Reflection Paper

This fall I was a transfer student that needed to take English Composition in order to reach my goal as a Sport Management. I learned many different skills in this class in order to better myself as a writer in this class and for my future life. We worked on three essays this semester they were, rhetorical analysis, arguing a position and finally proposing a solution. These three essays really tested the skills we have been learning in class and gave students a chance to show how they have developed using these skills. I believe the skills I learned this fall will really assist me in the years to come in college and preparing for the work force.

Utilizing the peer review was helpful at times for finding small grammatical mistakes to improve on my rough draft for all the papers needed for this class. It also assisted me with my own abilities to help peer review someone else’s work. Seeing what others did incorrectly help fix my papers so that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes. It was also enjoyable to read other essays beside my own because reading the same essay multiple times was monotonous. When reading different essays, it aided my work because I could better critique my own

Why is a question I often asked and never got the answer too. Being that I was and still am in a state of my life where all I can do is ask questions, I turned to philosophy. With getting my general education in mind I chose this class out of curiosity. Though it was not my intention to actually find meaning in the class, I did. It opened a light that I didn’t think shined as bright as it did. I’ve always let society and my past experiences determine my outlook on life and how I chose to present myself. Dealing with a lot of mental hindrances, like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, I was nearing my breaking point. Asking questions every day on what the good life was and whether I’d be happy I felt stuck. Now looking back through the semester, I’ve answered a lot of the questions I didn’t know I wanted to ask. Keeping my curiosity alive as well as, the question “Is this the life I want to live?”

Most students can agree that as writers, they have improved since the beginning of the term. For most their work ethic was lacking at the beginning because they believed they could breeze through the class, hardly trying and they would realize this would not work and I was one of those students. Ever since the first essay my work ethic has drastically increased. I would spend more time writing and revising my essays as the term went on. Because of the increase in work ethic, the quality of my papers also increased, as did my stress level. The increase in my work ethic, writing quality, and stress level all contributed to the increase in the grades I received on my essays.

To most, living on a tropical island sounds like paradise or something out of a dream. People often fantasize about tropical islands filled with warm breezes, swaying coconut trees, sandy beaches, and exotic animals. Unfortunately I know that those dreams are not an accurate reflection of most tropical islands. I know because when I was six years old my parents decided that our family of five should become missionaries in the South Pacific. In 2006, without much notice or discussion, we moved from South Carolina to the distant land of Tutuila, American Samoa, an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States located deep within the South Pacific. We lived there for four years, and they were the most interesting and formative years of my life.

Growing up church was not a place we “had time” to attend, and God was not a part of our household. It was not until about four years ago, that I began my relationship with Christ. On July 18, 2011, I began to have nine plus seizures a day; I spent a lot of time in the hospital trying to get answers to my over-night attacks. During this time, I fell into a depression because of the lack of answers. I felt that I was just being given drugs to get me discharged. Many would send prayers, and ask me to come to church, but it was not something I wanted to do. At this point in my life, I held anger in my heart; going to church and hearing about a God I did not know didn’t make sense. My mother was my primary care taker, and dealing with my sickness was not easy. In 2013, she was invited to church by a co-worker, and she took me along with her for the “ride”. We attended citylife church, and from the moment worship began, I was in tears. While the Pastor was speaking, it was like he was speaking directly to me, and I thought to myself, “He must know about why I am so depressed.” At the end of the service, the Pastor asked for those who would like to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior to come up, and I could not get there fast enough. This is where my journey with Christ began, and I learned that it was not the Pastor who was speaking to me on this day. God already knew I would be in attendance on this day, and I needed to hear the message that was given through the Pastor. I

As a middle school teacher you must be prepared to articulate your viewpoint on issues relative to education, young adolescent development, middle school structure and organization, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, classroom management, family and community involvement, and leadership and organizations. It is sometimes important that teachers within a team, subject area, grade division, or school building come to a consensus of thought and practice for the sake of providing the best, enriched educational environment for the success of students

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (New International Version, Matt. 6.33-34). If I was told these verses when I was younger, they would contain no special meaning behind them, but after retiring from the military and the trials my family went through to get to where we are today, these verses stand out to me every time I read them. Until we go through our own personal trials we tend to be unaware of how strong our faith and trust needs to be in God. There were moments, when I was younger, where I relied on the Lord, but nothing that could have prepared me for the trust required to give to God during a time where my life completely changed. My family and I were a military family stationed in Hawaii where I lived for most of my life; Hawaii was all I knew. So when my father was ready to retire from his job in the Navy, it meant leaving my “safe zone” that I called home. Living in Hawaii was not an option after retirement for a large family of eight, for it was too expensive to afford. With that said, we went to stay with my grandfather in New York while my father searched for a new job.

