Reflection Paper

I had two hard working parents who went above and beyond to ensure that my sister and I had a good childhood by trying to grant as many requests that they could. They always stressed the importance of hard work to achieve anything and everything we set our minds to and education, but I was very young so education wasn't that high on my priority list. I wanted to become a truck driver or a construction worker, but after my dad suffered a back injury at his job I knew that I wanted to fix his

On September 6, 2017, I were documented for an incident that involved a University Housing policy violation. I was charged with violating the University Housing Alcohol 1.2 policy. With my violation, came consequences. I met with The Residence Conduct Coordinator to discuss my actions and came to the conclusion that I would have to schedule a meeting with The Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) and with that, a reflection paper.

My parents always encouraged my siblings and I that we were capable of doing anything that we set our minds to. It didn’t matter where or what we wanted to do; all that mattered was if we had the passion to do it and succeed. From that, I was always set on becoming a doctor. It didn’t matter what kind; I just knew I wanted to help people. From a young age, I knew that my parents worked hard so that my siblings and I might have a better life than my parents. Both of my parents came from Vietnam with little to nothing. They both got jobs at Excel before they were twenty, and, after ten years, they met each other and got married. They and bought a motel and restaurant, and managed that for another ten years. They were

Due to the economic instability, it was extremely difficult for my father to find another job. So, he decided to take a huge risk and invest in a family business of stationery materials. The long hours and stress weighed down my father, and greatly affected my family. Consequently, I had to work even harder to ensure the security of our family income. While my friends were sleeping, I would wake up at six in the morning to open and set up the shop. Also, since my family couldn’t afford basic transportation, I had to walk to and from school daily. After returning from school, I would work at the shop while attempting to finish schoolwork until closing. While my peers were enjoying their childhood, I was being crushed by the responsibilities of my demanding family business and my overwhelming heap of schoolwork. However, facing such adversity gave me a strong sense of perseverance and diligence that I will always cherish, respect, and retain. I was fortunate enough to immigrate to the United States and start my life over. Even though moving to a completely new country at the

I am very fortunate to come from a supportive and loving family of hard working individuals. My parents labored long hours to be able to provide rich, educational opportunities for their children. Although I am the first college graduate in my family, the value of education has always been highly regarded. The sacrifices that my parents have made to help me achieve my goals have instilled in me the motivation to give back to others. Of the many lessons I have learned in my life, none were more important than the lesson of self-sacrifice and helping others. This one lesson that has shaped who I am today was a simple statement by my dad: "You may have to sacrifice

My mother’s favorite quote was “work hard for what you want because it will not come to you without a fight.” Growing up in the city of Columbus was pretty easy. The town was pretty decent. I was born to the parents of Termica J. Webber and Paul V. Roland on July 14, 1998. On September 18, 2002 my mother gave birth to my younger sister, Annie Rogina Deanes who is now 13 years old and lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her father. I am the oldest child of my mother and the youngest child of my father. When I turned 6 I instantly moved to a small town of Pheba, MS with my grandmother, Thelma Webber, where times were hard. No one hardly lived in the small town and I was the only child living with my grandmother besides my aunt

As a believer in Christ grows they become more aware of the gifts that they may have been given by the Holy Spirit. It is up to us to use the gifts for the right reasons. We are to allow God to work through us to edify the body of Christ. I see a lot of so called Christians these days using what is supposed to be a spiritual gift to use for ministry of the local church using them for self-edification. They are looking to see how much praise they can get instead of how much pleasure God will get through their service. We as believers need to be able to discern between what a spiritual gift is and what virtue is. A spiritual gift is related to the ministry of Christ and a virtue is related to our character. It is very easy for someone to blur the line between two and get confused. Our spiritual gifts are not the same for everyone, where all who believe should show the fruit of the spirit. To some believers the Holy Spirit gives the gift of serving, teaching, administration, and so on. But in the end it is not what spiritual gift we have but how we use it; this is what makes the difference between edifying the body of Christ or oneself.

During my senior year of high school, my father and I started to discuss my future plans and goals, and that’s when he changed my perception on the importance of education. He explained all the hardships he faced and shared with me stories of instances where he made avoidable mistakes due to his lack of higher education. Although he managed to turn his life around, he had no doubt that he would’ve been more successful if he was educated. My father inspired me to be the first in the family to complete a higher level education and take over the family business one day.

Learning something new is something to strive for. However, are all the lessons we learn good ones? After all, there are two sides to every coin. A lot of the times it is easy to find the bad lessons learned but what about the good? Well, that takes a lot more thought. Ironically these were the thoughts running through my head that day, that dreadful day which is permanently burned into the back of my mind.

A mother and a father are in a difficult position when they’re raising a child with limited opportunities. When the number of children begins to increase, the sense of responsibility can knock down the little ambition a person has within. One can either choose to fight harder than before, or wait for an opportunity to come knocking on their door. When I was born, my parents did not have the means to support a growing family. I was the driving force that propelled my parents to use every ounce of energy to give my brother, sister and I the resources we would need to become successful. I was given both a stable financial and moral foundation to always give my greatest effort in my education. I kept that mentality throughout my entire educational career and I was able to graduate at the top of my class.

My parents have instilled a hard working ethic in me. My mom has become one of my largest role models due to the simple fact of motivation and determination to provide for myself and my siblings. As a triplet, my parents 40 hour weeks turned into 168 hours. Managing full-time jobs and 3 kids was extremely difficult. If I audit who I am today, it is a direct reflection of my two parents and their work habits. My mom is a preschool teacher and has always preached “working together is the best way to accomplish anything.” This results in my love for team sports and spending time with people. My dad would come home from his mechanical job and work on anything around the house in addition to dinner. “As long as the sun is in the sky, there are things

Growing up in a single parent household as the oldest of my mother’s three children I learned many things about hardship. I truly believe those things helped to shape me into the woman I am today. Early in my life my parents filed for divorce; adjusting to that new lifestyle made me more flexible, and I learned from my mother’s strength never to let bad things get the best of me. In the second grade I was diagnosed with Dyslexia; working through that made me stronger in the sense that I’ve always had to work twice as hard. Values and techniques I learned back then I still use today to achieve my goals. Because of my family’s financial issues I started working at the age of 16 although, it was hard it helped me to learn responsibility, and time-management. I was truly blessed to have had many

One of the things that my Dad has always taught me is to be hardworking. He has been a great example to me for this point. Anyone can go spend a day in his shoes, and they will be amazed at how hard he works day in and day out. In his eyes, if one does not do what they are doing to the best of their ability, then why are they even doing it at all? He has instilled in me since I was very young to always work hard in everything I do. Ever since I was little

My father grew up in a small town in Argentina. He lived in poverty with his mother and three siblings. He then moved to California, to live the American dream. Without even a high school education, my father and his brother taught themselves to become auto mechanics. My father is pursuing further achievement in his career, designing plans for

I had many questions about the city when I first came to Pittsburgh. I grew up in a small town, so my view of the city was based off television shows and music. This gave me a skewed perception of the city. I have found that one of the most challenging parts of moving to Pittsburgh is figuring out what role I will play. Fortunately, I have some time when it comes to figure this, and other complex aspects of city life, out. Since I have began this course not only have some of my questions been answered, but I have explored more important questions that I had not previously been asking myself. Questions like “How will I play apart in the evolution of Pittsburgh” and “What gives me a sense of belonging to Pittsburgh”. I still have much to learn about Pittsburgh, but what I have certainly learned so far is that it easy to watch the city move past you, but it takes much more to become a part of the city.