Letters After A Century

When the word reflection is mentioned, the first thought is a mirror-like image of yourself. This is to define your own perception of the acceptable and poor quality within yourself. Taking action of the weaknesses and developing my skills to improve me around everyone, (Stadter, 2015).

College is an extremely terrifying experience, especially when someone doesn’t know how to maneuver around or choosing the right course or class. Furthermore, it was a great privilege to receive that first letter from The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS)., Knowing that I’ve been accepted into an honor society that chose someone like myself out of several other qualified students on my campus. That letter gave hope and inspiration for someone like myself the strength to overcome any obstacles, in addition, to being welcomed into this tremendous family that reaches far and wide to help students like myself to accomplish our goals and dream, especially being in the first generation to attend college especially an older adult continuing my

College is a chance to be free and is a bridge between the real world and school. I’m an adult and expected to behave as such; I make my own choices where I have to decide what is important to me. I have an opportunity to learn how the world works, to explore the limitless possibilities and a chance to admire how vast knowledge can be. College will change my life in the way that I can develop life skills outside academics, to be fully

Within Sports Coaching Literature, it has been established that reflection is a generic term for intellectual and effective activities, in which individuals examine their experiences, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation (Knowles, et al., 2006). Research in this field has advocated reflective practice as an approach to professional development which positively impacts coaching effectiveness (Cropley, et al., 2012). This reflective report shall discuss, analyse and evaluate my own personal development throughout my first semester spent studying at UCFB, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation, and help explore my decisions and experiences, increasing understanding of

The experience that occurs at college must reflect to younger generations that college is not a scary place, and that it is a safe and secure place as if they were at

In terms of value structure, the morals I held close before I first came to the University of Georgia have only strengthened during my stay here. For example, keeping close ties to my family has always been important to me. My family is tight-knit and I will always feel a strong bond to them. Being separated by my attendance at Georgia has not only diminished our bond, but, instead has made it stronger. We appreciate each other more because I am growing into an adult who can communicate with them as an adult and accept adult responsibilities. They now see facets of my character that they have never truly seen before. My increased interest in academics is one of these changes. They seem very pleased by my eagerness to learn of subjects that, up to now, I have never been exposed to. They have seen this dedication in relation to football, but never with my studies. Though I am still not the student I hope one day to be, always finding the time to concentrate on my classes, I have certainly come a long way. Surely, from this perspective, college has affected me in only a positive manner.

When the word reflection is mentioned, the first thought is a mirror like image of yourself. This is to define your own perception of the good and bad quality within yourself. Taking action of the weaknesses and developing my skills to improve myself around everyone, (Stadter, 2015).

An intersectional reflection of my dichotomous relationship with higher education is what fuels my desire to pursue a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. As a first-generation college student, earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees profoundly altered the trajectory of my family out of years of generational poverty. As a result of embracing higher education, I possess the ability to think critically and creatively, with a passion and hunger for lifelong learning. Contrarily, the experience also left some biological, psychological, and social scarring. Macroaggressions, tokenism, and implicit bias have all contributed to the way that I now live, learn, and work in the world. While these experiences did not prevent the completion of my education, it has led others to abandon the pursuit, and certainly presents an enigma to many colleges and universities around the country eager to recruit and retain scholars that identify as Black/African-American, first-generation, and/or low socioeconomic status. The majority of my professional experience revolves around this very conundrum and the time has now come to pursue extensive and original research in this chosen field.

My educational experience is one amazing thing I would never forget. My parents gave me an experience of a lifetime that I would never let go and continue to expand. It was a gift of a great education I could have tossed away but instead I took advantage of it and it expanded my intellect and made me more independent. As a young girl my parents always told me, they wanted a great educational experience for me. They said no matter what it took to get me into good schools, to have a great education they will do it. My parents worked very hard to give me the opportunity to be in private school my whole life since pre-school. They always told me to work hard, be bright and be bold. The educational level I had being in private school my whole life was amazing. What was amazing about my education level is that I was able to take all college prep. classes, I took an AP Spanish class, my teachers were always on top of us to hand in work in time, essays in my English class were based on a college level writing. It was amazing because my school expanded my mind more on a college based level.

Throughout my educational experience, I have endured countless hardships that made progress difficult at times. Although it was a struggle through my strong dedication to education, I have also earned a list of achievements for my hard work. These experiences from, failing two of my English classes, to excelling tremendously in mathematics, have molded me into the type of student I am today. I am a student with a growth mindset and, an optimistic outlook on education and, the bright future ahead. I now understand the impact that a positive mindset can have on your future. I am definitely proud of the student I have become. I feel like my journey is unique, but is also very relatable.

This course like my entire first semester of university have provided me with both many challenges as well as taught me many lessons not only for my university career, but for the rest of my life. As I reflect back on the semester, I recall telling myself at least once a week that I wanted to drop out of school, followed by many breakdowns, crying fits and calling defeat. The past few months, haven’t been at all easy for me, I have thought many times I wasn’t intelligent enough to be in university, I was disappointed with some of the grades I received and I was constantly engulfed in a swarm of stress. Despite all these tough times, I have had many good one’s as well, I have made new friends which are now integral to my everyday life and I have enhanced my knowledge to a new degree. Some of the many lessons that I’ve already learned in my short university experience include how to manage my time, the importance of meeting deadlines as well as the continuous struggle of balancing the various different facets of life.

Teaching is not just a job that I perform because I expect a reward at the end of each month; it is my passion and I feel extremely satisfied with every successful lesson. I like to help the society, and teaching gives me a great opportunity to do so. I am passionate about educating my students, so I work with them and motivate them to lead them to find inspiration in learning. I use different strategies to engage them and share with them the knowledge.

My family, culture, educational, professional experiences have all been positive. The different teachers that I have had; guided me into considering the teaching career for many reasons. First, my family has guided me, my mom and dad have always found the right schools for me. They have pushed me to do hard things that make me scared. They have had faith in the school’s that I chose were the right choices, and they will grow on me. My cultural experience is also a factor of why I want to be a teacher. My schools have been centered on helping students who have learning differences, so I have always been open about having a learning difference to other people. My educational experience has been amazing. It has been positive for me because the schools I have gone to were safe places that I could be myself. The teachers at my schools made a significant impact on me starting at a young age. The professional experience has been limited but beneficial. I worked at Stratford Friends School; I learned it is so much fun to work with children who were just like me. I love the children and school. I get excited about going back to school shopping. I love to dance in the isles, and I love to look at all the beautiful school supplies.

Throughout my education, I had so many challenges I had to overcome. Dealing with school, personal life, and sports. Dealing with all of these problems has shaped me up as a person. I know now how to work for what I want, nothing is handed to me in life. That is something everyone needs to know, and now I know.

Since taking my first few educational courses in education, I have realized that my philosophy on education changes as I learning more about the profession I have entered. Every time I think I have come to a final belief statement, I learn something new about teaching and sometimes the things I learn causes me to alter my philosophy. Therefore, I will share with you what I believe about teaching and what I’ve learned at this point.