Last summer I was on vacation with my family and I was just scrolling through my news feed because I enjoy being up to date with the world’s happenings. As I sat on a rocking chair, sitting off to the side a little so I could still use my phone while it charged., I saw a headline along the lines of “Powerful Letter by Stanford Victim”. Clicked on it. Read the entire letter. It was hard to do, and somewhere in the middle when the author sent into detail of when the she was sexually assaulted, or when she had to go to the hospital afterwards, I almost shut off my phone.

We first knew our Daughter’s was having issues in December of 2005, she was in her Freshman year in high school. We noticed that she had not been acting like her normal self. We confronted her about the problems and did not understand how bad they were. We did ask if she needed to talk someone, she didn’t want to, and we hoped she would get back to normal. We told her we loved her and didn’t want any harm to come to her and she could talk to us. I did tell her the next time I knew something was going on that she would be seeing someone to talk about her issues. The next month I received a call from the high school that she had broken through their firewall and had posted on a banded website. On this website she had posted about death and that she was cutting herself. We had noticed some injuries, but she always had an excuse for them, like falling on the ice. Before I picked her up from school after receiving the phone call I immediately called our doctor’s office told them what was going on and got her an appointment that day.

As I write this paper and look around me, I can’t help but to reminisce in nostalgia and almost choke up in tears. To my right is the family room, an open chamber where I have learned more life lessons than any school I’ve been to. Meanwhile, to my left encompasses the kitchen which holds a wide variety of memories from my life; from birthdays to vegetarian Thanksgiving to Saturday night Taco Bell. The love I have for my home, my sanctuary, the place that has nurtured me from toddlerhood to manhood is unparalleled to any other place in the world. However, what I think makes it the most special is that it’s located in Franklin, and it would devastate me if I moved anywhere else, but unfortunately I did.

Looking in the mirror at the actual physical presentation of myself, I investigated what other people view when they looked upon me. At that moment, I began to realize what the features are interpreted as. My hair is pulled up and tight, various people have suspected military, but I have never been enlisted. My glasses and crooked teeth would suggest that my parents were low income, no corrective surgery or braces for me. My body image would be identified, instantly by women, as having children and I do have two sons. After one eight-pound boy and the other almost ten-pound baby my body did not return to its original dimensions, there was no weight trainer or nutritionist for me. My calloused hands will tell anyone that I am a blue-collar worker and the ring on my left tells them that I am married. Progressing through college and beyond will be my way out of the shell that society has created me in, it will be my golden door to freedom.

A brief overview and background: I went on a mission trip with my church Youth group to a deaf village in Jamaica. While we were there, we built dorm rooms and classrooms for the children living there. The impact that trip had on my life was amazing. It made me realize just how good we have it in the United States of America.When I am hungry or upset and I didn't get the newest trend clothing, I always think back to the children down in Jamaica. They literally have nothing. At the deaf village, all the children are foster kids. Their parents gave them away because they did not want to deal with their disabilities. I have never taken my parents for granted again, because of what we have and the relationships we have in the U.S.are very precious, We are a very blessed nation.

It was mid-July in the summer of 2017. I learned that my grandparents were taking a trip to see my Aunt Vickie and Uncle Bill down in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. They asked me if I wanted to tag along with them. I had many different emotions when I found out. My grandmother has memory issues, so I would have to tolerate that for about twelve hours in a boring, annoying van. My grandfather was on oxygen, so I would have to load up his tanks, oxygen machine, and the hoses, and if you do not know, those are bulky and heavy. Those were some negatives, but once there, I would have a four-wheeler to ride and miles of land to make trails on, cities nearby to explore (Frankfort, Louisville, and Lexington), and many distilleries to visit (Lawrenceburg is in the heart of bourbon country), so I was excited.

It allowed me to further explore my own creativity in a medium that I was comfortable and engaged in. Editing allowed me to improve my ability to come up with ideas that create an overall message. When I went to write the narrative essay I found it much easier to establish my personal ideas and stories into the overall theme I wanted to create. When I turned in my essay for that class I was able to get a good grade and maintain my A in that class. Due to utilizing a method I allready found enjoyable and entertaining I was able to turn in a quality end product. I feel that if I had tried to write creatively through just practicing my essays repetively I wouldn’t have been able to maintain my interest in the problem.