Reflection Paper

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.

In my junior year of high school i stepped out of my comfort zone to learn about something I am very passionate about. Continuing to senior year, every morning I take cosmetology classes. In the morning I get to school early so I can get on a bus to take me to a different school. I spend half my day there and the other half of my day at my regular high school. Going to a new school can, sometimes, be difficult and stressful. When you are used to seeing the same faces everyday this is a big adjustment. Starting a new school, you go in not knowing anyone. This school made it easier because everyone is in the same situation. The students are combined from all the other schools, in my city, make up the classes. This being said, everyone goes into school not knowing anyone. This brings me a sense of comfort knowing that everyone around me is in the same boat. As the year went on, I became more comfortable and

Being the new kid, in a school where it is easy to be another face in the crowd, is hard. During my first few years of high school, I didn't attend converse as I have nearly my entire life. I was enrolled in Parkway, a school in Bossier. The school was so much bigger than what I was used to and I felt overwhelmed. I was lost as to where to go the first two weeks since each class was on a different floor and hallway. My classes were so difficult, too! I was used to testing high scores, with little to no effort. There, was another story. I was average. In my honor classes, I was so behind on what I needed to know, and the teachers were going a mile per minute. Their tone of voice could make you feel stupid for even asking a single question on a difficult problem. I didn't necessarily dislike any of them, but I did have my favorite teacher.

Most people would agree that “practice makes perfect”. That goes for anything one does, including in an English class. Throughout the semester I have grown as a writer. There are still things that I could of course work on, and get better at. But, as of recently I have become a better writer than what I started out as. Concepts that I have learned I can continue to build off of to become a better writer. Which is something I hope to do. Going into English 1010 I knew there were things that I could be better at. Therefore, I came into class with an open mind. This class has taught me how to use certain skills to write a well written essay. By using the learning objectives exemplified in the class I was able to write multiple well written

I took this class knowing it would challenge me and more than likely get on my nerves--which it did--but I do not regret taking the course. I have learned writing skills beyond the write, revise, and finalize that comes with every paper written. This class taught me how to write with purpose and revise to make the purpose clear.

Growing up church was not a place we “had time” to attend, and God was not a part of our household. It was not until about four years ago, that I began my relationship with Christ. On July 18, 2011, I began to have nine plus seizures a day; I spent a lot of time in the hospital trying to get answers to my over-night attacks. During this time, I fell into a depression because of the lack of answers. I felt that I was just being given drugs to get me discharged. Many would send prayers, and ask me to come to church, but it was not something I wanted to do. At this point in my life, I held anger in my heart; going to church and hearing about a God I did not know didn’t make sense. My mother was my primary care taker, and dealing with my sickness was not easy. In 2013, she was invited to church by a co-worker, and she took me along with her for the “ride”. We attended citylife church, and from the moment worship began, I was in tears. While the Pastor was speaking, it was like he was speaking directly to me, and I thought to myself, “He must know about why I am so depressed.” At the end of the service, the Pastor asked for those who would like to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior to come up, and I could not get there fast enough. This is where my journey with Christ began, and I learned that it was not the Pastor who was speaking to me on this day. God already knew I would be in attendance on this day, and I needed to hear the message that was given through the Pastor. I

Since I took U.S history and AP Government in high school, I was not completely blind to issues regarding the government prior to taking this course. I knew how the government worked in terms of the separations of powers, the bureaucracy, civil liberties and civil rights, and the different branches of it. Therefore, I did understand the function and the purpose of the government, however, I did not understand them all too well to believe that my trust in the government was high. I see the bad in the good, and the good in the bad, therefore, I was skeptical of the government when it came to certain issues. Furthermore, I like to see all sides of an issue before I take a sand on it, this causes me to be confused as to where I stand in regards to my political thoughts and attitudes. Overall, however, I consider myself to be very liberal when it comes to politics and policy making, especially in regard to women’s rights, immigration, education, global warming and the environment, as well as health care. However, I am still confused of where I stand on certain issues, especially regarding issues such as affirmative action. In essence, I am still figuring out what my political thoughts and attitudes are, but the beliefs I currently have are highly due to my political socialization and hopefully with the information I learned in this course I can continue to better understand certain issues and how I identify with them.

“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.

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” –Winston Churchill. I do remember my late grandfather narrating alluring anecdotes from his time in the Indian Air Force and a few of my late great grandfather’s heroics while he served in the British Army (1917-1946). I slowly started to develop a taste for war-time stories, military history as a whole which always intrigued me, possibly because of my family lineage. I am always curious to learn more about our past, about the mistakes made by our forefathers that however frivolous they may seem or sound but were enough to instigate a war.

From Brothers, Cousins, Uncles, Grandparents, and dear friends, I come from a line of servicemen. Whether it is Firemen, Policemen, Marines, Army soldiers, all of these men were impeccably brave. Even though some without combat, I still believe what they did takes an attitude not much people have. While observing them all throughout the years, I noticed how much being a part of their branch means to them. Though they knew, I had no idea why they valued this so much. My brother, 18 now, will leave for the Marines June 26th, this means giving up his whole college life and a small, but important, portion of his life. When he gets back he will no longer be a growing young man. When he finally returns home, he will be the age of around 23-24. And still why do they all do this.

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.

In the first semester of Mr. McGee’s class was a very educational one. For the first time in my entire life I actually finished an entire textbook! The junior english B class had plethora of really amazing stories and poems. However, there was only a handful of stories and poems that really stood out for me. These stories and poems had a deeper meaning to them then the rest. Being in Mr. McGee’s class really helped me dive into a better understanding of even the most simple lines. I believe that this has also had an impact on the type of music I listen to as well. For the longest time, The sound and beat of a song was what made me fond of it. However, I am more drawn to songs with meanings now. I also believe that in benefited my reading techniques. The problem that I had with standardized testing for reading was not being able to focus on stories that had bored me. There were some stories that still made me feel this way, but at least now I can read through it and understand the basics of the text. The following paragraphs give a very opinionated reason as to why these poems and stories i choose were some of the best texts that we read in this semester.

There are so many things I can say about this class and why I enjoyed taking it very much. I would like to talk about how my experience in this class made me relate to history but I can only say so much in this paper, but here I will name a few. First thing I would like to say that I enjoyed our group presentations very much, from all of the groups. Second I would like to say that my favorite topic in this class was about WW2 and the battles and the history why exactly this war had started in the first place and how it ended. Also I want to talk about how the war opened windows of opportunity for women.

While taking classes at BSU this semester and when doing my interview with Mindy Elliot. I have learned many things about myself, other people, and education. I fall in the behaviorism, pragmatism, and progressivism. I believe that one’s behavior and the behavior of others influence how we learn. I believe that we learn by doing, we learn by working, and we learn from others.

During my first year of highschool, I was held to a higher standard, than my previous years at middle school. A lot of the teachers at my school were preparing us for a college level experience. One teacher, especially, was pretty hard on us and she was the English teacher. The first major paper that was assigned was a research paper that had to discuss a historical event and how that event impacted the world. Since this was my first major paper and I was used to this kind of writing, I ended up writing specifically about Alexander the Great and the wars that he fought in. I specifically detailed the battles and what was going on, but I did not talk about how it impacted the world. My teacher offered to proof read the papers two days before the deadline so we could fix any critical errors. I showed her my paper and she said that if I turned that paper in, I would receive an F on the paper. I always strive to get good grades and to pass with all A’s, so when my teacher said this, I immediately realized how important writing could be and I started to develop my writing skills. All of the factors that were in this situation, made it a rhetorical situation.