Reflection Paper

Someone’s religious affiliations and backgrounds can be fairly diverse and complicated. My own religious background in Christianity, however, is fairly simple. My parents only played a minor role in my religious practices, but the biggest influence on that would actually be the friends that I have made while here at Iowa State University.

Honors 103 presented me an intellectual challenge this semester; It certainly altered many of the expectations and assumptions about writing that I possessed prior to enrolling in the course. Throughout the semester, I wrote a strong paper that I was particularly proud of, in addition to a paper that I felt was weaker, and numerous papers in between. However, the weaker paper highlighted elements of writing that I will continue to refine moving forward. I actively participated in and regularly attended class, which helped me absorb the most amount of information as possible. I did many assignments and activities that were especially helpful, informative, and useful, although there were a few assignments that I would modify. This class addressed all the course objectives, and specifically helped me better understand and achieve several. Certain aspects of writing remain which I would like to learn more about, which goes hand in hand with the message that I took away from this course.

claim. They agreed that I should try something new, for a change. I than made the decision to

The greatest lessons and the greatest teachers I have had in life have not been in school. I believe the greatest learning takes place when you are exposed the suffering of humanity. I gained insight, compassion, and empathy.

It is easy to underestimate how much effort is required to complete a goal. A common struggle for college students in particular is finding a perfect balance between giving too much effort and too little. Time management is critical and giving too much effort wastes precious time while giving too little results in a poor grade. I have personally found that when it comes to achieving goals either academic or personal, you can never give too much effort. In fact, the amount of effort you put into your work not only determines whether or not you reach your goal, but also defines you as a person. Knowing this fact, I took steps this semester to ensure that I achieved my goal of straight A’s, not just for the class but for the assignments as well.

When I was younger, I used to talk in Pushto; with my mother, father, sister and, basically my whole entire family. Because my family was my life, they were all I’ve ever known. I was five years old when I started going to school, and obviously, as a naive young child, I assumed that everyone talked - or was- exactly like me. Thus, I would talk to classmates in my language, and they’d stare or generally be confused. Correspondingly, Many of them, in their childhood innocence, would respond back in English and continue to play with me. It wasn’t until a few days where I realized that they weren’t the different ones, I was, and I slowly started to change. In reality, my transformation wasn’t drastic at first, since I only just learned the basics. Red was the first word I learned. Something so simple yet is so bold. Red can draw attention towards yourself, like a woman trying to impress her flame. Red is hungry, and so was I. By the time I learned basic English words, and can string together a sentence, all my kindergarten friends and teachers could finally understand me.

I remember, when I was in 4th grade, I used to try to write books or stories. When I was younger, I loved to read with my mom. After we would read something, would try to write something similar to the book we had finished. My mom would help me read books like The Magic Tree House by simplifying and slowing everything down for me so I could better understand what was going on and why. Nina Sankovitch, a reader who blogs about what she reads, captures my feelings when she talks about how “I discovered new wells of resilience and joy, empathy and beauty” (Sankovitch). When I was younger, I did not always know how to capture these emotions, but my goal was always to make a story and try to recreate those feelings. It was a real accomplishment for me because, while this was happening, I struggled with reading in class. When I first started reading, I would dread being called upon, though I liked to write stories of what I read on my own. Now, I do not enjoy to reading anymore.

Mrs. Anderson is the 5th -grade teacher. She has 25 students, but two of her students disrupt the whole class by arguing and fighting with each other. Zack has a specific learning disability in reading. He likes math and geometry, he is a quiet worker during independent work and likes to stay after school to feed a guinea pig. Patrick enjoys telling funny stories and being limelight. He is an average student, likes sports. According to Mrs. Anderson’s observation, Zack likes to argue with Patrick, yelling or crying on Patrick’s teasing or even pushing Patrick if he doesn’t respond to his request. Patrick teases Zack and other students by name calling or making hurtful comments. When called on during class discussion Patrick can give unrelated or inappropriate information ( Star Sheet). It’s a few critical goals for Zack and Patrick to focus during this semester:

Christianity. Jesus. The Bible. These are words that have never been foreign to me. I have never known a world without God being a part of it. My parents have always been Christian, and they have raised me and me siblings the same way. Even though my life hasn’t been the perfect, straight Christian journey, I have always known, at least a little, that Jesus saved us when he died on the cross and rose again. Because of this one-sidedness I was raised with, I also try to be aware other people’s point of view so that I get a sense that my belief is not the only one out there.

