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.

At dinner my father practices math problems with me. I want to be the best in the class, and I know there are people who are better than me at math, so I need to practice. Later than night my mother reads me The Hobbit again so I can fall asleep. I fall in love with the way the story makes pictures in my mind. When my father wakes me up for school the next morning it’s all too soon, and I drag myself out of bed for the warm cup of milk I know is waiting for me. At this time my mother is a practicing Christian, she dresses up for church on Sundays and we go out to brunch with my grandparents after the service. My father is a practicing muslim. I don’t know about the complexities of each religion yet, I just know my father wants me to be muslim, and my mother wants me to be able to choose. I learned at a young age balance was incredibly difficult as I tried to be both christian and muslim to make my parents happy, attending church and the mosque on alternating Sundays. Though I didn’t know it at the time, the desperation for balance showed me that choice is ultimately powerful. But I couldn’t see that yet.

Perspectives of how we view the world around us at many points of life can become so obscured that they often become lost and forgotten leading one to live a life with a single perspective--a single story. You see it was a day like any other in the chaotic mess that is the center for the community during dinner hours where hundreds upon hundreds if not thousands of students converge in a swarm echoing clattering noise of conversations, and endless queues wrapping around every little space to eat what most consider to be subpar food. I was sitting alone merely being that weird guy who preferred to read. All the while, I noticed some students horsing around, and in my attention, I saw a full cup of soda which was obviously at some point going to get spilled.

Ever since I was born, I was raised in a Vietnamese household where my parents and grandparents always communicated to me in only Vietnamese. Before I was four years old, I slowly learned English from watching television and listening American radio stations. In my elementary school, I learned the American alphabet by memorization and repetition of the sounds and signs of the American alphabet. Then teachers started to make students learn new vocabulary and helping students make flashcards with pictures for visual aid. To improve my communication skills in English, my teachers often made the students work in groups, so students can learn from each other and practice their speaking. English is all about memorization and then applying what I learned to other situations. During the summer, I went to extra English classes, and my summer school teachers emphasized the importance of vocabulary and grammar. I learned how to diagram sentences based on their parts of speech and memorized how certain phrases must correspond to a set of rule to satisfy the English grammar. My teachers in high school tested my English skills through public speeches and numerous essays. During high school, I also went to Vietnamese school for four years every Sunday where they emphasized the importance of memorization and repetition. My teachers gave me homework to read, and I had memorize certain poems or short stories. They would test me by making me recite the poem or write down the short stories by

On September 11, 2001, my life was involuntarily changed permanently. As a New York native, more importantly, a Queens native, I’ll never forget the tragic events of that day. I will also never forget the three weeks following the tragedy that I was off from school. We were not give off because of physical damage to our infrastructure, but because of the emotional toll that day had on my city, my country and our families. I will never forget the wakes and funerals for people, some of whom I had never met. But I attended to show support for the numerous classmates of mine who lost a parent or other close relative. The steadfast resolve of New Yorkers in the following weeks, months and even years is nothing short of inspiring and I’m so proud to be called a New Yorker. However, the one thing that always stuck out to me that was negative was the misunderstanding of what had happened. People I loved and respected told me that we were at war with Islam, that it’s a ‘dangerous ideology’. I never for a second believed that irresponsible statement and I have plenty of Muslim friends to this day who demonstrate day in and day out what it means to be an American. I did this for them.

I attended an awareness seminar of Syria, on Thursday, September 21, 2017 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., however, I stayed after to speak to several guest speakers, and didn’t leave until almost 10:00 p.m. It was held at the Santa Clara County Government Center located at 70 West Hedding Street, Isaac Newton Auditorium, #114, San Jose, California 95110. Parking is only for state employees between 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I was able to park without getting a ticket, because it was after 6:00 p.m. This is my third day volunteering for the San Jose Peace & Justice Center, in San Jose, California. Learning about Syria and the people made me more aware of their culture, globally.

This summer has been quiet a busy time to say the least. Since I recently started a new job, I was unable to partner with an organization for my community engagement project. Instead, I worked with my neighbor, Betty, who is 78 years old woman who has recently transitioned home from a six week stay in a rehabilitation center due to a severe fall that prompted her stay. Betty was discharged after Medicare would no longer cover her stay at the rehabilitation center. When she returned home, she returned to home where her grandson stayed but could not relyed on. Betty was basically on her own at home, unable to walk, care for herself the way she was used to, and felt that her needs were not being met upon her return. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how my personal involvement has been service oriented, helped her achieve her goal, and ¬¬¬to critically reflect on the integration this course has provided in carrying out this assignment.

