Reflection Paper

Nothing has affected my life so much as the street that I lived on. Almost all my childhood memories were on this street; countless games of tag, races with my siblings, and imaginary games that entertained us for hours took place on the asphalt of Dale St. The street I grew up on was what made me who I am. What we played, where we played it, and everything that is important in between has now become a part of me, and ultimately shaped me into who I want to be.

I’m a highly academically driven student and have several, quite lofty, goals for my time here at Texas A&M. I want to maintain a 4.0 GPA, or at least a minimum of a 3.5 in order to maintain my Cornerstone Honors status. My dream, and biggest goal, is to intern for a congressperson in Washington, D.C., and I also want to study abroad, hopefully in England.

Although I have a lot more to figure out about myself, I have learned a lot about myself and the people of America while taking this course thus far. I have been able to, make a lot of connections between myself and the topics we have discussed in class and making sense of things that have happened to me throughout my life. I recall discussing issues such as colorism and white privilege, love, the treatment of blacks in America, the meaning of “African American” and black education plus a lot more during this course.

From the first day I could walk my mom started to develop my athletic abilities and attitude. She would play catch with me, kick around a soccer ball, and teach me how to dribble, all at home in her free time. I was exposed to sports quite often because her, my dad, and their friends, played coed volleyball and softball. I additionally have multiple older cousins who she would take me to watch play in high school games. Here I saw not only how the games were played; as well as what a team player and how the correct attitude appears out there on the floor. As soon as I was old enough, she signed me up for recreational sports in a neighboring town. Most of the time those teams end up with coaches who don’t know what they’re doing and my mom was not okay with that. She decided to take it in to her own initiative and coach my team that way she knew I would actually be learning the sports the correct way and making improvements. She coached me in flag football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball. Quite often one of my friend’s parents would help her coach. My mom led some severely successful teams in my childhood. Especially in softball where we won multiple trophies. Sometimes I would become frustrated because it seemed as if she expected more out of me than the other players and I was always getting yelled at; although, now looking back I’m thankful for all the yelling and correcting me that she did because it pushed me to be a better player.

As humans of society, we all crave the respect and friendships of our colleagues. Unfortunately, choosing to walk in my Christian faith made those two components difficult to grasp.

A week before college move-in day, I had to leave behind my strenuous summer job with a heavy heart, wondering if I would ever see my kids ever again. If you have ever worked with young children, you know how exceptionally hard it is to be the perfect balance of fun and energetic, yet responsible and poised. Even though I was a camp counselor for three years, each summer felt like the first. This past summer was just as exhausting as any other year, but it was more momentous in more ways than one. Going into the summer, I knew that it would be my last- seeing that I was moving to Charlotte and I would never see that same group of kids ever again. In May, before it was 95 degrees consistently, I made a promise to myself to appreciate the experience because I would never get another summer like it.

Can one semester and class really change a person? Most would not think, it’s only half a year. How much can half a year do? I thought the same thing until this semester in Mrs. Wawrzyniak’s class. This class achieved so much in such a short amount of times it’s incredible. I can truly say over these 6 months I’ve changed as a student and person overall. It wasn’t always easy or fun but I’m glad I experienced everything I did in this class. I’m going to tell you everything we did from the little achievements to the huge ones!

Michael Jordan said talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. This mentality is precisely the case with the compensation project. Individually, everyone could have finished the project however by working with others the project became more polished and finished quicker. In class, discussions with my group allowed me to gain exceptional insight on topics which previously I would have overlooked. Teamwork forced me to open up and look inwards to find how I was limiting the team and way to improve myself.

History allows people to look back on the mistakes and victories of people in past times. Throughout studying the first half of western civilizations, it is easy to extract several key learning principles for the Christian life. All of these principles have to do with the way a Christian should live their life. From the readings and discussions, I was reminded of how we should live our lives by viewing all people as God would view them, with radical faith, intention, humility, and commitment. Christian community is vital for carrying each other’s burdens.

