Reflection Paper

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.

For 17 years God has blessed me to serve alongside my husband as directors of Chi Alpha at the University of Texas at Arlington. During my time here, I have served and mentored hundreds of young women and internationals who now fulfill the mission of Chi Alpha in the marketplace and the world as pastors, missionaries, police officers, nurses, teachers, and social workers. I am especially thankful to walk with those students who came to faith, experienced discipleship, and the Holy Spirit empowered their lives through the ministry.

Rhonda and I met while I was visiting another ministry in the Central Florida area. Her mannerisms were that of an inquisitive and wonderfully eccentric soul. Peering at me through the bottom of her glasses, as she often does, we exchanged pleasantries. I must lovingly add, she is most definitely a hugger. I later came to learn another wonderful thing about Rhoda, which is how straight forward she can be. As time went on, she and her Husband Michael decided on transitioning to our ministry. Here is where we began to develop a closer relationship. I discovered how astute and meticulous she is. An avid note taker, I once in jest remarked that she was the church stenographer.

The pastor I had a privilege of interview is one of the associate ministers at University Christian Church, Jessica Vacketta. She began her ministry with UCC in 2010 by working with the high school ministries. After graduating from Brite Divinity School in May 2013, Jessica accepted a call to UCC as a full time Associate Minister. She currently works with college age students and adult education. A large part

I started my leadership in the Church through a program called Parish Ministry Associate (PMA). My pastor and my congregation recognized the leadership qualities and wanted me to be a pastor. However, I refused to do so, but agreed to go through this lay leadership program. After doing theological studies for 3 years I was installed in 2007 and served a congregation in a rural area, preaching and sacrament ministry. I value this program very much. My congregation identified two members who would be good lay leaders, who love to share the word of God and asked me to talk to them.

Following and understanding the journeys of the ministers before us is significant in the light of our own ministry. Each person should look up to a minister in their lives and understand their methods along with their past and current positions. An interview is one of the best ways to discover these. The person I interviewed has been my pastor and guide since I was born. He has pastored at Community Baptist Church, the church I attend, my whole life. He has taught me most of the things I knew concerning God previous to attending Barclay College. He baptized me when I decided to accept Jesus as my savior at seventeen years old and helped keep me with Christ throughout the years. This man’s name is Richard Bishop, informally known as Pastor Rick. I inquired of him the answers to four questions; “How long have you been a pastor, and is Community Baptist Church the only one you’ve pastored?”, “What do you consider to be your philosophy in ministry?”, “What type of education did you receive in order to become a pastor?”, and, “What is the story behind your call to worship?”.

During my first semester attending Auburn University, I took an English Composition class. This course taught me many things not only about necessary writing skills, but also many things about myself. The class also showed me how important it is to research and embrace unfamiliar subcultures and communities. English Composition required me to produce three papers –two of them I am very proud of. Throughout the course of writing each assignment, I developed a connection with the subject matter of each piece. I believe I have learned what is expected of a college level writer. All of the skills I have acquired from this course have molded me into an adequate writer and a well-rounded student.

I established a non-profit organization in Delaware to provide free counseling services to help incarcerated persons transition back into the community. In 2008, I received my first appointment and I was ordained Itinerant Elder in April 2011 through First Episcopal District of the A.M.E Church. I have been very active in the ministry of the A.M.E. church on both the district and conference levels. During this period of ministry, I recognized that chaplaincy equipped me for transformative and adaptive ministry. Therefore, in July 2010, I accepted the invitation to serve on staff at Mother Bethel A.M.E. church in Philadelphia, PA as a full-time volunteer. The unique opportunity to serve an historic church provided me with the opportunity to minister to a diverse urban congregation and gain the leadership experience that accompanies serving at the mother church of the A.M.E.

Over the course of the semester, there has been numerous amount of areas where I believe I have improved in comparison to high school. What has helped me in my writing is the writing class and the in-class writing workshop. The writing class that is located in the Kremen education building has helped me with my writing greatly because in the writing center the person in charge teach us lenses and we apply those lenses to the writing, draft, or reading that someone brings in. The in-class writing workshop has helped me because other students get to read my writing. This is helpful because I get feedback from many students and they let me know what needs to be fixed. A new tool I have been using is They Say I Say. The book is very helpful because of the information and examples it provides such as the templates. I have been applying the templates into my essays and I have seen a significant difference.

Writing is a skill that has always come rather naturally to me. I do not remember struggling very much throughout school with written assignments, and I chose English for my undergraduate degree primarily because I enjoyed reading and writing so much. However, I do believe sometimes that the more naturally something comes to you the more challenging it is for you to teach that skill to someone else. I always use my father as an example when I discuss this concept with people as he is extremely adept at math. He struggled, though, with helping me with my math homework because math is something I find incredibly complicated and stressful. I do not see math the same way he does so it was hard for him to figure out why I was struggling. I struggle understanding why others struggle with certain aspects of writing, so this class along with other resources I have found through my studies, has been beneficial to give me strategies for how to address deficits within my students.

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.

When I decided to register for this class I chose it because out of my options the only one that seemed interesting was women’s studies. I did not think it would have an impact on me or my way of thinking. Looking back, I have learned so much that I will take with me in life and not just use in the classroom. Through the semester, we have talked about many aspects in this course that have made me relate and connect to past experiences in my life. This class has helped me to make changes in my thought process and I am glad that I have had the chance to learn everything that I have. It has been very beneficial to learn about the social constructs that I always saw in my life. I have connected many aspects of this class to my life in various ways and situations.

Along with the people I mister to as a Pastor/Spiritual director, I have also had the privilege to provide supervision and tutoring to people who are in training to meet other in similar spaces. This gives me the opportunity to help people develop their capacity, discover what

As I started reflecting on my life experiences toward accomplishing the mandate regarding to this assignment toward furthering my education here at The Lutheran Theological Seminary of Philadelphia. I was rockets back to my childhood participations in various church activities from Sunday’s service to be selected summer camp counselor. This continued as an adult, participating in the following ministries, recovery fellowships, men 's and senior choirs, director of men’s fellowship, Sunday school teacher, assistant teacher at New Life Bible Institute. When I decided to further my education, primary to employment opportunities and mandates. I enter into prayed, I promise God, once I received my master’s degree from Lincoln University. I will seek to further my education and commitment toward increasing my relationship with him. Since, I was being placed in various teaching positions,

When I was in 8th grade at Niu Valley Middle School my English teacher assigned a poem project and we had to record ourself reciting a poem that we made about nature. We also had to make a slideshow with pictures that represented what we were saying. The teacher, Ms. Fujimoto, assigned students two weeks to complete the project. During the first week after the project was given, every English class was dedicated to working on the poem project. Throughout this time I decided not to do anything and just go on my phone because I thought the project was very simple and would take little to no time to complete. I was also very tired and the room was like a sauna and it was boiling me until I was soaking with sweat. I vividly remember staring