Reflection Paper

When I entered into high school nearly four years ago, my motivations were purely academic. I was there to get the best education I could, and to maintain a standard of scholastic excellence. Of course, the only way I knew to measure my own “success” was through concrete and quantitative means; this led me to spend my Freshman and Sophomore years fawning over test scores, GPA points, and even fractions of percents in my grades. I know now that this strategy, while effective in getting me what I wanted (or at least thought I wanted), actually left me missing a huge part of what it means to be truly educated.

As a senior in high school, I took a medical chemistry class where I learned about the body systems, general chemistry, a foundation to organic chemistry, and an introduction to biochemistry from a medical point of view. Additionally, the second part of class consisted of going to the hospital and shadowing health care professionals from different areas of the hospital. During that time, I was able to see how pharmacists, nurses, technicians, and doctors all worked together to help their patients. It was an astonishing feeling to see parts of the heart, lung, and liver in the histology lab. I will forever remember this experience because taking this class helped me determine that my career was in the hospital.

Moving into a country of unfamiliar traditions and eccentric society, I faced a lot of challenges. However, it was these challenges that provided me with the determination and dedication to work hard and strive for success. I was born into an athletic and educated family in Ecuador, and day after day I gave my best to achieve my gymnastics and educational goals. Falls, injuries, and tears were rewarded with reputation, pride and gold. Those medals and awards had more emotional value than material, and they came to symbolize all my effort.

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.

Writing is a tool that will be used throughout my lifetime. It is a tool that is worth taking the time to perfect because it will only be beneficial in the long run. On my writing assignments, I earn A’s, but I still have areas that I need to work on. The areas that I struggle the most would be with simple grammar errors such as the use of commas, writing with an active voice, and writing short,simple sentences. First of all, I often do not know where to place commas in my sentence. I struggle with this because I tend to add commas in the wrong place, so I have become confused with the proper use of commas. This is a small grammar error that I can easily correct by learning where and when commas are needed. I have also found and been told that I write in a passive voice when I should be using an active voice. This is a technique that I have to work on by practicing it and noticing the difference while I am writing and reading. Finally, I often write run on sentences or sentences that include unnecessary information. This makes my writing unclear and difficult for the reader to understand. I could improve by writing shorter and simpler sentences that include only the essential information to get my point across. I have noticed these mistakes in my writing and it has also been brought up by others, so I am currently working on improving it.

I learned a lot this semester in Introduction to Literature. I learned how to manage my time better through trial and error. I also learned that it is really difficult trying to read a whole book in a Sunday afternoon that needs to be finished the next day. I also learned to like reading again. I used to read a lot in elementary school and middle school, but ever since I started high school I have not been reading as much. Now, after this class I believe that I will start reading more often, and I truly believe that I will enjoy it much more. I also learned a ton about writing essays. Prior to this class, I didn’t really know what a thesis was let alone knowing how to create a successful thesis. I learned how to write great essays. The essays that I wrote in this class were the best essays that I have ever wrote in my life. My worst essay in this class would be my best essay in any other class I have ever taken. I also learned a new concept this semester. I learned what a socratic seminar is and how to successfully participate in one. I learned how to make relevant points that added to the depth of the discussion. I also feel like I learned how to keep, or at least try to keep, my classmates on topic. One of my favorite things that I learned about in this class was analyzing poetry. Before this class, I didn’t give poetry enough respect as it deserved. I honestly thought that poets just scribbled down some words that rhymed and they hoped people could relate. That however,

I was raised in the church, though my parents and family were liberal, my mother played the piano for the church, so we were there at least three days out of the week if not more. I always had questions, I remember vividly riding in the car with my mom, we were at an intersection, as I looked out the front passenger window I asked my mom “if God can see everything, why does he let all these bad things happen to kids and people?” My mom being so sweet and never pretending to be holier than thou or claiming to know God’s intent, she responded as she always did to questions she didn’t know with “I don’t know baby, that’s something we have to ask God.” As an adult I love her answer but as a child it further added to my confusion.

We are all strong. Some people never realize this, but everybody has an inner warrior. While it’s true that not everyone has great physical power, but mentally and emotionally everybody has some kind of strength. For me, I am not physically as robust or as athletic as some, but mentally I am strong. There are times when I bring myself down, but I know that my strong mind will soon return to its normal balance and pick me back up. There are times when I am down and I feel I may never be the same, but no matter what my mental strength lends a hand, and returns me to my ordinary routine. The perfect example of my strong mind is my relationship with swimming. My beloved sport, swimming, is meant for someone with a strong mental mind. Therefore, feel like I was born to swim.

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.

Throughout this semester teaching the theories that resonated with me the most were: Cross and Fhagen-Smith’s Model of “Black Identity Development”, and Yasso’s “Community Cultural Wealth Model.” As a minority these two identities have shaped my life profoundly. My personal theory philosophy comes from my lived experience and my time working as graduate assistant in the Multicultural Center.

I remember where it all started; I sat on the guard stand of an empty pool with a nagging mother texting my phone and time to kill. It was the summer before my senior year, the summer before I would make the most important decision of my life so far. I stared down at the blank list of schools in front of me; where to start? I visited a few campuses, and my mother put a few bugs in my ear, one for her alma mater, and the other for two historically black schools (HBCUs). I wrote the first down, placing it low on my list, but there was hesitation with the other two. My entire academic career have been in predominantly white environments; how would I navigate a majority black space?

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.

Before coming to Radford University, I was very nervous about having to write papers on a college level because in high school they drilled into our minds that it was going to be so much harder. The first day of this class was when I realized that I was going to be okay because I had a professor that was willing to help me and guide me through the process of constructing a good essay. Over the course of the semester my theses have improved significantly, I’ve learned different ways to approach writing paragraphs, and I’ve realized what essays are easier or harder for me to write.

When reading “Dedication to Reality” and discussing it in class it helped me to understand how humans have influenced basically everything in the world, because in class we discovered that knowledge is a human construct. When thinking about this it makes me question everything that I believe I know because how can I be sure that what I think I know is actually so? It also makes me think about how I have most likely had experiences where I probably had the chance to revise my map but failed to do so because I did not want to admit that I was wrong or I did not want to change my point of view and perspective. So I think that discussing this in class helped me to understand that I need to be more open to accepting and learning about other

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.