Reflection Paper

Writing papers have always been one of my biggest worries as a student. My High School English class prepared me for basic writing skills, for example, spelling, grammar errors, and things that help me with editing my paper. This class made me realize that the writing process requires more than just editing, you have to understand that the paper is like a car, it cannot function without every single part being run effectively. I can certainly say that I have improved as a writer a great deal thanks to the in-class writing session and the opportunity given to volunteer at Cahaba Valley Health Care Center (CVHCC). In this essay, not only will guide you through how my writing has developed with my participation in class and through my experience at CVHCC but how I will improve my writing in the future writing opportunities I receive.

Blue and red lights flashed outside, while I saw my father being handcuffed; my mother and older siblings crying. I was seven at the time, didn't really understand what was happening but later I found out he was deported. My mother tried her best to raise me, “Sepa como pensar,”my mother would always tell me, which in English it means,“know how to think.” I was raised to face reality at a young age and to know that everything that you want in life comes from hard work.

The locker room is silent, but why? We are less than two hours from Massabesic High School’s first playoff appearance and everyone is sitting in silence; everybody is playing with their lacrosse heads, anxiously stringing them for the third time today. Why are we not excited? Why are we not blaring music? Why are we not jumping up and down, acting like idiots like we always do? I am pacing around the locker room and walking in and out, with the occasional stop at the bathroom to make sure I am not going to throw up. We have spent way too long rebuilding this team to throw the season away now. There are two aspects to being on a sports team that are not captured on the field but have a huge impact on winning: how everyone is acting in the locker room, and how we warm up when we take the field.

"A failure isn’t a failure if it prepares you for a successful tomorrow." This quote by Lolo Jones has kept me calm for the past two years because if I gave up after every failure I’ve overcame in track I would not be sitting in this class or even attending Slippery Rock for that matter. As cliché as it sounds, everything does happen for a reason. I learned this the hard way during my junior and senior years of high school. Even though most of my experiences from being on the track team are positive, I ended my junior and senior year with the same feeling; regret and feeling like there was more I could’ve done to prevent myself from having to end my season earlier than I initially intended.

Last summer my cousin and I were enjoying a meal with our families in China. It’s been 7 years since I last saw my cousin. We are about the same age and my favorite memory of her was celebrating her 11th birthday. I remember my uncle and aunt sitting to my right and my grandparents sitting to my left singing happy birthday as she blew out her candles. It has been so long I almost couldn’t recognize her when I arrived at the airport 2 weeks prior. My mom receives a call and leaves the room to pick up her phone. She comes back 10 minutes later in tears. She breaks the news to the family and that our trip would be cut short. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the following week, we pack up our bags and head out to the airport. She had to start treatment as soon as possible. I knew I would become the man of the house to take care of my mother and brother, who has autism, while my dad worked in New York.

Everyone has at least one point in their educational life that has shaped them into the student or person they are today. For me, coming together after being separated as the “Germantown” and “Farmersville” kids for the first six years of school changed the way I built myself as a student. Becoming friends with new people, having new teachers for every subject, changing up the routine, and actually having to switch classes has taught me a lot of different things.

At this moment there is currently 7,430,931,842 people in the world. Nearly 3 billion of those people are currently living in poverty. Today, 350,000 babies will be born. The world, continues to grow, to prosper, as I sit in my bedroom staring out the window waiting for creativity to strike and give me the words that so effortlessly describe me. There is currently only one person in the world with the name Gabrielle Vozzi, and right now she is attempting to describe something that is indescribable: herself.

