Reflection Paper

Over the years, writing has been my safe place. It has been a security blanket of sorts; an outlet that I can use knowing I will not receive criticism in the same was I do when I speak. Although my writing experience has not consisted of much, I have been able to grow steadily and learn how to engage with an audience. I can identify my strengths, take advantage of them, and work on the areas I find to be the weakest. It has fueled my passion for world change, even though I am still unaware of how it will tie in with my future career path. Writing has given me a voice that I do not have the courage to speak from my mouth.

Over the summer I started to take as many shifts as I could at work. I've been working as a bagger on the base commissary since last October. Although we work only for tips, we can easily make good tax-free money. After I got my license I started driving myself to work and back home.

When Jesus was sent to be an example of how we are supposed to live, we were shown how to live out our faith in our daily lives. Jesus was faced with persecution, naysayers and even prosecution for His teachings. He was the very son of God himself, yet he still humbled himself to God and man. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus was witnessed washing the feet of the disciples. He was baptized by John and he taught the disciples how to spread the news about God’s love. He showed them how to bring hope to a hurting world. In some cases, people were killed for their faith, yet they believed so deeply in their relationship with God, that they continued to spread the gospel as Jesus had taught them. He developed relationships with people that were known to be thieves, liars and criminals. He taught us how to work among non-believers and that our life should be a reflection of our relationship with God. We think that it is hard for us to integrate our faith into our careers today, but we do not have to give our life for the freedom of our faith. When compared to the stories in the Bible, we have a great deal of advantages over people back then. King Harrod was willing to do whatever it took to protect his throne. He was threatened by the very birth of Jesus and ordered that every male child under two years old, be slaughtered. This was just the first that wanted to kill Jesus. His life was filled with people who wanted to kill him because they believed that his claim to be

Recently informed that my admission has been rescinded has personally taken a toll on me. I am completely devastated to say the least. I never would have thought something like this would have happened to me. I felt as though everything I ever worked for has been taken away from me. I never imagined something like this would happen, especially so late. Before I started the process of filling out college applications I was completely unaware as to where I wanted to go for school or what exactly I wanted to do. For some reason Channel Islands caught my eye. I saw myself doing great things at CSU Channel Islands because it's a small school that's open to new ideas. I saw myself becoming more involved in the school activities, even starting up a fashion club. I saw myself showing my leadership skills not only to others around me but to my younger siblings in hopes that they too will follow in my footsteps.

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

In 1994, my parents immigrated to Canada from Vietnam to seek better living conditions and a promising future for their soon-to-be children. However, to live in a free nation filled with opportunities, the two left everything behind. While living in rent, my father worked full-time at a factory while my mother had found a job as a cashier. Although they had a sustainable income, my father understood that raising a child would cost them more than they were currently making. In 1997, my father decided to study computer science at Langara in search for a better-paying job while working part-time as a security guard. Meanwhile, my mother took up housekeeping, working at two different hotels to earn more money for their coming child. Understandably, my parents had made their lives much harder immigrating to Canada, but their sacrifices - I can say - has paid off.

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.

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.

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.

When I was in fifth grade, that's when I found out I was going to go to FCMS. I was really excited but yet very nervous. I thought that it would not be easy to make new friends even though I still had my friends from elementary school. When it was the first day of sixth grade, I was so nervous to walk into class and not knowing everyone in my class. I walked in and I sat down to eat my breakfast. It was a really good chicken biscuit and a very enjoyable, cool orange juice.

Concurrent with improvement and enhancements to the Region 16 written curriculum, I will work collaboratively with building leaders to ensure that teachers implement the written curriculum with fidelity through the application of high-quality instruction. If appointed the next Region 16 Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, I will prioritize direct observations of instruction districtwide. As part of my observations, I will investigate the following:

During my first year in college, I did not realize the major challenges I would face being a first-generation college student that was undeclared as a major. I knew I had to continue my education as many of my teachers and advisers in high school had mentioned. But I never knew the struggle of not having a family member to ask for advice or guidance to navigate my college education or choosing a major. I became interested in helping other students in their path post-high school by volunteering, mentoring and working with high school students in their process of applying or learning about their postsecondary education options. After working with different ethnic groups I came to realize that those that identified as

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.

Since 2011, I devoted my life to God, this happened when I get convert and be baptized to the church of Jesus Christ. I was still a babe spiritually. I learned many things in the Gospel and I felt the Love of my heavenly Father. I couldn't speak English back then when I joined the church, but through reading the scriptures daily, the Lord help me learn and understand the scriptures. Today, I can testify to you that I have read the bible many times from the start to the end. And most importantly, I teach the Gospel in English.

I believe the goal of education should be teaching students to work individually and with other people to be able to apply their knowledge to function in the real world. By this I mean students should be able to use everything they have learned, both from text books and from teachers being personal with them and teaching them real life applications, to be a successful person after school. I base these assumptions on the realist, pragmatism, and existentialism philosophies. In the realist philosophy, Plato and Aristotle believed that life’s questions “could be answered through the study of ideas” (Sadovnik et al, 2013, p. 185). In the pragmatism philosophy, “Dewey proposed that children learn both individually and in groups” (Sadovnik et al, 2013, p. 189). In existentialism, “education as an activity liberating the individual from a chaotic, absurd world” (Sadovnik et al, 2013, p.191). By combining these ideas, the student should be able to make decisions independently and also contribute ideas in a group, to help become a successful person in this world.