Reflection Paper

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

When I entered into high school nearly four years ago, my motivations were purely academic. I was there to get the best education I could, and to maintain a standard of scholastic excellence. Of course, the only way I knew to measure my own “success” was through concrete and quantitative means; this led me to spend my Freshman and Sophomore years fawning over test scores, GPA points, and even fractions of percents in my grades. I know now that this strategy, while effective in getting me what I wanted (or at least thought I wanted), actually left me missing a huge part of what it means to be truly educated.

Andrew “Andy” J. Stoneridge is a 3rd grade student attending Michael Valley Elementary School in Pasadena, Maryland. His homeroom teacher’s name is Ms. Julie King and in her room, are approximately 28 students. Ms. King is a general education teacher teaching the subjects reading, writing, and social studies. Andy’s other core teacher, Mr. Baker, teaches Andy math, science, and health. Mr. Baker is also a general education teacher. In each of these rooms, there are two teacher’s aides and one classroom tutor.

On September 6, 2017, I were documented for an incident that involved a University Housing policy violation. I was charged with violating the University Housing Alcohol 1.2 policy. With my violation, came consequences. I met with The Residence Conduct Coordinator to discuss my actions and came to the conclusion that I would have to schedule a meeting with The Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) and with that, a reflection paper.

As a believer in Christ grows they become more aware of the gifts that they may have been given by the Holy Spirit. It is up to us to use the gifts for the right reasons. We are to allow God to work through us to edify the body of Christ. I see a lot of so called Christians these days using what is supposed to be a spiritual gift to use for ministry of the local church using them for self-edification. They are looking to see how much praise they can get instead of how much pleasure God will get through their service. We as believers need to be able to discern between what a spiritual gift is and what virtue is. A spiritual gift is related to the ministry of Christ and a virtue is related to our character. It is very easy for someone to blur the line between two and get confused. Our spiritual gifts are not the same for everyone, where all who believe should show the fruit of the spirit. To some believers the Holy Spirit gives the gift of serving, teaching, administration, and so on. But in the end it is not what spiritual gift we have but how we use it; this is what makes the difference between edifying the body of Christ or oneself.

On October 26th I observed at Park Elementary in Munhall, Pa. The school is from kindergarten to 4th grade. Park Elementary was the same Elementary school I attended and the second-grade classroom I chose to observe was the same classroom that I sat in ten years ago taught by the same teacher. I chose to observe Park Elementary because the school and the teachers are who inspired me to become an elementary school teacher. The classroom was very colorful and organized. The walls were covered with decorations such as calendars, months, star student, alphabet, and number lines. The lesson I observed was a second-grade mathematics lesson and language arts. Classroom sizes are 25-30 students per classroom. The lesson was making numbers using ones, tens and

I have never seen a math class run as smooth as Mrs. Cameron’s sixth grade math class at Sumrall Middle School. She is organized, knowledgeable, and ready to teach every single Monday and Wednesday that I am in there. The children call her Mrs. Fun because she is the definition of fun. But not only is she fun, she is also serious about imbedding math skills in these student’s brains. I wish that I had her as my sixth-grade math teacher because the way she explains things makes everything click.

Stubborn is how my Mom would describe my personality. My Dad, on the other hand, always said I was tenacious. He believed our greatest strength can be found by understanding our weaknesses. As a child, he explained that being stubborn is a negative attribute. According to him, people do not like when they meet an inflexible brick wall. Tenacity, on the other hand, can be a powerful tool. It shows people you are determined and persistent. He wanted me to understand that a strength can sometimes be a weakness made to work in our favor. I have always remembered this advice and have used tenacity to achieve many of my life goals.

Over the course of the semester, I spent a wide variety of time working with high school students being trained for future employment through the program Project Search. Project Search is a program that serves high schoolers with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities, training them into possessing the skills to transition from the school system to the workforce. In the fall semester of 2017, five students from Blount County high schools who were interested in future employment took place in the program. Two students were female and three students were male. These students were in their last year of high school, around the age of twenty-one. Each individual had various abilities and skills that assisted them in building their skills for their future professions. The most observable skill was their ability to engage in social situations, which roughly ranged from having difficulty making eye contact to have little to no trouble in speaking. They also ranged in their abilities for a variety of other skills, such as staying in professional dress, completing work in a timely manner, and having a positive attitude during the workday. Over the course of the semester, I watched these students shape and develop their skills to prepare them for professional careers.

We begin at an early age training our brain how to work in coordination with the rest of our body. Walking with one foot in front of the other, holding a fork and getting it from the plate to our mouth with the food still on it, all require training muscles to respond in a certain fashion. Then we progress and learn various other skills and facts that cause us to function in certain fashions. We learn what is deemed as right and wrong in society and then try to live within the norm. After much observation and study some of us, myself for one, believe that the sun comes up and goes down because that is how God made the world. That much I know to be true, but my understanding of how that works falls short. We try repeatedly to understand the things we know and yet we continue to search for clearer and sometimes even reasonable answers. How does our mind work? Do we know or do we understand? Turn left and you will go right, turn right and you will go left, said no one, until Destin Sandlin tried to ride a bike that worked backwards.

Let me start off by saying the knowledge I gained during this course is unmatched. It was overall a fun course and gave me a deeper understanding of topics I had never previously explored in American History. The way the professor conducted the class was all around smooth. I must agree my group members and I have become lifelong friends. I didn’t believe at the beginning but here we are. Many topics were studied but some that stood out to me is how Abraham Lincoln is basically a fraud he did everything for the benefit of himself, Holocaust and how America help fund it, how slaves were treated and reparations, criminal justice system in America, Eugenics, also secrets inside the Army including the money we waste within the military (The weapon funding of Al Qaeda). Amongst other social issues.

I truly believe that each person, experience, and surroundings takes someone to where they are. To me it’s been a wide set journey that has shaped me as a reader and writer. I came to the realization that what someone's background is, isn’t a definition of who they are. But instead, it has shaped them to where they stand. Where somewhere came from doesn’t define where they will end up. That just means each piece you read or write comes from somewhere that had meaning to it. In my life it involves church, my family and my teachers. Each have been a significant role in the process of getting to where I am now.

When I was around seven, I learned a valuable lesson of listening to your parents. Even to this day my parents would bring up that time to warm us not to do anything dumb. Whenever I am near the water, it reminds me of the stupid game that my brother and I used to do.

happen the next day and I was constantly worrying about things I had no control over. I never took to time to really appreciate the day. When my dad first introduced me to the song “Tomorrow” by Unspoken, I didn't get the full message. But as I listened to the song more and more I came to realize how significantly this relates to my life. The song taught me how to focus on today, not worry about the future and let God take care of me.

The lessons we take form obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you and what did you learn from the experience?