Reflection Paper

The United States of America is one of the most diverse countries, being that almost every ethnic and racial background is welcome to live here. However, even among the diversity, there is still a lot of prejudices. As a young middle school student, I was a victim of the prejudices. I come from a southwest neighborhood in Chicago where there are predominantly Hispanic people living there. I am multi-racial, being that I am Mexican, Irish and Italian and my parents were raised the traditional ‘American’ way, so I am not completely in touch with my racial roots. That being said, school has always been challenging for me. Since I was one of the only half Hispanic kids in class that could not speak Spanish, I was criticized and made fun out of

I have made three salient contributions to the LGBTQ movement and LGBTQ rights. The most noteworthy, in my opinion, was my contribution to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). I was awarded a full scholarship to attend Stetson University and compete for the tennis team as a Division I athlete. During my tenure, I had noticed the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ athletes had been minimally harmful. I was closeted for three out of the four years as an undergrad. In these years, I both witnessed and was regularly the target of disparaging remarks on the basis of character or perceived sexual orientation. These petty remarks, fueled by ignorance, started to accumulate and I increasingly grew aware of how these remarks became more hostile when the subject was at the intersection of race, gender expression, and sexuality.

Every little experience in life molds and defines the human you would become as it pushes you towards your destiny. Leaving my native country was hopeful and a thing of joy for me; as I was a newly wedded wife extremely excited to join her husband in California. Unfortunately, my relationship came to an end with me barely walking out with my life. This heartbreaking experience was a kick in the teeth. As I once read your setback is the platform for your come back. That was the genesis of my coming to Houston as I sort out what’s next for me.

Arriving at college I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect, because I spent a year at boarding school. The main difference between boarding school, and college to me from the outside, was going to be the freedom of no curfews, no mandatory hours in which you study, no uniforms, and no sexuality segregation within dormitories. For the most part my pre college assumption was right. However, one of the things that I didn’t realize was the amount of different people I was going to meet, and how they would have an impact on me.

Throughout my four years of high school I have attended many classes, sport events, and had many other experiences that changed my view on life. As i later look back on these experiences. I see how much they really changed my view on people, the way I treat them and about life in general. Over the years, all of these experiences and situations have built me up and turned me into the person that I am today.

My mother does genology for my family so I know that I am mostly a mix of African, Native American and not enough European to really think about. I look like a normal African-American girl and most people I come in contact with assume the same thing. To define myself without race I would say I am invested in the betterment of other peoples lives and performing in front of an audience. As a black woman I am affected mostly in my major, theatre, because being black is a factor in whether or not I am cast in certain roles. Personally it has been a rollercoaster going to predominately white-schools and still finding a way to love and appreiciate my blackness. I’m reminded of my race daily when I have to mix my foundations to find a shade that isn’t offered or when my theatre professors suggest I do a monologue from “A Raisin in the Sun’ and as of recently when I look at the news I am affected by the fact that the injustice in the world based on race could happen to me or a loved one in a heartbeat.

Writing is a tool that will be used throughout my lifetime. It is a tool that is worth taking the time to perfect because it will only be beneficial in the long run. On my writing assignments, I earn A’s, but I still have areas that I need to work on. The areas that I struggle the most would be with simple grammar errors such as the use of commas, writing with an active voice, and writing short,simple sentences. First of all, I often do not know where to place commas in my sentence. I struggle with this because I tend to add commas in the wrong place, so I have become confused with the proper use of commas. This is a small grammar error that I can easily correct by learning where and when commas are needed. I have also found and been told that I write in a passive voice when I should be using an active voice. This is a technique that I have to work on by practicing it and noticing the difference while I am writing and reading. Finally, I often write run on sentences or sentences that include unnecessary information. This makes my writing unclear and difficult for the reader to understand. I could improve by writing shorter and simpler sentences that include only the essential information to get my point across. I have noticed these mistakes in my writing and it has also been brought up by others, so I am currently working on improving it.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior when I was 20 years old. At that time I was struggling with my family, problems in school and toxic relationship with my boyfriend. Despite believing in God I still did not have the knowledge of his word and the spiritual skills to find the wisdom and spiritual resources. In the midst of all those difficult circumstances a miracle happened: the Savior chose me, one of my aunts invited me to a Bible study group where I was captivated by the love, forgiveness and guidance that the word of God and His Holy Spirit was giving me in that moment the peace which surpasses all understanding, so from that day I made the decision and went to my aunt's church, to a retreat and then baptized accepting Jesus as my savior.

