Reflection Paper

When I first walked into room 305, I was absolutely terrified. I only knew two of the other people in the class and it was the second class I had gone to. English was never my strongest suit and I had to go into an honors class full of smart, capable people who were surely better writers than I am. So many of them were much more eloquent than me, they were so well spoken. I didn't know if my writing would ever match up, and I hate to be considered subpar. I was really worried for all the peer reviews that I knew would eventually happen. I dreaded the first peer review for the literacy narrative paper because I thought that my paper would be a disaster. However, I learned throughout the course that I wasn't necessarily worse than everyone, I just wrote differently. Everyone writes in their own way but it doesn't mean they one style is inherently better or worse than another.

To an extent, I have lived a sheltered life. I grew up with a helicopter mother, an anxious father, and two over-protective older brothers who wanted me to live a happy, healthy, and safe life. They shielded me from everything bad: death, war, pain, destruction, and suffering. I was -- and still am -- the baby of the family; I will forever be the little baby girl who needs to be watched over and taken care of. To them, I am innocent and fragile and delicate and small.

Every little experience in life molds and defines the human you would become as it pushes you towards your destiny. Leaving my native country was hopeful and a thing of joy for me; as I was a newly wedded wife extremely excited to join her husband in California. Unfortunately, my relationship came to an end with me barely walking out with my life. This heartbreaking experience was a kick in the teeth. As I once read your setback is the platform for your come back. That was the genesis of my coming to Houston as I sort out what’s next for me.

Arriving at college I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect, because I spent a year at boarding school. The main difference between boarding school, and college to me from the outside, was going to be the freedom of no curfews, no mandatory hours in which you study, no uniforms, and no sexuality segregation within dormitories. For the most part my pre college assumption was right. However, one of the things that I didn’t realize was the amount of different people I was going to meet, and how they would have an impact on me.

As I began to reflect back upon my life and the incidents that have turned me into the writer I am today, I smiled as I began to remember some of my earliest childhood memories. Shortly after, my entire class was erupting with laughter as we shared stories about each other from our youth. The reminiscing of what has turned us into the writers we are today opened up the opportunity for all of us to share our memories and laugh about our elementary days. Through the reflecting I shared a very notorious memory from kindergarten involving our teacher. As I spoke about the memory I realized that it was the memory that has influenced me the most as a writer.

Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” The more I come to know God day by day, the more the quotes means to me. As a freshman in college, it can be very intimidating to be expected to just know what I want the rest of my life to look like. However, having an idea of your skills and how they can contribute to your purpose to serve God, can help a great deal. What do I have that I can essentially give away? Becoming an elementary teacher has always been my primary goal in life, and based on my skills and talents I feel this is where God is calling me to glorify him most. At this point in my life, my God-given talent, that I know of, is to work in the lives of younger children but due to the resources I’ve been given throughout the year, I know that God is much bigger than my own comprehendible knowledge.

Ralph Ronaldo Emerson once said, "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." Although I was unfamiliar with this quote until recently, I would say Emerson's words are a very important part of my life. Without even realizing, I experienced what Emerson was trying to convey with this statement. In my junior year of highschool, I became a part of a pilot mentoring program. Going into the program, I ultimately expected to be helping a student organize their studies or to be explaining class topics to them in a way that would appeal to their sense of logic; I expected to be teaching a student how to do something. However, what I least expected -and what happened- I was the one who learned something new. I learned that the attitude I have in life can drastically affect how I live. If I don’t carry beauty with myself, I will never find beauty around me no matter how hard I try.

