable. The only thing that an individual can ascertain to is self-worthy and this element generates automatically.