It is helpful for individuals to be aware of their past as they remain living it. I came into this world in 1973 as nature created me, a premature infant growing with the assistance of artificial support while radiating unconditional love, happiness, and innocence. I had no thoughts, beliefs, or stories to abide by. I was just being and experiencing each moment of time that life was offering: to sense, explore, and grow. In recollection of my youth, memories often reemerge of an internal calling to drawing pictures of things found in nature that brought good feelings and the joy of sharing this with others. The artwork most often would incorporate flowers, rainbows, feathered creatures, bees and different nature beings. Every one of them brought a sense of aliveness as a dazzling representational process that would reflect association with Mother Earth. There was much delight for me as a child connecting and resonating with nature, void of any story world. Somehow, through all the purity of that happy childhood, there was an intuitive knowing and sense of a genuine relationship to the natural world, which brought a deep feeling of being seen and understood, which was reflecting all those special moments between this innocent child within and nature. This shared existence always brought a sense of enjoyment between myself and many natural beings. It is common knowledge countless individuals have had comparable experiences. I have survived my challenges by embracing

The policies I was found in violation of are Use/Possession Drug, Allowing a Guest to Violate Visitation Policy, and Failure to Comply.

I don’t really know when exactly I noticed that I was “different” but, about 8th grade. My education started in pre-kindergarten where showed my first signs of emotional, social, and communication disabilities, however it was just chalked up to being a little slow. In elementary school teachers and students verbally, socially, and physically bullied me. Students both my age and older would use “dodgeball to physically attack me. I was often made fun of for being slow or “weird” and the teachers themselves would often leave me out of class and would use me as an example of what not to be like. Finally, after being told by my principle in front of my parents that I was “never going to amount to anything” it was right about then when I was officially diagnosed with Autism. After that I left the elementary school and I went to three other schools where I could get help from teachers that were prepared to help. In some of the schools I was still bullied though not as horrible and others were perfectly fine, but I not still didn’t receive the help that I needed to become motivated and overcome “scars” left behind. During my early education mother helped me communicate a phrase that I felt perfectly describe how I felt “Spiraling down in a world that secluded those who were different”. After going to 6th grade I finally meet people who felt the same way as I did, however it was short lived as junior high came around my mom decided I should be home schooled. After a year and half

Transitioning from a predominantly Caucasian school, being 1 out of the 3 African American kids to attend, to a predominantly African American school was challenging for me to say the least. I was not accustomed to being around kids of my color, so I was often bullied for talking “white”. In other words, the classmates thought that I was speaking “proper” or rather using correct grammar. I remember often going home many times crying because I could not conform or fit in with the new environment that I feel was

I thought I knew pain; I wrong. True pain floods the encompasses a person. The anguish overwhelms every aspect of their lives. I first saw true pain in the eyes of poverty. During my seventh grade year, I had the opportunity to go on my first mission trip. The young, naive version of myself who flew into Haiti never returned, but was replaced with a new, wiser rendition who is determined to change the world.

A Hindu spiritual teacher once shared, “This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise” (Sivananda). When I take this wise advice and reflect on the past year, I see many lessons that have helped me become a more mature and responsible person. Many of these lessons have been through my English course with Mrs. Frohoff. In this class, we’ve had many units, such as the types of love, writing assignments, including many 1-page reflections, projects, such as a memoir and a PSA, and presentations on themes like identity and critical world problems. It has been through our memoir assignment, the large number of deadlines given, and the presentations required that I’ve been taught valuable lessons about who I am and how to grow as a person throughout this school year.

I remember the first day that I realized that I was different from most kids. When I five years old, I attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. I was surrounded by diversity from an early age and during that time I was considered outgoing, and an extroverted child that loved to learn. Living in the Fillmore was a great experience, my grandparents live in a massive home two story house which was right up the street from my school. My family would all gather to have at my grandparent’s house, so the majority of my family resided in my neighborhood. Before going to 2nd grade, my mother lost her job so we were forced to live in low income housing and I had to attend a public school. We ended up moving