Reflection Paper

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

You realize that you're overweight due to poor eating habits and an out of control appetite. You eat too much and you

Time passed and I was still obese! Why? It was a simple question to answer; I did NOT apply the info I gained on myself. What a shame! Then, a third phase popped up above the surface; a new level of authentication was required – TRY the info you got to ensure if it is TRUE.

When I finally took off my cover up, I overheard one of my mom’s friend whispering, “Wow! Your daughter gained a bit of weight, she looks a bit round. You should watch her weight so she doesn’t get any bigger.”

Everyone is self-conscious of something, and these advertisements only encourage more insecurities; implanting a specific image of what a person should look like as time goes on. In reality, people who are completely healthy and active are sometimes labeled “overweight” because of their particular body type and genetic makeup. Yet, the term “overweight” has a whole different meaning these days, doesn’t it? Websites and magazines tell us what our weight should be for our exact height and age, yet they don’t take into consideration that every human being is different and often won’t live up to the specific number range expected of them. A number on a scale doesn’t define a person, just like long silky hair, trim waists, clear skin, a large bust and thin thighs don’t all define a perfect girl, and six packs, huge muscle build, and tall height don’t all define a perfect boy. .

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a quiet child. I hated the way I speak and I still do. What I say never matches up to what I think and it is never organized. I hate it when I talk and my heart rapidly races or my stomach begins to hurt out of nowhere. I regret growing up to where I am now with that trait because I feel unhappy with myself and my mind is plagued with negative thoughts as a result. I worry about the future to the point where I can’t focus on the present. These thoughts built up and came crashing down during the time I had to present with my group in front of my teacher during 8th grade for the first round of National History Day. I was nervous, frustrated, and worried. It was the third time we had to present in front of her and I had another project due to her the next day which I needed to work on badly. However, the thoughts in which I tried hard to store away broke loose. When it was my turn to explain my part, I made a mistake and laughed it off. I continued again and messed up. I laughed. I laughed until I started to cry in front of the class. My teacher and teammates comforted me even though I didn’t want their sympathy. However, the fact that they cared for me gave me strength. I wanted to be more confident in myself and to achieve that, I had to be more positive which made me become a nicer person.

When I signed up for this class, I never thought it would change anything about myself. This class has allowed me to think differently, and view people in a new way. It has provided me with tools for the future in parenting, career, and relationship. I learn most of these tools in chapters five, six, seven, eight, ten, eleven, and twelve. In these chapters I learned how learning, memory, thinking, personality, psychological disorders, and many other psychological topics can shape how someone perceives others, and life.

Perspective. Nothing burnishes it more than the erosion caused by life's constant friction against one's mindset. From the safe suburbs of Massachusetts to a war-torn country. From the most luxurious districts in Syria to eating labneh with dried bread, wrapped in sheets in a 17°F-winter in Maaloula. Constant ups and downs that have done nothing to me but make me realize and appreciate life and the knowledge that accompanies strife.

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger” Friedrich Nietzsche. One of the quotes that comes to mind if I were asked to represent my junior year in high school. By far this school year has to be one of the toughest I have yet experience. I faced myself with personal issues leading to a lack of motivation for anything really. My personal issues really affected my school work and restricted me from the joys of living for a short period of time. I found myself lacking in energy and enthusiasm for school. School became a burden. I had to juggle my school life with the pain of losing my Godfather. I struggled gaining the strength to get back to who I am truly. The talkative energetic girl who finds her ways to overcome the challenges she faces with a positive overlook. The loss of such an important figure in my life was difficult. Experiencing a hard break of such kind really affected me, but with the support of my loved ones I overcame the hardships and stand stronger today.

The Medieval Era was a time dominated by belief. People lived with such great superstition and fear of God. Many people were focused not on their lives her on earth, but rather their life after death. During the Renaissance people became more humanistic and focused more on their lives in the moment rather than their afterlife. We can see these changes of Ideas by studying the works of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, and Caesarius of Heisterbach from the Medieval Era and compare it to the works of Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Desiderius Erasmus of the Renaissance period we can see a very particular change in worldviews.

On December 11th, 2006 my dad died due to multiple heart attacks. I as a person stand centered upon this fateful date. Although it was his death that sent me into the darkest chapters of my life, it too formed me into the hard-working, and by extension intelligent, person that I am today.

I have never been more vulnerable than at the end of my Junior year of highschool. I was exhausted not because of my work load, but because my best friend was in love with me and I was, for the first time, in a class that openly talked about race. The English class, taught by a black woman, was predominantly white (as was my school) and not only discussed race, but specifically discussed whiteness. For the first few months of my year, I was closed off despite believing I was participating. While the year went on, I realized I had been cruel to my (white) best friend. I had been completely unaware of the harm I was causing until, in December she told me that I didn’t actually listen when people spoke to me. I apologized in January and her forgiveness was something I had never before experienced. Over the last semester of my Junior year, while she reminded me how deeply important love is, I begun to see myself as white. On the last day of my English class, I thought of how hard I had worked the past few months to accept and express love, how I had come to believe that love was the most important thing in the world to possess, and I wondered why I had never known this before. I realized, suddenly, that whiteness can, and has, prevented me from feeling and receiving real, unconditional, and unracialized love. I began to sob. As my whiteness became visible, so did my deficit of love. I realized the comfort I, a white person, felt in isolation, narcissism and apathy enabled me to

Have you ever thought of the idea of learning? I never really understood why kids my age have to go to school. I mean, here at home you have all the free time to do anything. At school is completely different. The teachers at the schools I’ve attended didn’t teach me anything that I needed to know before high school. At my old elementary school I didn’t quite get what my teacher was teaching. They said I’m above all of the learning at my old school, but when I transferred to Green Elementary I wasn’t at the correct level. I was behind. My old school was teaching, but in their way of teaching I didn’t quite understood what they were asking, and don’t get me started with questions.

My education has had its ups and downs throughout the years. All the way up through eighth grade I got straight A’s and never really got into any trouble. Being a freshman, it was my goal to stay that way. I didn’t know how hard it would be being a freshman but I would soon find out as I continued my high school career.

Prevention is best exercised through a healthy diet and exercise early in life. Yet sadly, even children are heavier than ever before. Healthcare providers must take preventative action when they sense a potential problem for a patient's health and even before a problem is manifest, to ensure that healthy habits are ingrained early in life. However, many providers are unwilling to bring up the subject of a patient's lifestyle habits or weight, for fear of alienating the patient. Or, they may simply assume that the patient already knows that he or she is overweight, because of the extreme stigmatization of such behaviors in our society. Even though 2/3rds of Americans are overweight, "just one-third of doctors surveyed say they talk with patients about losing weight. That means two-thirds don't" (Neighmond 2011).