Reflection Paper

During my childhood there was some cultural differences between myself and my peers, which brought on some difficulties. Being born in New York and being half Dominican made me different from my peers when I was growing up in Puerto Rico. In this situation being teased constantly for being different definitely taught me how to accept everyone no matter their background. Which was extremely easy considering most of my peers were Puerto Rican, but once my family decided to move to the United States I encountered people from many different backgrounds and ethnicities. It also made me realize that adults could lie and be unkind toward children, something I did not know until a few months after our arrival.

Growing up in a Christian home, I was surrounded by people telling me about Jesus and what he for me by dying on the cross and saving me from my sins. Not putting together that it isn’t just about the knowledge of God, but fully believing what His word says. However, in eighth grade I started to see faith differently. That winter, four years ago, the church planned on going to Hume Lake as they do every year. I had gone to this camp multiple times, considered myself saved as a result of knowing bible stories. On one eye-opening night, a speaker explained the difference between knowing the real Jesus with all your heart and not just your head. I felt a tugging in my heart that night and decided to give my life to Christ.

I remember the warm summer days and the feeling of joy and have no worries in the world. The days of getting off the bus greeted by the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze. Those are they days I like to remember, the days before worry and despair, before stress and sadness. I remember the day it all started, the night my parents told us they were separating, the ground beneath me was crumbling, the warmth was fading away and clouds were rolling in on the horizon. This came as a shock to nine year old me, but as with most things I moved on. I later met my now step-mother and life changed, lives came together and after a while it all seemed normal and life was normal again. After some time though, life decided it wanted to throw another curveball, my step-mom was diagnosed with cancer. Now at the time she wasn’t married to my father, but it was still difficult to cope with. The months moved slowly and I could finally see the light, the cancer was gone and everything returned to normal or so it seemed. That was when life seemed to flip, that was when I found out my sister had depression. This destroyed me on the inside, how could it have happened and why did it happen. The question of how something like this happened is in fact simple to answer, but not to solve, it’s understanding differences between generations and how different things affect different people.

While most of my work in my fellowship is focused around the needs of commuter, graduate, transfer, and veteran students, I have gotten the opportunity to serve on a few student conduct cases in my spare time. In one of the cases I served on this past week, I interacted with a student who had been accused of being in the residence halls on a weekend, which he was forbidden from after receiving a sanction for a previous violation in the last academic year. As I listened to his story regarding how he believes he was not in the area he was accused of being in, it was evident that many of the perspectives concerning student development theory had effected his past and present decisions.

This past year has been a learning experience that has led me to where I am today, attending Citrus. I graduated from Glendora High School in May of two-thousand sixteen with the intention of moving away to school and attending the University of Arizona; however, within the week post-graduation I decided it would be in my best interest to take some time away from the books. I love education and every ounce of learning. My school work, grades, and attendance have always been a top priority, but I began to feel as if I was a car running out of gas, I knew that if I went into my freshman year at a university with the mindset I had and the drive I was lacking, I probably would not be very successful nor would I get very far. For me to figure out myself and where I desire to be a break was needed from not only school, but also this town. Unfortunately, my gap year wasn’t filled with any crazy stories of finding myself while lost backpacking or traveling, but it was filled with personal growth amidst new coworkers, a newer environment, and a boyfriend as well as some family. I moved to Arizona anyhow and that is where I did most of my recent growth. Now you’re probably wondering how I landed myself back in Glendora, a question I now have the confidence to answer. Arizona was great, I love it, and it holds such a large part of my heart however I could not muster up an ounce of motivation to go back to school. I felt too comfortable with what I had and feared going back with

At this moment there is currently 7,430,931,842 people in the world. Nearly 3 billion of those people are currently living in poverty. Today, 350,000 babies will be born. The world, continues to grow, to prosper, as I sit in my bedroom staring out the window waiting for creativity to strike and give me the words that so effortlessly describe me. There is currently only one person in the world with the name Gabrielle Vozzi, and right now she is attempting to describe something that is indescribable: herself.

Throughout our discussion there were several intriguing and engaging questions that were asked and sparked a good conversation among our group. One moment where I believe I was most successful in the discussion, was throughout minutes six through sixteen. Throughout this time, we discussed how the Party’s control in 1984 can be seen in the world around us today such as in North Korea. This question was first prompted by Leo but what I feel made this our groups most engaging point was how everyone added to the question by rephrasing it, or adding additional information and perspectives, or incorporating it into aspects they are most passionate about in their lives. From this point, I related it to history and how history can be rewritten to correct ways a nation or person has morally failed. I used the example of slavery to show this point. Starting from about minute eight I discuss with my group how according to an article my English class read last year, Texas history textbooks teach slavery based on how it economically impacted the South rather than by teaching the dehumanizing and awful treatment of other people. This question and the points brought up by this question were what I found to be most engaging. Our group spent nearly ten minutes on this point, because this point took a personal side and everyone had something to discuss from it. I believe the passion developed from this point is what made this not only my most successful moment but one of our groups best

Everyone has at least one point in their educational life that has shaped them into the student or person they are today. For me, coming together after being separated as the “Germantown” and “Farmersville” kids for the first six years of school changed the way I built myself as a student. Becoming friends with new people, having new teachers for every subject, changing up the routine, and actually having to switch classes has taught me a lot of different things.