The Jesus and Christian Community class at Fresno Pacific University is a course where a student can further develop their relationship and understanding of the Bible while discovering a relationship with Christ. All incoming freshmen are required to take this course as a part of their general education requirements which focuses on the book of Matthew, his interpretation, and the historical background of the Bible. One of our assignments is to help incoming pupils understand a certain verse and its purpose. The section we will be focusing on is the in Matthew chapter 17 verses 14 through 21 in addition to the Sadducees and other related topics. Jesus has followers which are the general public and disciples who are the people who claim to be devoted to God called the Pharisees and Sadducees. The faction of the disciples called the Sadducees are a group that are not characteristically what one would depict as humble servant of Christ. They followed their own set of rules and had standards that were different from the Pharisees, the followers of Christ, and Jesus himself. As we continue this discussion, we will see the importance of the verse in Matthew along with the roles the Sadducees and the things that influenced their cultural views.

In our everyday lives, we tend to categorize people because of their race, culture, their socioeconomic status, and judge people by their looks, age, ability, and gender. When I was working at a daycare past summer of grade 9, I met one Chinese girl who was around 4-5 years old. One time I witness her classmates making fun of her because she has a asian accent when she talks in English, her eyes are small, her mom works at a restaurant with low pay. Even during break, I would always see her sitting in a corner all alone, while others were having fun. Therefore, I took the courage to talk to her. Throughout the conversation, I realized that she was mad at herself because she has a different race from others, language barrier between her and her classmates and she was ashamed of her mother working at a restaurant because other parents work at a higher pay occupation.

Over the history of this country, many families across the globe have come to the U.S. in hopes of a better life. My family was one of the many that decided to leave our home country and come to the United States. We never realistically imagined coming to America, but when we did, it was a real dream come true. Knowing I was coming to this country as a student was especially exciting for me personally. We were so excited about this new adventure and the opportunities we would have, despite the many challenges that lay ahead. Two of the obstacles I had to overcome, were having to learn a new language, and build new relationships.

To go along with being an athlete, I am a student. To be able to get playing time, you need to have good grades. My parents didn’t just push me to be a good athlete, but to get good grades. I had higher expectations compared to my brother. But that pushed me to keep my grades up and do get an A on assignments and tests. This impacted who I was and what I decided to value. It was important to my parents that I got good grades, but to me it was too because it helped me get into college and it made me feel good about myself. Being a student, just like being an athlete, teaches me to be diligent in the work that I have in front of me. It also teaches me time management, and what I need to get done compared to going out with my friends.

She compared her life to a hurricane, a natural disaster that took everything in its path and destroy any shred of light in her life. Thus, the weeks turned into years of regressive behavior that led her to believe that she was not good enough to truly be herself. She only allowed herself to be her mother’s puppet, an item only used for public occasions, for if she ever became her own self, she would be outcasted. Yet, during those times I recall a shout in the cave of darkness, a murmured voice saying: Carpe Diem. Seize the day. My brother used those words when I was little —he was an extroverted fellow who vocalized whatever he felt because he was confident in whom he was. Nevertheless, I was an introverted, insecure, and self-conscious kid who was silenced by the public because they scared me. Fear ruled my actions. Fear ruled my mind. Fear ruled me; yet, my brother’s words rang a certain alarm in my head when I grew up. Thus, I realized that my individuality was stolen. My silence was bought, and my uniqueness was used as a weapon for society’s cruel expectations. I noticed that the world has so many beliefs, ideas, and aspirations that I wanted my own drum to beat in my own rhythm.

Since arriving on campus, I have been asked how I came to Miami several times. Some would say that coming here is destiny, but I disagree. Psalm 139 says that before I was born, “in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (NKJV, Psalms 139:16). While there are several main components about which I will write, I keep coming back to the fact that God placed me here.

In school, I used to loathe the icebreakers that involved saying an interesting fact about oneself. I would fumble around and iterate some unoriginal sentiment about my favorite color or animal and leave without actually providing substance about myself. This all changed after I lost the vision in my right eye and could tell people about the three-inch needle that pierces my eye multiple times every year. I thoroughly enjoy watching people squirm as I chuckle and explain the process.

Every school has these four main academic subjects: English, Math, Science, History/Geography. The class I like the most in my eighth grade school year is History. This is because we get to learn about different time periods, different people, different religions, and so much more. We don't just sit in class and read out of a textbook. We get to do fun activities to help us understand more. While we work, we talk to our teacher and have funny and weird conversations. We make fun of each other and have a good laugh. I'm always excited to go to History class.