Reflective Essay: Pursuing My Degree In Higher Education

As I am transitioning to college, I have quickly realized that I am solely responsible for my own life and everything that comes with it. There is no one to remind me to do my homework, no one to make sure that I brushed my teeth twice a day, and no one to monitor whether or not I am eating well balanced meals. With this complete independence, I have realized that I am not as good as I originally thought at structuring my time effectively. For example, on Mondays I have two classes from nine to eleven in the morning but the rest of my day is free. I have found myself only doing homework and studying during the entire day until eventually it is time to go to bed. This is not a productive day. Yes, I get my homework done, but I am not budgeting time for my friends or working out. My goal is to try and structure my time better going forward in my college experience.

When you think of your first job, a lot of us think of our teenage years when we needed money to go out with friends and keep with the latest trends. During this time, we took any job we could get, from fast food

Being bright and with a strong work ethic, I advanced quickly in my work life. Exposing myself to various office skills enticed me to go back and take the GED Exam, which I passed easily. Afterward, I took every opportunity to learn that I could afford. Sometimes these were lunchbox learning courses taught at my local community organization, and other times they were professional development opportunities. Combined with my work ethic and determination, upward mobility in my job was turning into long term development and an actual career in the field of Human Resources. I was successful in making it to the management level without college courses to lean on. In the late 1990’s, I dedicated my life to Christ, and married a magnificent man in 2000. After having our two children, I realized that I was modeling many aspects of the life I wanted to teach my children, with the exception of my formal education. I took college courses here and there when finances allowed, and in 2005, I obtained the coveted PHR Certification from the Human Resources Certification

I received an acceptance from a US MD school during the 2013-2014 cycle. However, as an international student, I was required to deposit all four years’ worth of tuition in an escrow account prior to matriculation, which I was unable to do. While I was aware of the escrow requirement prior to application, I was on track to obtain permanent residency during the application year per my immigration attorney, which would excuse me from this requirement. However, given the uncertain nature of the residency process, this did not, and is yet to, happen. My family and I had recently immigrated from India, and coming up with the escrow amount was impossible at that time. Loans were also only available on a yearly cadence, not for all four years at once.

I am particularly interested in the 1st STEP program because of the opportunity presented to acquire advocacy, persuasion and presentation skills that are fundamental not only in the court room but also in all areas of lawyering. As a continuing J.D. student, and ranked 86 (47%) of my class, I wish to engage in the fundamentals of litigation so as to better serve possible clients. Because I was pre-admitted into the program upon my acceptance letter, I choose Golden Gate University to learn and grow and hope this program will further my education.

One of my goals is to reapply to Howard University in hopes of being readmitted this time as a Visiting Student in the Fall of 2017 to take courses in Poetry and the award-winning Communications department where many well-known local and national artist professors and communications veterans teach at the undergraduate level.

Coming out of high school I was happy that I graduated but I also felt lost in a way, I did not know what I wanted to study or even what I truly wanted in a university so I decided to attend community college not only was it cheaper but it would give me time to take classes and try to figure out the career path that I wanted to take. It was the more practical decision for at the time and then later on transfer to the University of my choice. At first my approach to community college was a place to go attend my classes go to work and go home. I became reserved unlike high school. I stayed in my own comfort zone which included just walking with the friends that I had known from high school. I went on about this way for the first year but I started

I have always been fond of science related courses, it was not until I took my lower-division chemistry course that led me to really become more excited for my intended major. My chemistry course allowed me to gain tools for the given coursework, but as well to broaden my mind in everyday scenarios. As challenging as chemistry can be, I was able to stay determined and use many resources to grasp the subjects that we were discussing. Having this determination and mindset to succeed in any tough courses, whether it be calculus, biology, or physics, truly allowed me to stay focused and work diligently to grasp the knowledge and become successful. Another key component that has permitted me to be able to work attentively is the Honors Program. The Honors Program taught me to challenge anything that may seem impossible.

The first time I heard about BU was several years ago when my sister told me she was going to apply there. I knew my sister was an avid student; thus, I was surprised to find out that she was rejected from there. When the time came for me to begin my college search, BU was surely on my mind. As I researched more about it, I was enthralled by what BU had to offer, and I could see why my sister was so interested in this school. Ranked as one of the best universities in America, it offers a variety of majors that you can choose from, one of which is engineering, which is something I would like to pursue. In addition, students can expand their education by participating in Dual Degree programs that allow them to earn two degrees simultaneously.

In the book that I was assigned to read in class various lessons were learned. The book offered so many life values that enlightened my everyday of life. It taught me college essentials such as organization and the tools of the trade. When I entered college in the beginning of September I was stressed, and I did not know how to cope with the work that I would soon be confronted. I went to each of my classes dragging my feet; I was a infant amongst adults. Would I be able to adapt to the rigorous environment of college? My third day of class was a sore thumb. It stuck out and shone brightly against the monotonous days I went up against.

I was nervous and did not know what to expect before this course started. However, I know that I want to start my college career in the right manner by earn good grades from my first course in college. That said, I was prepared to work hard in this class and to give one hundred percent effort in class and in answering homework assign to me. This class has been informative and educational to me in many aspects. It is one of the best classes I have taken at Essex County College.

Before returning to college to finish my degree, I called myself a decent writer. Over the years, I have completed several reports, papers, and even charging documents that were used in courtrooms. Recent papers that I sent to Paperrator.com during this course came back with lackluster results, subsequently, this unit’s reading showed that my writing skills can and will improve. I typically write and organize my thoughts on paper before writing any documents of any length, which is one of the ideas in the reading. Now, I am learning to give a clearer thesis statement, record evidentiary statements about that thesis, and organize them for an effectively written paper.

Science grows and evolves just as my inspiration for it does. I have furthered this interest of mine by deciding to dedicate my entire future towards impacting both science and others with my biology major. I have been impacted by science since elementary because since my first time completing a lab in school, I have always been intrigued by the fact the I get to make a hypothesis and later discover if I was correct with my prediction. Although I never won any science experiment event at my school, I never gave up and I was always curious about the way living organisms function everywhere. As a result of always winning a participation ribbon, I was not interested in winning any sort of prize for my science experiments and I decided to complete

In 1991, my family and I snuck across the U.S./Mexico border at night, I was nine years old. Weeks later, I was placed into the k-12 educational pipeline and expected to succeed. By 2000, I had achieved a high school diploma from Escondido High School, held a solid grasp of English, and had acculturated to Californian society. Nevertheless, I had no ambition to pursue a college education. In my mind, only “smart” people with both the “right” legal status and socioeconomic standing attended college.

I have had some difficulty adjusting to college writing but some new areas of strength in my typing are: I am getting better with my transition and I did a better decent job with my conclusion but I still have more weaknesses than strengths and some weaknesses of mine are using too many fragments and moving on from thoughts without completing them.