Reflection Paper

As my first semester at Rosemont College is coming to an end soon, I would like to tell you how I got here and how will I stay here. While applying to college Rosemont was not first choice. It was on the bottom of my list. But when I came to visits and listened to what the tour guides were saying I thought Rosemont would be the place for me. The biggest problem, for me was I wanted to stay close to home. I have family at home that I really did not want to be away from, it was my first time being away from home. I know that being away from home would be a change for me, it was a hard decision to make but I made it! The first step of getting to Rosemont was applying into then coming to visit, after my first visit I was still uninterested into the school. The campus was dull and dry and I did not see any students walking around or any of them coming out of class. Shortly after Spring Break of 2017 I had to make a choice. I began to look at the bigger picture of why I wanted to go. While Rosemont was not a place that I wanted to come, but I knew that I would get all my work done and more. I was happy I made the decision I made, because I am staying focus getting all of my work done.

There are multiple reasons I am where I am today and why I’m going where I’m going. I have struggled in school ever since I can remember but without the people that I have had in my life I wouldn’t where I am today. But as I will talk about the teacher have played a huge role in the reason I am able to be where I am today.

Writing has never been one of my strengths. Even in high school, when I took an AP English literature course, I did not enjoy writing papers if need be. Since I did not fancy writing papers, I never developed a systematic writing process. I would write the paper last minute and pray for an A, but college doesn’t work like that. When I came to college, I placed into music classes first so that I could develop those skills, thus leaving my core classes (including English) on the backburner. Although I do not regret this decision, having a two-year gap between English classes made it difficult to readapt. Instead of spending hours practicing instruments and music theory, I faced the challenging task of shifting gears to spend a majority of my time behind my laptop. How was I supposed to manage this new workload?

Since the beginning of the semester, my writing has changed and evolved to accommodate and sustain longer essays. With longer essays, there is more room for in-depth analysis. Further analyzing a topic has led me to findings that I did not know existed. As I continue to write, I uncover addition and superior methods to approach my writing to the benefit of me and therefore, my audience. Throughout the semester, I have incorporated techniques to further my narrative throughout my writing.

I am a product of my environment that is plagued by the ideals that are instructed by the societies that I am surrounded by. Being the child of two immigrant parents, I have grown up in an environment where I must work to progress in my life. I could stand here and speak on basic information about me such as: That I have an older sister, I enjoy STEAM activities and career paths, aspire to be an aerospace or mechanical engineer, play the saxophone and bass clarinet in the band, and I am a second degree black belt in Taekwon-do. However, if I just told you these few activities and characteristics of me, I would leave out the first thing that you see and observed about me or the one thing that I am judged on, on a daily basis. To me, my race and culture are two strong identities that are often the first to be observed by those surrounding me, and are ones that the most stereotypes about me are often based around.

I am a Michigan State University transferred sophomore student at WCCCD majoring in Pre-Nursing. I still have my whole life to go. I am 19 years old so, I have a lot to live and go through in life. I am through the adolescent age of becoming a young adult into an official adult.

I grew up in a very religious household. My mother was born into a Catholic home and my fathers beliefs are rooted deeply in Christianity. When my parents were married, they started attending services at a Seventh Day Adventist (Christian) church and were eventually baptized becoming members of the Seventh Day Adventist community. My brother and I attended Saturday morning services every week and were eventually baptized and joined into the congregation, following my parents.

Walking back home I would look around me people eating, working, going home to sleep and wake up to do it again the next day. It seems like people became robots letting life go by. Is this what we live for? This was a question that came up often in my mind during high school. I grew up in a Christian community, but it felt like I was being forced to go to church. Years later, through experiences in school and life in general, I was able to find out what to believe and why. I am a Christian because of personal life experiences and rational arguments for the existence of God.

On December 12th, 2014, we were in church listening to the pastor preach about helping others. After church, we talked to the pastor about taking up for the homeless people in Anderson County. Instead of having a church that night the whole church came with us to give them the stuff. I like that I help the homeless people. One of the people that we help was crying like a baby because she was so happy to see us.The little thing we did make them happy. They look like they were going to cry. The homeless were delighted to see the stuff we gave them. I could hear the sound of happiness in the room because they were laughing. The room was as happy as a child with its mother.

With the help of STEP, transition to Mason is pretty manageable to control myself what to do and what not. I’m getting used to my daily schedule with classes, sleep hours, and social time with my friends. Sometimes it’s hard to push myself to go to class, but my friends are giving me motivation and I also give them motivation by forcing ourselves to reach our goals. One of our goals is to maintain or make a 4.0 of GPA because we know as we go up the grades, the harder to keep the good grades. It’s difficult to stay up at night and in the day to finish some assignments, but we learned that it will be all worth it and paid off at the end through STEP.

She compared her life to a hurricane, a natural disaster that took everything in its path and destroy any shred of light in her life. Thus, the weeks turned into years of regressive behavior that led her to believe that she was not good enough to truly be herself. She only allowed herself to be her mother’s puppet, an item only used for public occasions, for if she ever became her own self, she would be outcasted. Yet, during those times I recall a shout in the cave of darkness, a murmured voice saying: Carpe Diem. Seize the day. My brother used those words when I was little —he was an extroverted fellow who vocalized whatever he felt because he was confident in whom he was. Nevertheless, I was an introverted, insecure, and self-conscious kid who was silenced by the public because they scared me. Fear ruled my actions. Fear ruled my mind. Fear ruled me; yet, my brother’s words rang a certain alarm in my head when I grew up. Thus, I realized that my individuality was stolen. My silence was bought, and my uniqueness was used as a weapon for society’s cruel expectations. I noticed that the world has so many beliefs, ideas, and aspirations that I wanted my own drum to beat in my own rhythm.

Can you recall a time where you faced a challenge, setback, or failure that taught you a lesson in the long run? The consequences we take from the obstacles we encounter, whether good or bad can be fundamental to later success.

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

Over the history of this country, many families across the globe have come to the U.S. in hopes of a better life. My family was one of the many that decided to leave our home country and come to the United States. We never realistically imagined coming to America, but when we did, it was a real dream come true. Knowing I was coming to this country as a student was especially exciting for me personally. We were so excited about this new adventure and the opportunities we would have, despite the many challenges that lay ahead. Two of the obstacles I had to overcome, were having to learn a new language, and build new relationships.

The Christian education that I receive at my school focusses on the values I seek in a good education because this is the foundation of a meaningful life, such as quality academic results, formation of faith, the building up of character, and a safe community. The Atonement’s Catholic education is worth every effort that I make to succeed at school. This valuable and unique experience at the Atonement Academy is designed to be transformational, to make a difference in my life and to prepare me for future challenges in my career. This preparation nurtures a disciplined environment; one that respects everyone, one that seeks to promote kindness and the pursuit of justice and faith in action. Christian Education emphasizes a God-centered life of perseverance and courage, assuring a high quality education delivered at a safe, stable and caring environment under the umbrella of the Catholic faith.