Reflection Paper In English

This semester in English 102 has been the most my writing has ever grown from one class. I have learned a lot different things about styles of writing and different types of essays. I liked how the class was based on a lot of “Why?” questions that really made you think. That made for a very interesting class each day.

Being able to learn what it takes to succeed in a college level class will be a great tool for me to use when I am continuing my education at a four year university. English 101 was my first college level English class and was definitely an eye opening experience. I was able to see what my professors will expect from my work, while also growing as a writer. Even though this was a life altering experience, I did have some frustrations and struggles along the way. The quick deadlines and flexible topic choices posed a problem for me. However, some of the essays assigned have turned out to be some of my favorite writings that I have ever produced. This past semester has allowed me to create an extensive writing portfolio filled with my journey of writing growth.

Learning as much as my brain capacity can endure is my ultimate goal in life. School is not just a chore, it is a necessity to further me into the future. English class, specifically the writing portion has evolved my understanding of persuasive literature and how to explain my thoughts on paper for an audience to understand. Throughout the first semester of KCC English I have improved my essays from small to large mistakes.

In a utopia, everyone is portrayed as an accepted character, with no problems and withdraws holding them back in their “perfect society”. Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in today. Reality sucks. Reality is an unfair society with egotistical individuals who only want to better themselves by making everyone feel worse. These selfish characters do not realize that every individual goes through something completely different than they do. Although, they cannot notice, they wear blinders, expecting people to live up to their standards. The pain they cause... Endless neglection, having to improve yourself, these emotions you have to live up to in order to be accepted. I felt them take control, and there was no way I could escape them. I shut down from everyone, and everything.

For the past four weeks, I have had the opportunity to participate in the Reading Rainbow SUN program at Fabian. The SUN program has been very interesting and educating experience, however, I have only been with the children four times. An hour and a half for four weeks makes it difficult to learn about a child’s home life, growth, and even their full personality. I am still trying to learn their names let alone their life stories, but have been able to gain some insight. I have been able to observe many students through this experience, however, for this paper, I will focus on two: JJ, KB.

I spent my life in school having troubled on understanding the learning in English when I moved to America. I started to have some troubles with understanding and knowing a different language (English) in this country and also having a problem with communication with other people who speak English. It took me through the process to know and understand English when my mind was focused and understanding my native language Chinese Cantonese. There are some moments that I accidentally pronounced something wrong while I’m trying to learn English. I somehow accidentally mixed some ideas with grammar along with English and Cantonese when I realized it was totally different. My ability to learning and reading at school somehow still become an problem in English. People in special Ed. said that I had disability. By the word disability I thought that only disability only people who handicapped or on wheelchair. By learning a different disabilities I learned that my disability works and struggles only the part of the brain function rather than a physical part than some other people who are disabled. There are some issues with my English I had to get involved with more support with teacher aides who specialize ESL (English Second Language) to help me with understand and improve my English. I also had to get involved with special education in school so that they could help me with my English language easier.

I grew up in a very religious household. My mother was born into a Catholic home and my fathers beliefs are rooted deeply in Christianity. When my parents were married, they started attending services at a Seventh Day Adventist (Christian) church and were eventually baptized becoming members of the Seventh Day Adventist community. My brother and I attended Saturday morning services every week and were eventually baptized and joined into the congregation, following my parents.

This world sucks, I am a seventeen year old student studying at Bloor Collegiate. Every time when I would have a conversation with someone about a topic that does not have an answer, I would get stressed and cannot express my opinions well. This is my true feelings because I always found it challenging to include myself in discussions with multiple perspectives. I like math and science, especially physics because there is only one answer. I do not have to express myself to anyone, I can just use an equation and logic to find the right answer. Those subjects are more universal than languages like Spanish or English. Even though the way to solve the problems is tough and complicated, you will always get the same answer in the end. I do not like to argue with other people about society and the ridiculous things that build up our world. For instance, people around me say that learning history is important to avoid mistakes that have been made. So far in my life, I do not remember what I have learned from history. This indicates that learning history was useless towards my knowledge and had zero impact on my life.

