Reflection Paper

Reading has always been a pass time I enjoyed doing, there was just something about the fact that endless stories could be created with a combination of words and phrases. Without a doubt, Reading expands one’s knowledge on endless topics as well as expands creativity through inspiration of the various works and forms or literature. Personally, as I grew older and more curious with reading I began exploring different genres to read. My causal reading went from basic non-fiction books to reading things like

I’ve always been an avid reader. When I was in elementary school, my mother would take my brother and I to the library every week to pick out books. I would take the books to school and read them all in one day. I loved reading so much that my teachers would call home and tell my parents that I was reading my library books during class instead of my textbooks. Reading has always been a major part of my life. I used to aspire to become an author. I even wanted to become an editor at one point. I used to make daily household newspapers and magazines for my entire family to read and enjoy. My strong love for reading certainly came in handy during my freshman year of high school.

Through all of my accomplishments and disappointments, I have always been especially proud of the dedication and passion I have for my personal beliefs and values. If there is no struggle, there is no progress, with drive and a bit of hard work you can move mountains. Based on hard work and success, it goes hand in hand because life is designed to be tough. When I was 14 years old, I realized how important writing is in our everyday life. I realized that writing was something important in my life and it has changed my personal life. In my freshman year in High School during “Career Day,” one of the presenter who was a writer, helped me understand how important writing is.

    I used to hate reading. That is until 3rd grade. I remember that day trudging into the library searching for a book that looked even remotely interesting. Spotting dust particles from the sunlight filtering through the high windows in my small school library. I remember skimming all the shelves judging every book by its cover. I finally decided on a book called “Katie Kazoo” and sat down in the library and began to read. That year I read all 33 books in the series and finished half of another series. Ever since reading has helped me through my life.

As a kid I used to read a lot and my family use to read to me. Reading was my favorite thing to do, but as I got older I got out the habit of reading. I stopped reading because there were a lot of distractions, such as watching TV, and being on my cell phone all the time. Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” I absolutely love that quote it inspires me and motivates me so much. I have so many early reading memories, school reading memories, and some reading obstacles that I have had to overcome, all influencing my current approach to reading.

Personally, I’ve never been a heavy reader or writer. Books and I have a love-hate relationship , but reading has played an enormous role in making me the person I am today. Plus, It has given me a sizable vocabulary and helped me become an exceptional writer. Without all of the reading and writing I’ve done in my years I wouldn’t have the heft vocabulary and I wouldn’t have the enormous amount of knowledge that I have today. My earliest memory of reading books was when I was around 5 or 6 years old. I was sitting on my red beanbag reading a Caillou book, my favorite PBS character at the time. Although I couldn’t pronounce all of the words and I didn’t understand much of the book, the act of reading a book was one of the things I adored most

I craved experiences and figuring things out on my own. Reading got in the way of that. So I did my best to avoid reading as much as possible. But it wasn't easy, the older I got the harder it was to get around reading.

In junior high and high school, I reached a height of 5’2”. I did not have any more growth spurts after I reached that height. I gradually began to increase my weight because I was developing more muscle mass. My body changed and became toned with all of the sports and core activities that I participated in. When it comes to puberty and sexual awareness, I was scared and nervous because I did not know what menstruation was until I first started my period in junior high school. I was nervous that something was wrong with me, so I talked to my mother. She began to explain what was happening to my body and gave me advice to cope with the changes. In this stage of my life, I did not have any major illnesses or accidents. Occasionally, I caught the common cold and my allergies acted up, but I did not develop anything serious. Once or twice I developed strep throat, and I saw a physician to receive antibiotics to clear it up. During junior high school, I continued dance and cheerleading. I had dance practice twice a week during the evening, and cheer practice twice a week after school. My exercise level increased when I joined high school because I devloted all of my time to one sport. I chose dance over cheerleading, and tried out for the Pizzazz Poms Varsity Dance Team. During this sport, I practiced five times a week for two hours. When it comes to my eating habits, my mother always cooked me a healthy breakfast before school and packed my lunch. Before

. I never imagined myself playing sports in high school. Sports, whether it was playing or watching them, had always seemed boring to me. This changed in my sophomore year of high school. I needed something to occupy myself as I was fed up with not doing anything other than going from my house to school and back every day. It also helped that I was forced to exercise as I gained some weight the year before. This is where my interest in football began and became a part of me for the past three years.

