Reflection Paper

“I have told you theses things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 14:13. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your god; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10. Theses are the words that god has spoken. The lord christ has helped with so many things you may not know about. Have you hear of miracles he does the little miracles in life.

Being raised in a Christian household was such a blessing, but my committed relationship with God really took off the summer of my junior year in high school. Growing up, there were multiple times where I prayed to give my life up to God. I had a wonderful youth group down the street where I grew up, and my youth pastor really inspired me to explore Christianity, and what it means to walk with Christ. The summer of my junior year I was fortunate to be a councilor in training at Camp Firwood, located in Bellingham, Washington. It was hard work but it gave me the opportunity to spend me summer devoted to working things out in a supportive community that really solidified my relationship with God. That summer I gave my testimony in a huge stage setting for the first time. That summer really gave me the confidence to share my faith with others and initiate conversation to grow in faith and take in other perspectives. I believe that Jesus Christ is my personal savior, and that it is a continual relationship and it doesn’t just end when we declare that we are followers. There are so many people that have come into my life and shared their experiences with me and that has really grown my faith and I hope to do that for others.

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.

When we place our faith in Christ, something happens. We are reborn. God changes us and we become a new creation. The Bible tells us that the old things pass away and new things come. This rebirth is spiritual. The spirit that God breathed into man at creation died when Adam sinned. When we accept Christ and place our faith in Him our spirit is reborn and we become a new creation and the Holy Spirit indwells us. Paul tells us that we are no longer a slave to sin and we are free to obey God.

"A failure isn’t a failure if it prepares you for a successful tomorrow." This quote by Lolo Jones has kept me calm for the past two years because if I gave up after every failure I’ve overcame in track I would not be sitting in this class or even attending Slippery Rock for that matter. As cliché as it sounds, everything does happen for a reason. I learned this the hard way during my junior and senior years of high school. Even though most of my experiences from being on the track team are positive, I ended my junior and senior year with the same feeling; regret and feeling like there was more I could’ve done to prevent myself from having to end my season earlier than I initially intended.

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.

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.

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

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

Walking into Intermediate Composition, I thought I learned everything there was to reading and writing. But, all i really knew was the basic parts. Some of the reading and writing classes I took in the past were Extreme Reading, Language Arts, English 9, American Literature, write-on, short story and more. In elementary school I wrote poems and one of my poems were published in a book; this book was full of students poems. My poem was about shiny grapes. I took extreme reading in seventh grade because my reading level was not as high. But, this class taught more than just reading, it taught me how to write stories too. My reading level improved while in this class. I still remember to this day when we took an online reading test and I scored an eighteen out of twenty; the highest score in the class. I shocked myself and my teacher was impressed. I decided to take Intermediate Composition because I didn’t want to take Advanced Composition and Intermediate Composition is required to graduate. I also took this class to expand and refresh my knowledge on writing and grammar to help prepare me for college.

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.

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.

I felt very uplifted after receiving this email, until later that day when we received the papers back and I think I got a C. I cried my whole walk back to my dorm room, wearing my sunglasses down Van Meter at 5:00 pm so I could try and hide my tears. I wanted so badly to be better than a C because in my head, it wasn’t just the papers that were C work, it was me that was a C. Aside from this experience, I really loved Being Human and its introspective aspect was very beneficial for me at the time. I felt very lost and unsure about who I was and certain things that had happened to me during that period. I expressed all of this during one of our first assignments, where I drew an actual human heart and assigned each chamber a moral that I was sure I had. I thought out every aspect of that drawing, from the reasons why I shaded certain areas darker to why certain words/icons were placed in certain chambers. During my presentation, I wanted to be honest about my state of unknowing, and the challenges I was going through. I opened up about my mother's death a little bit and really tried to express how that tragedy instilled specific values in me.