Among the eight intelligences displayed in the video, I’d have to say that I’d possess three out of the eight. Starting with logical-mathematical, I do quite well academically on tests and have been ever since I started school. Of course I’ve had some tests where I didn’t do as well I would’ve liked. However, I would classify myself as a proficient test-taker. Often times, I will take the logical approach to thinking and am good with working with numbers and calculations. Especially when I was young, my grandfather would force me to do a bunch of simple arithmetic and I would hate it but I’d get it done pretty easily. Specifically on the subject of math, I’ve always been quite extraordinary on the subject. In my middle school, they allowed all of us to take a test to see whether we could be placed in the advanced math class or stay in the current math class. I ended up placing in the advanced class and did math a grade level above. Currently, whenever I tell people that I’m a sophomore currently taking pre-calculus, their face is usually quite surprised and shocked. I would also add that verbal-linguistic intelligence is something I feel I possess. I am bilingual, speaking English and three dialects of Chinese; Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taishanese. My parents spoke Taishanese as well as the rest of my family but they pushed me to Chinese school when I started preschool at the budding age of five. There, I was mostly taught in Cantonese as well as a class in Mandarin. I would

When I was young, the last words I would hear at night were “In Jesus’ name, Amen,” as my mother prayed over my twin sister and I, while tucking us in bed. Her words surrounded and comforted me like a warm blanket, even on the darkest of nights. Anytime I would have a nightmare, I would run to her room and she would appease me with prayer and somehow compel me to feel dauntless. I admired my parents tremendously and always sought for their approval, so I never questioned any of the beliefs or opinions they were teaching me as I grew up. However, growing up into the person I am today I have learned that Christianity, or religion itself, is not always black and white, and occasionally you face obstacles that challenge the beliefs and opinions you were raised to withhold.

As I planned this learning experience I consulted with both the teacher and director of the program about their science curriculum for the month. I knew I needed to plan an activity inclusive of science themed dialogic reading. Since, the class was beginning to learn about the senses, we collaborated about splitting the class into two groups. One group would be with a teacher doing a sense of taste activity, while I would have the other group doing a sense of smell activity. My activity was inclusive of fresh herbs from my garden and a book about smell. I prepared the dialogic reading as well as brought along a felt board with yes and no pieces. After I read the story I passed around the various herbs for the children to smell and explore. Once they decided if they liked the smell or not they would place a yes or no piece on the board. The languages of learning I referred to was investigating what smell they liked the best and exploring through using their hands to touch the fresh herbs. As a result, they learned new knowledge about how their nose works. For instance, I had with me lemon balm, which obviously smells like lemons. The children assimilated the smell to that of lemonade, since that is what they are most familiar with. Additionally, my lesson supported standard: 10.1 PK.B Identify and locate body parts by understanding what sense is responsible for what action. As well as 2.4 PK.MP Use mathematical processes when measuring; representing, organizing, and

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.

As I was trying to figure out the perfect way to sum up this semester, I stumbled upon this quote by Steve Southerland, “I believe in process. I believe in four seasons. I believe that winter's tough, but spring's coming. I believe that there's a growing season. And I think that you realize that in life, you grow. You get better.” This quote really spoke to me because this semester has not been a walk in the park. As a class we all went through some ups and downs. We were challenged in a number of ways but in the end I think we all really “grew”. For many of us we experienced a tough season of life, but I think as a class we really worked together to lift each other up and come out successfully.

The father that I speak of is not just one person. I speak of my biological father, and the one I know is not of this world. My belief in Christ and my faith in Christianity is forever alive. The background in which I grew up into, of being born to parents with Nigerian descent we take our religion seriously. Praying every day and thanking the lord is a lifestyle for me, for I know to always be grateful, knowing that a situation or problem that may seem tough for me now is just a blessing in disguise.