During my first few years in the United States, my family was constantly moving between New York and Florida because my dad was searching for long-term employment. My family resided in a basement during our two year stay in Staten Island, New York. Living in a basement was very tough because there was no natural light and the space was very cramped for a family of five. Living in a basement was also tough during the winter because basements are often poorly insulated, which kept the basement quite cold during the winter. My family later moved to Florida for a couple of years after living in New York and we have resided in Orlando, Florida for about twenty years now. I started school in Florida at the age of five and when I first attended elementary school, I was in ESOL classes. ESOL classes help teach the English language to students that are not born in the United States (like myself) or to students which English is not their native language. I took these classes from kindergarten up to the fourth grade when I passed an ESOL exit exam. I first learned of this news during a parent-teacher conference when my teacher informed my parents and I that I had passed out of my ESOL classes and this was one of my proudest moments because of how happy it made my parents. As I got older, these experiences taught me the importance of helping those who are in need to put a smile on someone’s face and to provide the hope that things will get better for those going through rough patches in

Everyone at some point in their life has had the dream where they are falling, but they never actually hit the ground. This dream is symbolic of life. Regardless of how far you fall you never hit the ground. A friend of mine, currently in pharmacy school, confides in me about how he wishes that he had done things my way, the right way as he calls it. Nevertheless, I did not grasp what he meant so one day, I implored him to explain. According to him, the “right,” way is by not failing classes the first time, finishing college in 4 years, and be smart about taking the MCAT. Essentially, not screwing up the first time, so you can continue with your goals the first time around instead of getting older and wasting time. While my friend may have been right in some aspects, my personal experiences have taught me that there really is no right way. However, life does not ultimately work out the way one imagines. You do fail, you do break down, you are frightened and you learn to get up regardless of the circumstances.

My time within the American public education system has been a relatively interesting experience. The system is not as bad as everyone seems to make it out to be. Maybe I’m blind but bullying has pretty much died altogether within the social setting of school. There could be a case or two for verbal harassment but physical bullying doesn’t exist in suburban public schools. Teachers are very kind and respectful yet still are able to educate with authority. The classes I have taken seem to all have been enjooyable to some degree or another. Despite what many claim, I think the education has system has gotten better on a macro scale. Sure there are yearly department changes and budget constraints teachers have to face (maximum to amount of printing paper allowed per teacher) but those things seem to have no effect on my personal learning. The curriculum both challenging and interesting granted I like the subject matter. All of the teachers I have had have been good and I don’t have any criticisms on how course work is administered within my high school.

At a young age money, politics, or first world problems never occurred to me. Sadly, as I grew older all of these things hit me at once. From when I started my first job at fifteen, this thing called “taxes” took money out of my check. At that age, my mother showed me all of the bills she has to deal with such as, house payments, insurance, and car payments. My entire world was turned around on that subject. This led me to start caring about America's crises and why it's so stressful being an adult. After bringing a kid into this cold harsh world, this subject concerned me beyond belief. A flash of the real world hit me in the face hard. Starting with the little things, this is how the 2017 presidential election changed my view on this world and my world as well.

When I was looking at which college to attend I was not sure what exactly I was looking for. After going on visits and recruit days, I learned that I wanted to go to college at a place that valued academics just as much as athletics. I also wanted coaches that care more about the player than they care about the result of the player. One other thing I wanted was a place that I felt I would be able to fit in. Now that I am here I have goals that I need to meet in order to make my time here worth it. I have academic, athletic and personal goals that I look forward to being able to accomplish in my time as Augustana.

I had a great passion for reading when I was younger. My English teacher Mrs. Atkinson would reward me for reading during recess and at the lunch table. Reading a book was really my time to block out the world, relieve my stress, and worries. I have always pushed myself to do and be better in everything, especially reading.