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

Throughout the course of this semester, I have continuously grown as a writer. Prior to taking this course, I had little experience or knowledge when it came to writing. I used to struggle with forming my thoughts into writing, let alone a paper. I was never confident with what I wrote. My writing had no greater purpose other than the assignment. My writing process included: writing my paper, proofreading it, and turning it in. Once the paper left my hands, it also left my mind. Throughout this course we worked with others, visited the writing lab, wrote critiques, and we were able to revise our papers. I believe that all of this is has caused me to grow greatly as a writer.

And then she turned to me. I felt special that she had saved me for last. I smiled at her, and she did the same to me. We had grown inseparable over the past few years especially, but now it was time to say goodbye. I knew at that point that nothing at all would change, that we would still be sisters, still be best friends, still be inseparable. Who cares if we’re 5 ½ hours away? This was us.

Although this was taken seven months ago, it feels as if it was just yesterday that my sister, Cortney, began a new stage in her life. She is no longer my bedroom neighbor just a hallway length away. The bathroom that was once shared is now only occupied by me, that bedroom next to mine remains vacant, and I am officially an only child -or so it seems. It’s crazy to believe we are already teenagers. As children, we got along much better than average siblings. We never fought, always shared clothes, and even shared friends despite the age difference. As time went on, we grew closer; making it even harder for us to be separated from each other long term. Next thing we knew, it was August 24, 2015, the time had come that Cortney was graduated and moved on to bigger and better things. My family took two cars over two hours away to say our goodbyes. Despite the fact that we did not want

After my period of grieving, I decided that I had to advance my attempts to do well in school and find the path in life I wanted to take. I began to take high school more serious and stopped having a mindset of “this is easy” like I had in middle school. I pushed myself to go above and beyond, but even so I had an extremely hard time adjusting to high school. Facing many adversities, I reminded myself that life goes on and does not stop for anyone. I went out of my comfort zone and overcame my obstacles, so that all the sadness, fear, anger, and guilt would go away. During my high school years I had much more responsibility, since my family knew that they could rely on me more. Whenever my parents are not home, I have to babysit my brothers, if my parents can not take my siblings to a swim practice, violin class, or can’t pick up my brothers from school, I willingly take them even if it means cancelling my own plans or practices. My grandfather always had time for his family and made sure to put them first. He loved us no matter what and knew the importance of having a family. Because of him, my appreciation for family has grown and taking on this responsibility that my parents have given me the opportunity to grow into a more flexible, understanding, and independent

Learning that everyone’s time is precious and we should live every moment alongside the people we love the most, because we’ll never be too sure when they’re going to leave us. Till this day it still doesn’t feel real, I keep telling myself that one day she’ll be back and everything will be ok. She was the heart and soul of our family where we all would gather at Thanksgiving time or just on a regular day. Her home was always full of joy and excitement but now it’s full of loneliness and darkness. She is gone now, to a new home, a home called

My family has not been the perfect or the worst, we all have our moments that are meant in order to learn and gain experience. A few years ago, my parents decided to get a divorce. It was the end of their relationship, but also the one I felt that unified the whole family. I didn’t pay much attention to my parent’s departure, since I was a child all I did was wonder. Ever since the split nothing was the same for both, situations would become difficult for each but they knew how to overcome them. I learned to live through many hardships that were place upon me because I was the “oldest” in the house. I still dedicated myself to school, church, and my family. Other thing would always come second as I saw it as something that could hold me back.

The questions I had been asking for the past week would now be answered. My parents, my sister, and I piled into our two vehicles and headed down to Iowa City. The two-and-a-half-hour car ride was incredibly quiet except for the occasional sniffle from my mom. The move in process went incredibly smoothly. My family and Josie’s family helped in every way they could to set up our room, soothing my anxiety. After everything was set up my family went to dinner. Then it was time to say goodbye. I knew how it was going to go, my mom and my sister would start crying when they hugged me, and my dad would give me a fist bump and say good luck. In less than five minutes, I went from being a dependent of my parents to an

I moved into a new room and didn’t have to bug my sister for attention, but when I did, it was the same old routine, make Hannah cry, sit back and laugh, make Hannah cry more. Although I wanted to get out and escape it, I grew an incredible love for my brother and sister when they moved out. I never really knew what it was like to be alone. I had never witnessed the shattering sound of silence, because there was always something going on in my house. My sister got married when I was 13 and from then on things changed. I gained another brother.

I never thought this moment would affect my life so much. This year I will be the only kid still at home. I have three siblings, Alex is twenty two, Ethan is twenty one, and Addison is eighteen. The four of us will always remember the good times we spent with each other. I thought my siblings leaving for college was hard, but it was a life changing event for me because it taught me that it isn’t as fun without them around the house.

For years, my sister and I would compete to be the better daughter and vie for the attention of our parents. Her being two years older always gave her an advantage and the ability to experience all of life’s challenges first. This made me mature at a rapid pace and separate from my peers. My first five years of life was a race, but the race was immediately halted after our parents’ divorce. I looked up to my sister greatly before the divorce but, this only intensified greatly after it.

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.

Arati, even though you missed one day, you caught right back up with us and was able to understand most of the material all by yourself. I was impressed when you told me that you did one of the modules on game plan at home. You have shown dedication and an honest will to learn. You showed creativity when you decided to incorporate your love for music in your final project. I am glad that you learned a lot this week and remember to continue with your education in technology.

Our civilizations relies upon people to develop morals and resilience through family, however, what happens when you grow up in an abusive family? Sure, you develop resilience quickly, unfortunately, you may build your moral foundation over a sinkhole. In addition to family dynamics, by age eleven, I survived being hung by a Mexican gang, three dog attacks and a house fire which left both legs covered in second degree burns. Fortunately, at age twelve, I ran away and a couple discovered me sleeping in their garage. Compassionately, they took me in and allowed me to live in a travel trailer on their property.

“We need all empty hospital beds to the trauma center now!” I, the baby-faced medical scribe, yelled to the medical staff in D-pod of the ER. Ten police officers and two citizens had been shot in nearby downtown Dallas. I was assigned to work with Dr. Schaff who instructed me to recruit the open beds needed to accommodate the influx of patients. Walking into the frantic trauma room, I appeared with a blank face, dazed by the situation. I regained a perceptive state of mind when Dr. Schaff began asking me details about a patient while telling me to track down an extra tourniquet for a heavily bleeding gunshot wound to the leg. In such a chaotic situation, I became amazed by Dr. Schaff’s skill to quickly assess and treat the patient to allow a higher chance of full recovery. The patient’s wife arrived at the ER and was overcome with emotions. As Dr. Schaff entered the room, she was still in shock from her husband’s condition. Dr. Schaff proceeded to sit down and have a long and considerate conversation with her. Her tear-covered face transformed to a glimmering smile when she realized her husband would make a full recovery, and she joyfully hugged Dr. Schaff. Watching Dr. Schaff interact with her gave me an intoxicating feeling I had never experienced. It demonstrated to me that being a doctor involved not only scientific knowledge and skill, but also human compassion and interpersonal qualities.