Life represents a culmination of unforeseen events that eventually lead to success, and in the minds of the majority college symbolically defines the first major obstacle one must overcome to continue that journey. Every year, high school students across the nation eagerly anticipate the coming of their senior year and the rapidly approaching adventure to follow, but for many it simply reminds them of the heartache that is soon to come. My own personal experience began with the blinding influence hope cast over my judgement as inner levels of excitement exponentially increased and my emotions became steadily influenced by the people surrounding me. However, little was I aware that my future had already been decided and no external force would have the necessary impact to reconfigure my current course. In a sense, my ship had already sailed and was leading me in ironclad chains to foreign lands of which my presence was to be forced. College, to me, would soon become an indescribable burden where reality would suddenly become brutally clear and all hopes for a productive future existed upon the fate of an unstable pendulum.

As the end of the semester is approaching I have come to realize that this class has played a big impact on how I view the world today. Throughout the semester I have gained knowledge on different topics and I plan on using them to make better decisions in the future. I feel that discussing all the different topics in class has made learn how to communicate and understand others better. One of the many topics discussed was that men should be able to express feminine characteristics without being judged or labeled. Another topic was how sex has been viewed throughout families as negative therefore, many children are having babies at a young age or are developing STDs and how the lack of Prenatal care can affect an infant’s health.

While I am always very open about my accomplishments there is one piece of me I don't boast around as an accomplishment. On Wednesday nights, every month, I teach a Rainbows class at First Assembly of God. This class consists of 10-15 preschoolers who want to learn about God. I teach because having an impact on someone’s life,especially someone younger than me, is important to me. This class has a great impact on both me and the kids who come through the program. I personally have gone through all five years of my church’s children’s program. I have taught the rainbows class for three or four years, which makes this year's class my fourth full year of teaching. I still have kids that come up to me getting so excited to tell “Ms. Brooklynn”what they have done since the last Wednesday I’d seen them. These encounters have validated the effect I can have on the kids who come through my class. However,the effect they’ve had on me is even greater. Before I had spent every Wednesday with these children, I didn’t know what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do with my life, and I wasn’t sure what my suture would hold. After realizing how much I loved children and how much I loved teaching them, I knew what I wanted to do. The children that I taught had such a strong connection and they know they have a steady figure in their life. I had a student whose home life wasn’t steady, and he had one steady figure in his life. When he first came to Rainbow’s class he was antisocial and

To be sure, John, I could never hope to sum up this entire experience in a hundred pages, let alone one or two. That said, this paper will center on the dangers of cliche´, staying in your own lane, and continuous improvement. Despite their seemingly innocuous nature, these particular topics are fundamental aspects of learning any art and cannot be stressed too greatly.

My life once consisted of waking up, school, homework, church and going to bed only to do it all once again. When I was six, I moved across the Atlantic from Nigeria, and away from a life that I was told to appreciate, and classify as pure happiness. My first community was one that consisted of people that looked exactly like me, who had the strength to move mountains. I was taught to appreciate my culture as I watched my grandmother carry the load from the market on top of her head for the thirty minute walk from the market without any complaints. My mom was a working woman, and still found the time to raise me and take care of her family, without ever really taking a moment for herself. The strength that I was surrounded by would motivate me to be the best version of myself, and to work harder, despite any obstacles in my way.

Every student deserves the best chance at getting the highest level of education they can, however, some students need a little extra support that others may not. A student, Axel, who is currently in my classroom has had a hard time keeping his focus and is often avoidant when it comes to his work. It has become clear that his avoidance becomes a distraction to the whole class. His behaviors currently include but are not limited to: rolling around on the floor during rug lessons, yelling across the room, walking around the room talking to friends, sharpening his pencil five or more times throughout the day, asking to go to the bathroom at inappropriate times, spending fifteen to twenty minutes in the

I witness students in my Pre-Algebra class that seem to know all of the answers while I sit there completely lost. They have no problem jumping ahead while I scramble, trying to get my life together. They seem like they are professionals at school, always early, always ahead, and always answering while I stare at the teacher like a deer in headlights when he asks for an answer to a question. Those types of students are what I wish I could be. Though some students allow nothing to stand in their way to success this semester, I have a harder time dealing with the obstacles I face. Some of the obstacles I face are my lack of motivation, poor time management and several distractions.