Throughout our discussion there were several intriguing and engaging questions that were asked and sparked a good conversation among our group. One moment where I believe I was most successful in the discussion, was throughout minutes six through sixteen. Throughout this time, we discussed how the Party’s control in 1984 can be seen in the world around us today such as in North Korea. This question was first prompted by Leo but what I feel made this our groups most engaging point was how everyone added to the question by rephrasing it, or adding additional information and perspectives, or incorporating it into aspects they are most passionate about in their lives. From this point, I related it to history and how history can be rewritten to correct ways a nation or person has morally failed. I used the example of slavery to show this point. Starting from about minute eight I discuss with my group how according to an article my English class read last year, Texas history textbooks teach slavery based on how it economically impacted the South rather than by teaching the dehumanizing and awful treatment of other people. This question and the points brought up by this question were what I found to be most engaging. Our group spent nearly ten minutes on this point, because this point took a personal side and everyone had something to discuss from it. I believe the passion developed from this point is what made this not only my most successful moment but one of our groups best

Being in a life or death situation, or at least believing you, can radically affect how you feel about the world, and everything around us. To unknowingly shake loose your repressed feelings and thought, through the rush of adrenaline and reflection on your own actions, is a truly freeing experience. While such a freeing experience comes with a terrifyingly dangerous cost, I was able to find a refreshing outlook on life.

I went into junior year without any fear or stress whatsoever. I started a new program at my school called the Associative Arts program in order to graduate high school with a two-year college degree. This program entailed not only taking both on site and online college classes, but also completing high school classes in order to fulfill my high school graduation requirements. Unaware of the academic rigor this year involved, I decided to take AP Chemistry along with these other classes. My older sister took, and passed, an AP class her junior year, so I expected myself to also pass this class. However, in my case, this teacher had never taught an AP class before, especially not chemistry. After completing my junior year, I now understand there is an important difference between setting high goals and pushing myself beyond my limits.

Looking back on the last 15 weeks, so much has changed. For me working and going to school, adding homework in the mix has been a personal challenge. Learning to make time for homework, life and work at first proved to be difficult. These weeks have shown that while my current skill set has given me areas to develop as both a future educator and learner. The opportunities afforded to me through classes to improve areas to develop as both learner and future educator.

Every student deserves the best chance at getting the highest level of education they can, however, some students need a little extra support that others may not. A student, Axel, who is currently in my classroom has had a hard time keeping his focus and is often avoidant when it comes to his work. It has become clear that his avoidance becomes a distraction to the whole class. His behaviors currently include but are not limited to: rolling around on the floor during rug lessons, yelling across the room, walking around the room talking to friends, sharpening his pencil five or more times throughout the day, asking to go to the bathroom at inappropriate times, spending fifteen to twenty minutes in the

Throughout life, it is inevitable to face obstacles and endure moments of struggle and hardship at times. Regardless of what these obstacles and struggles may be, each of us has the choice to face it, learn from it and grow, or on the contrary, let it get the best of us, back down and fail. My life has consisted of struggles and obstacles, just as everyone has. I am fully aware that I am bound to face many experiences throughout my life that may not be in my favor, that may leave me feeling defeated and discouraged. Reflecting on where I am in life currently and the endeavors I have successfully executed, it is also important to consider the endeavors I grappled with.

The way we view the world makes a huge impact on how we live and chose to do things. One of the most fundamental things which guide how we live and think is what e believe to be the ultimate reality. Within my cohort since we all go to a christian University and have grown up relatively with the same belief system we all agreed that God is the ultimate reality. That when everything else disappears God is who created all matter and without God there is no matter. I believe we live in a world that is two dimensional; physical and spiritual. Meaning that there is a world that we can see as well as one that is visible with the naked eye. However one of my cohorts said that she believed that God is matter, saying that all that is around us contains God since he is who created all. We contrasted in this belief because I believe that God created all matter and then allows it to move as he designed it, interacting only when disruption is needed to move things according to Gods will.

Since 2011, I devoted my life to God, this happened when I get convert and be baptized to the church of Jesus Christ. I was still a babe spiritually. I learned many things in the Gospel and I felt the Love of my heavenly Father. I couldn't speak English back then when I joined the church, but through reading the scriptures daily, the Lord help me learn and understand the scriptures. Today, I can testify to you that I have read the bible many times from the start to the end. And most importantly, I teach the Gospel in English.