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.

On September 6, 2017, I were documented for an incident that involved a University Housing policy violation. I was charged with violating the University Housing Alcohol 1.2 policy. With my violation, came consequences. I met with The Residence Conduct Coordinator to discuss my actions and came to the conclusion that I would have to schedule a meeting with The Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) and with that, a reflection paper.

I was born into a Baptist household by two loving parents, an older brother, and many younger siblings to come. I have been told I attended church willingly and faithfully since before I could comprehend my own faith. At age 5 I began to ask my parents questions about everything; I was curious. Being such a curious child, all I wanted was to ask a question that she didn’t know the answer to. When I happened upon the topic of church, my mom seemed to have all the right answers. Accepting the challenge at hand, I moved on to more difficult questions about religion. I finally got to the abstract question that got her thinking. I started to ask her about her faith, quite pleased with myself, when I realized I wanted to strengthen

I have always enjoyed telling stories, it was just quite difficult for me to express my ideas well. I took this class in the hopes I could form a well written, organized paper. Expository writing has taught me my different strengths and weaknesses and how to use them accordingly. My writing skills have improved and changed drastically since the beginning of the semester. I learned to eliminate wordiness, to add detailed analysis, and improve grammar skills. This has made a significant difference in my writing abilities, preparing me for my future in college.

1. What do you believe to be the strongest aspect of your paper, and why?

I was born into a Christian family. When I was young I didn 't understand the whole religion processes or why I really prayed. I just knew that I went to church every Sunday and prayed to a man named God. After a few years my family and I stopped going to church as often. We only went once in a while and always went during Christmas, Easter, and New Year. That all changed when I got my car and I became close friends the the pastor 's daughter and nieces. I told me self I would go to church every Sunday and try to learn who God was and get closer to him.

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:

The act of reading, writing, and listening to literature for enjoyment has always astounded me. Humans are the most complex animals on Earth, yet literature is still a novelty to some. It might be because of what we learn in school that turns us off from literature, but I may be different. I found a love for poetry and creative writing during my freshman year in high school. It was important for me to project what I could not say outloud, and that is where I felt unified with literature. When I put pen to paper, I felt like life had stopped and I was in the moment. Life became increasingly hard as I went through school, but each time I came back to writing, I felt as if I was drifting away in myself yet still in control. It was hard for me to find a way to cope with my ever changing life. The act of writing helped me tell my story in ways that I could not express to others due to our social expectations. Storytelling is important, for it provides a nessecary outlet in order to cope with life more easily.

On November 17, 2017, I helped Vanessa to get everything ready before had anyone came to watch the dance performance. We got everything ready and helped each group to dress up and make sure nothing was missing. Everything went very well and we also provided lunch for everyone where each of us can get together and it ended at 2pm. I helped Vanessa cleaned up everything and make sure everything was clean when we were done cleaning then we had several staffs, parents, and administrators objected about Fall Festival because some of them felt it was offensive due to cultural appropriation where it showed that they dressed up like another country cultural without having students’ parents signed to permission that Fall Festival should be provided but they did not which it was not appropriate. It helped me learn that it was important to talk to administrators to get their opinions first before asking parents for their permission without feeling cultural appropriation. There were couple challenges that I had to deal with during my internship. I had hard time to communicate with some people who I have been work with. But it helped me to learn that not everyone is good at communication and how can I modify my communicate access with them because it is important to have communication with anyone who I work with. It is important to have communicate with anyone who I work with so we can be on same page without being misunderstanding which it could cause more serious problem if we did not

“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.

“We wish you all a productive course.” A simple, dry line uttered by the teacher as I headed in for what I knew would be a grueling experience. A meditation retreat conducted entirely in “noble silence” and dedicated to finally understanding what enlightenment is. Noble silence, they called it, was the act of working as if we were alone in complete silence; alone I was in a secluded place, two hours north of Chicago amongst miles of flat cornfields where the roar of speeding cars overshadows the squawks of Canadian geese flying overhead. The place was the Illinois Vipassanā Meditation Center and it is where I chose to make my final attempt at achieving spiritual enlightenment. This silence was said to help get previous students to the goal of enlightenment. It was a goal that, at the time, I could barely define and had little clue to the gravity of what I was about to embark on. In the end, I would witness one of the noble truths of all existence: Impermanence is inherent in all physical and mental phenomena; all that arises in the Universe will surely pass away.

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.

I learned some pretty strange things in my middle school sex education class. However, I’d consider myself lucky! My class was the only one to have a speaker come in to talk to us. He taught about one thing, and one thing only:

Do you remember what your priorities were when you were eight years old? When I was that age (1965), I was in third grade. One of my jobs was to make breakfast on weekday mornings for some of my younger brothers and sisters. At that age, my primary goal was to figure out ways to get out of work around the house, so I could go outside and play with my cousins who lived in the neighborhood.

It’s always sad to watch the semester go. You get into this routine everyday and it becomes your life. When the semester ends you get a break which is great but then you’re thrown into a whole new routine with new people. I, myself, am a very awkward person and I’m never too keen on talking to people I don’t know. It makes it hard for me to be okay with new routines, I’d rather just keep everything the same. My best interpretation of my writing would be this: I don’t know how to change up my routine. This is seen very clearly through all my essays. However, I’d like to focus on my three essays The Youngest of Five, Band Practice, and Liar, Liar.