Most young adults hardly remember any aspects of their childhood, but despite me being a graduating senior in highschool,  I can visualize my childhood quite vividly. This is most likely due to the fact that it has played such a critical role in my life. Once we get older, it’s easier to see how our background has shaped us into the individuals we are today. For me, it all began when I was about six years old. At this point, my sister had began to start piano lessons and, even at my young age, I enjoyed hearing her practice. “Would you like for me to teach you something?” she asked one night. This night, in particular, would be the one that would affect many of the future activities that I’d pursue. Ever since this night, I have grown to get deeper into music, and actually began taking piano lessons myself when I was eight years old. While I am proud of my achievements in music, I have come to realize that it has also impacted the person I am today in many positive ways. For example, to be successful in music takes a disciplined individual. There are many hours put into perfecting a piece of music, and I personally choose to apply this same discipline in my daily life: in regards to school, as well as other endeavors. I can still hear the voice of my first piano instructor reminding me to practice daily. At the time, I believed that I practiced enough, although it never quite seemed to please her. “What can I do to make this piece better?” I would constantly ask her. She

I am a Nigerian who recently became an American citizen, and I am rooted in my African culture, where it is the responsibility of young adults in the community to care for the young and the elderly. At age 9, I fell sick with typhoid fever and was in a coma for two days. Had it not been for the nurses and doctors who took good care of me, I would not have overcome the sickness. For many reasons, then, it is perhaps not surprising that, when my family and I moved to the United States eight years ago, I found myself drawn to the work of providing care and support to others. In Nigeria, because there is a small number of “child-care systems” and no “homes for the dying,” everyone’s home is open for those who need care, and it is simply a way of life. This way of life continued when my family and I moved to the U.S. and we joined a community of relatives and neighbors, who practiced a similar culture, and this compassionate spirit continued for me in many forms.

Imagine dreading an assignment so much that you don’t even want to start it but once you finish it you look back on the experience and realize it was good for you. That’s what happened to me during my Junior year of high school when I was assigned a paper that challenged me and grew me as a writer. This writing assignment was a seven to nine paged paper on my responsibilities to America. Because it was the first paper I wrote that was more than a couple pages, I struggled with making it long enough while still keeping it structured and well written. I also struggled with finding what I wanted to write about and how to express it clearly. Although this paper was difficult for me to write, it was a tremendous learning experience for me.

The process to become an effective teacher passes through knowing how to develop a course syllabus, while placing my students at the center. As a future instructor at a university, I have to think through what makes class interesting, clear, and understood by the students. My primary concern and focus are my students. After reading through most of this week’s assigned topics and carrying out my research on the internet and the Walden library, I am convinced that as a future instructor my approach, theories of teaching, and those who I will teach are the core when preparing a course description.

When I first began this English course, I did not know what to expect, all I really knew was I would be writing essays and papers which I don't particularly enjoy. I was not as confident in my writing abilities but after the first class period had ended, I decided that my goal for the semester would be producing writing that was clear and more effective. The Eclipse of 2017 pushed the first class back, but I still had an assignment to write about the Eclipse. I don’t think I have ever been so nervous when turning something in because I wanted to make a good first impression on my professor. I immediately relaxed when she said we did not have to read our essays out loud but instead explained what freewriting is.

There once was a time where I had no expectations on what was to come. Whenever I attempted to picture my future, I couldn’t. I did not know my career goals or any of my hobbies. Fortunately, the summer of 2014 changed everything for me. It was the summer I first volunteered to help with vacation bible school at my church. From that moment on, I had a fresh mindset and new goals. I permanently found an activity I enjoyed doing. Following that summer, I volunteered with VBS the three summers after. I enjoyed engaging with the children so much that I ventured into teaching second and third graders on Wednesday nights. Throughout this journey, I have been greatly inspired. Volunteering with children through my church has transformed me into a better and different person, through strength, career goals, and my faith.

I grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. Having had grown up in the south, I was always around people who are more traditional in viewpoints, especially when surrounding the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Transgender, Questioning, and more community. I received my education at a high school where no one hesitated to throw around extremely derogatory terms. Throughout my schooling I had found close friends who had expressed their feelings of not fitting into their biological sex. Every time I heard them talk about their feelings I felt my heart sinking. I knew it was not fair. I found myself constantly feeling their pain. Feeling all their fear, anger, and sadness along with them because I knew that they lived in fear of people finding out who they really were and what their reactions might be. It broke my heart that they were forced into constantly fearing for their safety.

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.