Reflection Paper

For my service learning project I worked in Mrs. Evelyn Costa's first grade class at Meadowlane Elementary. Meadowlane is located at 4280 W 8th Avenue in Hialeah, Florida and was constructed in 1957. There are one thousand one hundred and seventy seven students enrolled at Meadowlane Elementary school. Meadowlane has fifty three classrooms and fourteen portables and there are one hundred and seventy nine students per grade level. The school was built on nine acres of land. The student population of meadowlane Elementary is comprised of 97% Hispanic, 2% White, and 1% Asian.

Many decisions, monumental as well as minuscule, are made throughout a lifetime. Decisions can lead to the luxurious Hollywood Hills or the local state penitentiary. These decisions will mold our ever fleeting lives into legendary masterpieces or into unforgiving regret. With such an abundance of decisions, they are easily taken for granite. That being stated, there are decisions that leave an everlasting mark to never be forgotten.

Nothing has affected my life so much as the street that I lived on. Almost all my childhood memories were on this street; countless games of tag, races with my siblings, and imaginary games that entertained us for hours took place on the asphalt of Dale St. The street I grew up on was what made me who I am. What we played, where we played it, and everything that is important in between has now become a part of me, and ultimately shaped me into who I want to be.

During my time with Diego, we did a lot of different activities, and I really enjoyed working with him, I am going to share my assignments that I did with Diego, in my essay, I hope that by reading this paper, you can understand or visualize what I did with my student. Diego is 6 years old, and he is in 1st grade, he is a huge Minecraft fan, and his favorite character is Steve, and he loves to play soccer.

I spoke at length with Mr. Rife on 7/5/17. He reports that his pain level remains at a 7. He reports taking his narcotic pain medication twice a day. He said he is going to physical therapy. They are working on Isometric exercises and also heat and ice. He has a home program to follow. He reports he was able to attend his son’s wedding out west. I explained to Mr. Rife that my co-worker Chris Callahan would be meeting him at his next appointment on 7/10/17. The following is the update from Ms. Callahan:

A struggle that I had was being influenced/following others. It all started one happy winter morning it was Valentine’s Day, I had been getting ready to go to school. I had just finished writing all my Valentine's last night for my classmates. I was in a rush, so they all said the same exact thing. I believe it was something along the lines of have a great day, here’s a lollipop. It was a picture of me holding holding out my hand and a real lollipop that my mom had punched through the paper to give it that 3D vibe.

Ever since I can remember I have talked Spanish and English at home. My mom would say “porfavor” my dad would “please”, and once my sister and I were old enough to communicate, we say both “porfavor” and “please. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I began to struggle more with the Spanish language. I had taken Spanish 1-2, which were levels 1 and 2 for Spanish speakers, but now I was taking Spanish 3-4. At first, I believed the class would be an easy A, yet as the year flowed, I realized it would not be as easy as a walk in the park. Due to my dedicated teachers, help from my parents, and assistance from friends, I became successful in the class I believed would be a breeze.

I have always had an interest in the history of the world and the different cultures that have developed. History was a fascinating subject it lets you look into the past, but it will also give you a glimpse of the future if you pay attention. So I went and took all the history classes that I could at Crafton. The religious classes in the beginning were just to fulfill the prerequisite to transfer, then it became if you take these two more classes you will get a degree in it, then it became my major when I decided to transfer.

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

Students all attend school, for the same reason, and that is to learn. While most of the time we are being taught the same material, our school experiences vary from student to student and from school to school. Some countries schoolings are known far and wide for their academic performance and then there are some that don't even have basic schooling necessities. Some experiences are so wonderful, you never forget them. Others are so bad it's impossible to forget about them. I have had my own fair share of experiences be it domestic where I was shunned or foreign experiences which gave me a whole new perspective on education. It is these very experiences that have made me who I am today, a strong, critical-thinking and compassionate person.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed" (SparkNotes). My journey starts off on September 30, 1928, when Shlomo and Sarah Weisel gave birth to me, Elie Weisel, in Sightet, Transylvania. I have two older sisters named Hilda and Beatrice and a younger sister named Tzipora. Together, we live in a small village where my father runs a grocery store for a living, while my mom is the daughter of a farmer. Our family is well-educated and is hugely active in the community. Not only that, religion impacts our lives' tremendously. Religion is a powerful influence to me which taught me reason, faith, and trust in God. My life revolves mostly around my loving family, religion, community, and God. However, I was only fifteen in 1944, when I lived to bare the witness of the evilness of mankind. It all happened on a dark, gloomy, uneasy afternoon when I was eating supper with my family. There was an eerie sense in the air, but I did not understand why. My father had heard news from the council and he oddly had a worried look on his face. I was anxious inside, screaming, and dying to know what it was. Later, my dad told me that the Holocaust is occurring due to Hitler's understanding that the Jews were the problem for Germany's misery. After Germany lost in World War I, Hitler thought that it was because of the Jews interference with their bad luck. I was in disbelief. Furthermore,

Growing up, I considered school one of my safe places. However, this all changed in 8th grade when one of my classmates began sexually assaulting and harassing me. My sense of safety and security was replaced by an overwhelming sense of fear. Simple freedoms such as going to my locker became luxuries that I no longer enjoyed. The harassment both restricted my freedoms and affected me emotionally by inducing extreme anxiety. One classmate had the power to transform a place I had known and felt safe in for over six years into the place I feared the most. But even more disconcerting was both the lack of support and the inadequate concern to my safety and well being by the administration. The overwhelming decision to essentially push the entire case under the rug left me feeling ashamed and powerless. But, the abuse continued and it became clear I had no control over this situation.

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

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

From the early moments of my childhood, I remember seeing my parents go to Russian Orthodox Church a lot. They would explain to my younger brother and me what was right and what was wrong from the religious perspective. On my 4th birthday, my grandma gave me the Bible for kids as a present, and I remember my mom reading it to me before going to bed. Back then it was just another interesting story that happened somewhere very far away. And yet mom would always find a way to tell these stories in such a manner so they translated really well into the reality we were living in. The more I grew up the more I realized that there was something missing in the big picture of my understanding of the world. I saw a lot of suffering that was happening everywhere, death, natural disasters, and I thought there must be a reason for all of it. Otherwise, the God does not care about any of us. I started to look for the answers everywhere: in the philosophical and religious books, movies, wise counsel from the people who lived a long life. I could not find the truth in church because the whole purpose of its existence with all its rules and restrictions, its idea of God who is something or someone out there, separate from us, and the only being that knows all the answers, was totally alien to me; mainly so due to my unwillingness to accept the fact of transferring all the responsibility for everything one does to someone else. I believed it to be a weakness to acknowledge one’s bad thoughts and deeds as something natural, as an external influence of the evil spirits. For me, it sounded like people who agreed with this concept simply wanted to escape the punishment for what they had done, choose an easy way out.