A fundamental lesson that stuck with me through my early years of childhood was the importance of loving to write. There are many instances that have influenced me as a writer today, including going through an immense amount of stress from AP classes, writing my own poetry, taking the 5th grade writing exam, and applying to colleges. I developed a love hate relationship with reading and writing and this was strongly influenced by my teachers, parents and tutors throughout the years.

I stood idle in the waits of a euphoric, broad expanse dressed with the essence of an untainted existence--complete and absolute oxygen coherently ushered by hue-rich grasses. The trees animatedly breathed life, seeming to impart and transmit vibrant frequencies of information. As well, the sun did prove its enlightening, divine omnipresence whilst repairing my DNA. Knowing without experience, seeing without sight, feeling without nerval stimulation. I angled my head up complacently, I knew that I was in total control. Mantras and meditations, “This is perfection, this is eternal, this is my universe. I am God.” Then, I opened my eyes. I opened my eyes to a sudden but weighted sense of guilt. I felt like I was cemented to my bed. I felt more disappointed than shocked by this agitating yet alarming feel of harassment. I’d grown way too familiar to the weird, inscrutable sensation that I address to as, the agent of mortal life. Almost chronologically, I was then brought to the thought of the cessation of life. Prescribed to be just another Earth indigenous anomalistic hominid. Maybe, that candid frame of thinking was the reason I endured such a continual wrapping loop of moral destruction. I understood that the very things I saw on the day-to-day basis persists to be reality and I was also aware that we were born behind the eight ball. But, at 14 years old, the simple concept of managing priorities was hard to grasp. To aid the practical nature of self-reflection, I asked

Every experience, every interaction, and every conversation I have shaped me into who I am today. My family, friends, education and religion have all influenced my life. I grew up in a Christian home, went to a private Christian school and all my friends were either from my school or church. In high school, I switched to a public school, made new friends and was exposed to a whole new culture. Finally, I ended up at Stetson University, a whole new town, new friends and a chance to make my own path of life.

Since I took U.S history and AP Government in high school, I was not completely blind to issues regarding the government prior to taking this course. I knew how the government worked in terms of the separations of powers, the bureaucracy, civil liberties and civil rights, and the different branches of it. Therefore, I did understand the function and the purpose of the government, however, I did not understand them all too well to believe that my trust in the government was high. I see the bad in the good, and the good in the bad, therefore, I was skeptical of the government when it came to certain issues. Furthermore, I like to see all sides of an issue before I take a sand on it, this causes me to be confused as to where I stand in regards to my political thoughts and attitudes. Overall, however, I consider myself to be very liberal when it comes to politics and policy making, especially in regard to women’s rights, immigration, education, global warming and the environment, as well as health care. However, I am still confused of where I stand on certain issues, especially regarding issues such as affirmative action. In essence, I am still figuring out what my political thoughts and attitudes are, but the beliefs I currently have are highly due to my political socialization and hopefully with the information I learned in this course I can continue to better understand certain issues and how I identify with them.

Before I took this class, if you had asked me to give you in my own words what I thought culture meant, I wouldn't of been able to answer. Today culture to me is identified by things that vary from the food you eat, the music you listen to, and things that influence you to be who you are today. Like me, today some of the biggest cultural influences that have shaped me to be who I am today are hockey, friends and family.

Beginning in September 1981, I was cheese-bused (school-bused) from Steele School to Mayfair Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia beginning in second grade. Amazingly, we were accepted in the desegregation program, which allowed minorities to start seeking education outside their own neighborhoods. I thought that the desegregation process began in the 60s, but I guess these Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods remained defiant on keeping us out. I remember the green application form and clearly written on top of it “Desegregation”. Not knowing what it meant back then, I was clearly blind to the fact that racism still existed and unfortunately still does. Northeast Philadelphia was the place where the Irish lived. Rowhomes lined the streets and were always kept clean on the outside. There was always tension about going to the Northeast for anyone who wasn’t white. Initially, we weren't welcomed from the neighborhood, but the school had no choice, but to let us in.