I think we tend to push religion away from the public arena because today’s society and culture has made it taboo to talk about Christ. Even though it has been taken out of context, the separation of church and state is a prime example. While most schools in my area allow prayer there is still the risk that non-Christian students may bully or even shun their fellow classmates for who and what they believe in. We as Christians accept everyone as they are. We may not approve of their lifestyle or life choices, but that is where we are given the opportunity to witness to the secular non-believers. That is when we as Christians see our true calling.

I believe I live up to the qualification of loyalty to the Jesuit ideals of higher education through my active participation in many of the classes, clubs, and jobs here on campus, as well as my continuous effort to participate in all the events the college has to offer. I believe that since many of the classes, clubs, and events are founded at the college, they are already rooted in the Jesuit ideals and values and thus, my active participation in them throughout my college career so far has allowed me to unconsciously live up to these standards.

Back in Bucks County, PA, I currently live with my mom, Jo Ann, along with two dogs, named Amber and Toby. Over this past summer, I decided to have one dinner hangout party with some of my Bucks County Community College friends before attending Kutztown University this fall, however, my mom, did not know what to exactly expect, since she did know them as well as I did. Usually when we decide to have people over, the process is extremely time consuming. Although, the house usually needs cleaning prior to people coming over, however, this is the perfect example to discuss for this assignment.

I walked into second period on August seventh and was greeted by my teacher, Mrs Key. She was straight to the point, telling me, “This class will make you work; if you cannot handle it, get out.” I began to question my decision to take her class, doubts seeping into my mind as I knew myself too well as an awful writer. I thought, “Should I really take this class?” Ultimately, I determined that I could manage the work in the class and make it to the final paper. As a student with a four grade-point average, I expected the class to be effortless. However, the weekly papers combined with such a challenging class resulted in a constant bombardment of low grades, making me realize that I was very wrong. I started to put forth more effort in the class, and although I started the year writing atrocious pieces, I can proudly say that my work has improved significantly. I had a tough start to the year, struggling in the areas of my theses, introductions, transitions, and conclusions; however, my effort has been rewarded by their obvious improvement to further emphasize that even the most terrible of writers can experience success.

I started my life in San Salvador, El Salvador and lived in Zacatecoluca with my parents. They decided that the murder capital of the world was not the best place to raise their first child; therefore, they did what any other parent would, immigrate to a better place. While I was 18 months old, my family immigrated to the United States in New York, and we lived with my cousins. After a few months, my parents decided to become more independent and moved out of my cousins house and rented a basement of an Arab family. During this time, my father worked two full time jobs to provide for my mother and me. I cannot even imagine how challenging that must have been. However, after 6 months, my parents decided New York was not the best fit, so we moved to North Carolina with my other cousins. Lived with my cousins for a few months, and then we finally found a place to call home in Raleigh, North Carolina. I only came to find about my immigration status through a conversation I had with my parents when I was about to enter middle school. Furthermore, trying to constantly suppress my family’s immigration history when it came up in certain friendly conversations, prevented me from making close friends in middle school. If I got too close to my friends, I feared that I would reveal my status, and then I would be seen or treated differently because of the prejudice that revolves around undocumented individuals. I feared the misconception so much, I was dishonest about my status in my

Growing up my grandfather would always say, “Boy, you can’t find any wisdom, if you don’t experience life.” Of course, part of his reasoning for say this was to get me to leave him alone; however, there is a great deal of truth to his statement. Just like with John Dewey claiming, “Through experience man learns about the world….” Dewey continues to claim, “…that students should be involved in real life tasks…” Through these tasks, students can build experience and thus develop the wisdom to serve them later in life. These experiences and the wisdom that follows are vital in making a better tomorrow.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Ophelia says, “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” This quote confused me for the longest time. At a young age, I was always immersed in reading throughout my life but I also limited myself to what I read. Books that I fancied to read were related to mythologies. It was not until high school that I decided to broaden my horizon when it came to reading books. During my junior year, at Bahrain High School, I was looking for a class to finish off my Fine Arts credits. I chose Beginning Drama, thinking that it was going to be an easy grade. It was not until that moment that I was introduced to a whole new world: The world of William Shakespeare. Once in the class, I received the task