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.

Despite my constant struggles with writing, I think that I possess some strengths, such as being able to quote from a source material. Having this skill allows for me to utilize direct credible sources in order to communicate clear and concise ideas within my paper; It also establishes proper credit to any authors by ensuring that I properly cite them. For example, in my “Film Review Synthesis: The Conjuring” I wrote a quote that said “ideal balance between the power of suggestion and the satisfaction of a good, in-your-face scare (Chang).” (“Film Review Synthesis: The

I sat on a short bus with 10 other kids I barely knew, tired, hungry, and dreading the next week. Shivering in the cool April morning air, I wished I was anywhere else in the world. The beach with my friends for spring break sounded nice or somewhere else warm where my alarm would not wake me up at six every morning. Yet with every mile marker we passed, the more the unsettled feeling in the pit of my gut began to dissipate. Eight hours and a very small dinner later found me unrolling a sleeping bag on a tile floor, grateful simply to sleep. As I closed my eyes that night, I asked God for two things — for the energy to get through the week and for this mission trip to be worth it.

It was the start of another day and I was dreading getting out of my mom’s car and walking into my school. I would much rather be at home playing video games than being forced to do mundane work. For the majority of my life, I attended public schools. It wasn’t rare for me to fail a test or even a whole class. It was because of these failures that I would get even more demotivated and threw away the idea of working hard or completing quality work altogether.

In college we all search for our true purpose in this world. We scheme and plan for the future, choosing majors that we have great passion for. Even, majors that we can make tons of money doing. Through the journey of 4 or even 6 years of college we graduate with the knowledge of that purpose. College is the way for us to see growth and knowledge in life. Also, the people we meet and interact with in college or even, the classrooms we learn in. Classrooms are actually a huge part of growth in that purpose we are all searching for. They have the ability to hold the most experiences we have throughout the years. Think about it, do you still remember that one time in fifth grade when you got caught passing notes in class? I know I do. This because that was one of the most embarrassing memories for me ihat classroom that I was in for that whole school year. Memories and experiences is what those classrooms or spaces hold. As a dance major, I've came in contact in many different classrooms. At Sacramento State there are about 3 major dance rooms, not including the ones in The Well. But, it's not just the dance rooms that I have been in, there are multiple halls around campus where I have gained the most important experiences beneficial to my growth in my purpose. I would like to mainly focus on 3 spaces. Two of these spaces would happen to be dance rooms, if it isn't too obvious. As for the last space would be one of my favorites. These three spaces have truly been apart of my

This has been one of the most useful, interesting, and difficult tasks that I have taken on so far, but has proven to be transformative in all aspects of my daily life. At the beginning of the semester, I was asked to create a long-term goal to achieve. A goal that was not too easily accomplished, but also within my capabilities. I chose to lose twelve pounds in the remaining twelve weeks of this semester. I do not believe that I would have been very successful in accomplishing my goal had I not taken this class and learned mental training strategies. Not only was I able to successfully complete my goal, but I surpassed it. I also noticed that my performance this semester improved from last semester. These skills have proved beneficial to me during one of the most trying semesters I have had so far in school. The three main strategies I used were: Setting a specific goal, utilizing a buddy, and having the ability to increase and decrease my arousal to achieve the optimal psycho-physiological state.

I have never been very passionate about writing and as a result, I have never really thought about the true meaning of writing. In high school, I just accepted the fact that I was not good at writing in comparison to my peers. I just assumed that good writing meant that there were no grammar or spelling errors, which is a common misconception most high school students have. Before reading Writing About Writing by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, my views on writing were very limited. One of the first ideas that jumped out at me as I was reading was the statement, “Writing is not just something that you do, but it is something that people study”(Wardle and Downs 7). The idea that writing is something we can actually learn more about, had never crossed my mind. As our views and perspectives on writing grow and expand, we can better understand the purpose of writing and know what good writing means.

Do we really look into ourselves? As I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch over fall break his life story really made think: How will I accomplish my dreams like Mr. Pausch? Randy’s idea of a “brick wall” really hit me because I admire that someone believes that hardships could lead to great things if they work towards it. I want to look into myself and see what life lessons that I go by the seventeen years I have been on this planet, and how they reflect what people will remember about me.

I visualized the entire process in my head: the light coming from the sun, getting trapped as heat because of greenhouse gases instead of leaving the earth and thus heating it. I started to raise my hand to answer the question and got about halfway before it happened. My hands started trembling. My throat dried up and my voice decided to take a vacation off to who-knows-where. I wanted to keep going, but the anxiety wouldn’t let me. Defeated, I put my hand down and let someone else answer the question. I had major speech anxiety.

When I was around seven, I learned a valuable lesson of listening to your parents. Even to this day my parents would bring up that time to warm us not to do anything dumb. Whenever I am near the water, it reminds me of the stupid game that my brother and I used to do.

While every person’s testimony of conversion relates to how He came to know Christ, each individual has a story of how they got to the place of realizing his need for Jesus. For some, it was in a moment of desperation when they cried out to the Lord to save them, and for others, it was a call to the altar at a church service. I have never thought that I had one of those amazing conversion stories that one might read or hear about in chapel, but I have come to realize that because God brought me out of the darkness and into His grace, my story is just as amazing as anyone else’s.

I had to collaborate and co-ordinate with two co-students to organise this session. The logistical aspects like the room to conduct the session, the positioning of the table were decided with a keen focus on the client’s comfort and ease to record. The choice of art materials were based on my client’s preference. My client was insistent on including palettes of left over paint from the studio, various sizes of paper, thread, tracing paper and marker pens for the session. To open the session, I use open questions, paraphrasing and reflecting (McLeod, 2013), like, “What did you want to talk about today” (p1, 0.14). One example early on in the session of paraphrasing and reflecting content is, “So you are really overwhelmed…………manage your priorities for your assignment” (p1, 0.44). It was through paraphrasing and reflecting content, I was able to infer that my client felt anxious about prioritising her study commitments, is sleep deprived and feeling frustrated around managing time.

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.

My mother constantly reminds me of the importance of education. She tells me, “You’re smart because I read books to you everyday you were in my tummy.” I used to laugh and say, “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it” as if I could’ve comprehend the words she was saying at three weeks gestation.

During spring break I decided I wanted to go to Nicaragua with an organization called Christian Activity Center. Last year I wanted to practice my Spanish. They also wanted me to practice, and learn more about networking, business, get new experiences, missionary work, and to compete in MMA. That night I remember not sleeping so I could fall asleep on the flight there, but I fell asleep at two in the morning. I was lucky I set an alarm because my mother was catching up on her rest and was tired from helping me pack. I reluctantly rolled over out off of the bed with crust in my eyes. I woke up that day around 4:00 am to drive to Chicago, but first we stopped at the Christian Activity Center which was ten minutes away. I thought the ride to Chicago was not going to be that bad since we rented a van. I sat down and looked back at my mother as she waved goodbye from the other half of the window. Before we made out of East St.louis I was already asleep, the ride took 4 to 5 hours with one stop. Once we arrived in Chicago, my friend shook me awake. As we stepped out of the car we heard the airplane roaring through the sky like thunder in a storm, but slice through the sky like a knife through butter. Once our chaperones paid for the rental car we headed for a bus that would take us to the airport. Once we arrived we had an issue because the company’s policy changed involving carry on luggage, which almost prevented us from getting on the airplane. Before we headed to the line and