Reflection Paper

“I have told you theses things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 14:13. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your god; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10. Theses are the words that god has spoken. The lord christ has helped with so many things you may not know about. Have you hear of miracles he does the little miracles in life.

For a long time i was different from the other guys. From the toys i played with to the clothes I like to wear. I was in 6th grade the first time i had feeling towards a guy. I was scared and ashamed of theses feeling. As time passed the feelings only became stronger and I fell further into the closet. Middle school was hard, i was bullied and called gay, a faggot, queer, even before i consider my gay or told anyone. When highschool came along it became harder and harder as the days went on to keep the secret in. I just wanted to be like everyone else but i was a young man with a secret, a secret that weighed down on me with so much force. It hurt constently, a wound that felt couldnt be heald. I indulged in many self destructive behaviors to suppress and hide my feelings. I was losing myself in the closet. i felt trapped, like i could never leave. I wanted to leave this closet i was stuck in but i was to scared to be ridiculed even further than i already had been. One day i gussed up the courage on a drunken night and told one of my friends on a frozen over lake that i was bi. The feelings i felt that night of finally opening up made me feel a bit more hole. So slowly one at a time i told my frends i was bi. I even made a fake MySpace profile to help me come out of this dark closet. Silly i know but i was so scared to do this on my own. I left highschool after being in the hospital for depression issues for not being able to look at myself in the mirror. even tho i had

While entering my Entrepreneurship and Innovation class, I did not know what to expect considering I have never been registered for a business class before. However, just like any other class, I was going into it with an open mind and ready to learn. Overall, this has given me the opportunity to learn some of the skills and techniques that are required to be a successful entrepreneur such as thinking outside the box, reaching out to customers, accepting failure, and so much more. Having little experience in business, I feel as if this class has prepared me enough to have a general understand of the process and steps it takes to generate a product and potential bring it to the market. Although the process is much more complex it all starts with an idea that can benefit other in a positive way and than going out there and asking people about your idea and getting feedback and from there the sky is the limit. A part of this course required each student to get out there and engage with events on or off campus that are relating to entrepreneurship. With that being said I went to three events: Dream Girl, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Assembly, and the Idea Challenge Final.

I was one of those people that always had a competitive mind set, whether it came to being in class or outside of it. I had always wanted to be on top and would do anything to get to that spotlight. It was the beginning of seventh grade, this would the first year that I would be able to participate in a school sponsored sport and be a part of a team, which was something I looked forward to for quite a while. I had been running cross country since I was in third grade, but never competitively. Before seventh grade, I ran for a program outside of the schools league for two years, training hard everyday with my teammates. I had not participated in any races that meant anything in serious, nor counted towards anything, so I did ever experience true competition. Through running everyday, I learned new techniques to add to help aid my running and use my body and mind more efficiently. Not everyone made the team, so having some background in the sport and being in shape gave me an advantage over other runners. Soon after trying out for the school team, I was told that I had what it takes and made the team. This meant that I had to start going to practices every day and working out with the new team, something that I was already used to from my previous training group.

My mother does genology for my family so I know that I am mostly a mix of African, Native American and not enough European to really think about. I look like a normal African-American girl and most people I come in contact with assume the same thing. To define myself without race I would say I am invested in the betterment of other peoples lives and performing in front of an audience. As a black woman I am affected mostly in my major, theatre, because being black is a factor in whether or not I am cast in certain roles. Personally it has been a rollercoaster going to predominately white-schools and still finding a way to love and appreiciate my blackness. I’m reminded of my race daily when I have to mix my foundations to find a shade that isn’t offered or when my theatre professors suggest I do a monologue from “A Raisin in the Sun’ and as of recently when I look at the news I am affected by the fact that the injustice in the world based on race could happen to me or a loved one in a heartbeat.

Going into this term, I wasn’t sure what to expect. My initial plan did not include taking this course this summer. Somehow, Troy ended up changing the schedule and it worked out for me. At least, I thought it was going to work out for me. This term has been very interesting. The classes that I took are PSY 6645 Evaluation and Assessment and CP 6642 Group Dynamics. This paper is going to be about my experience in PSY 6645. I’m going to discuss concepts that were new to me, experiences that caused me to think differently, if I feel as if this course is meaningful, and what can be applied to my professional practice.

I’m a very 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 DC, and I also want to study abroad, hopefully in England.

I grew up in a very religious household. My mother was born into a Catholic home and my fathers beliefs are rooted deeply in Christianity. When my parents were married, they started attending services at a Seventh Day Adventist (Christian) church and were eventually baptized becoming members of the Seventh Day Adventist community. My brother and I attended Saturday morning services every week and were eventually baptized and joined into the congregation, following my parents.

Can you recall a time where you faced a challenge, setback, or failure that taught you a lesson in the long run? The consequences we take from the obstacles we encounter, whether good or bad can be fundamental to later success.

A Hindu spiritual teacher once shared, “This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson in each experience. Learn it and become wise” (Sivananda). When I take this wise advice and reflect on the past year, I see many lessons that have helped me become a more mature and responsible person. Many of these lessons have been through my English course with Mrs. Frohoff. In this class, we’ve had many units, such as the types of love, writing assignments, including many 1-page reflections, projects, such as a memoir and a PSA, and presentations on themes like identity and critical world problems. It has been through our memoir assignment, the large number of deadlines given, and the presentations required that I’ve been taught valuable lessons about who I am and how to grow as a person throughout this school year.

“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.

Reflecting on the past two terms in school, I would constantly find myself preparing and delivering a lesson which I felt were missing something. I was constantly asking my mentor teachers how I could have better differentiated lessons, especially at senior level. I believe on completing this assignment I have discovered three extremely beneficial frameworks which will improve my lessons and I believe develop a flexible curriculum which allows differentiation for all students to develop their learning capacity and engage them throughout the lesson.

In my opinion, Intro to Non-Profits (PS203) was an extremely valuable class. Over the summer, I interned with a local non-profit called Shop Local Raleigh. From this internship, I had gained a basic understanding of the inner workings of a non-profit but, the course greatly expanded my knowledge on the subject. Shop Local Raleigh was understaffed and the workload for the executive director was excessive. As an intern, I took on the responsibility of many jobs and found that the organization faced some difficulties when retaining resources and funding. After taking this course, some of my unanswered questions from my summer internship were explained.

When thinking of things that excite me and make me feel alive, useful, and engaged in meaningful activities several things come to mind. Helping people, volunteering in the hospital in the Dominican Republic, going on mission trips, and making a difference in people lives are just a few to name.

When I was in the first grade, my learning disabilities started to shine through. I always thought my struggles rooted from my lack of effort and trying to get through the school day. One day, a teacher came into my classroom and asked for me. I walked with her to this empty, smelly, and plain white room. She started telling me that she was with the special ed department, had been tracking my progress, and that I had a learning disability that needed to be acknowledged. She started showing me proof that I was having troubles in math. She handed me a thick envelope and told me to take it home to my parents so they could go over it and sign it. Those papers changed the way I was able to learn and started to get me on track throughout the rest of my school years.