Tuesday Lesson: Personal Narrative

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

In 2025, I will be twenty-nine years old and hopefully married. I will be married to my significant other of ten years Earnest Palmer III, who is a dentist. I would have been recently graduating with a bachelor’s in Culinary Arts and trying to plan to open my own restaurant, BubbaD’s Eateries. Knowing my big headed husband of mine, I probably had a baby then and trying to have another baby. Hopefully, by then Earnest will get rid of the idea naming our son, King. We will be living in the suburbs near New York City but working in the city. Being a woman with great memory, I probably wrote a memoir about my crazy life and trying to sell it to a publisher. If none of the publishers wants to publish my memoir, I will probably sell it the Lifetime

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

Hey, Tonya, how are you? I hope everything is good and well with you and your family. I have to tell you what happened to me this past week. Every day this week, I have been going to the yoga studio. Now, you know I am not flexible at all, but I gave yoga a chance to become better at meditating. When the instructor advised us we should touch our hands behind our backs and raise our arms, can you believe I was jumping up and down trying to touch my hands? It was such a scene; I kept jumping and saying ouch! Now was that funny or what? Talk to you later!

“5 minutes!” a voice shouts over the loudspeaker. Perspiration drips down my face and my hand throbs with pain. The seconds tick by but are drowned out by the pounding of my heart. I summon all my strength and will my hands to move faster and faster. The speakers crackle with static as the voice shouts, “Hands down.” Eight hours of mind-numbing calculations and stratagem. It’s over; all the work, the sleepless nights, the literal blood, sweat, and tears. What for?

There is so much i have learned this year and I am so blessed to have taken this class and get to know you. You have done so much for me and i want to thank you for all that you have done.

The brain is 3.3 pounds, has 86 billion nerve cells, and makes up 2% of 100% of people. Though this organ belongs to all people, it is still unique to everyone. The decision made, emotions felt, and life that was lived can be held in the palms of a person's hand.

Overall, I want to be able to use the skills that I have learnt in class in everyday life, not like other things you learn where most people cannot use in the real world. I want to not be caught off guard when confronted and be able to handle conflicts with a mature and graceful manner. I should not have to be scared when someone stands up to me and tells me when I did something wrong, as long as they are not screaming at me or threatening to hurt me if I do not change then who am I to get mad. The sad thing about people in today’s society, is that more and more being are beginning to be aggressive and violent when approached the wrong way. People are actually dying due to road rage scuffles, or hurting each other for the best deals on materialistic

The current me right now is just your average high school male, but if for the sake of contempt, you were to compose a story with me in the lead role it would certainly be quite a tragic one. If you were to compare the current me to the plump elementary brat many years ago, obviously I’ve transformed due to the replacement of cells and puberty, but that would be a physical change. However, if you were to contrast my former and current mental state, it would be extraordinarily disparate.

I was 3 years old when I start to studied in a school in San Miguel de Allende with a German educational system much known as Waldorf education, I learned interacting with nature while I was developing some skills, my parents always said that they don´t know exactly at what age I learned to read, write, multiplication, add, subtract, etc… they have never listened from me about a homework or a test.

This summer, I participated in a 50 mile hike with several others. The hike started on Monday and went through Saturday. The average distance traveled a day was about 10 miles, but varied a few miles each day. We had to go through big challenges and hard things. The experience made everybody on the hike stronger and more confident with themselves. In addition, I learned that I can do things that are very hard and that I never thought I could do. The three main things that contributed to my life lesson are the second day, the lack of sleep, and the final stretch.

Imagine viewing a youtube video 50 years from now that documented a day in my classroom. Would that document demonstrate that I was preparing my students for top-notch careers or would the lens capture a laughable waste of educational time? I am confident that I am providing my students with opportunities to engage with technology, problem solve, and team build. What I don’t know for sure is if I am maximizing learning time appropriately for their needs as 21st century learners. My goal is to work with my teaching coach to become aware of gaps in my instruction and lesson execution that fall short of reaching digital natives.

A few weeks ago before first semester ended I needed to do finals so that my grade could go up or retake tests so that we are passing our classes. During the last week of first semester I was really stressed out because I didn’t finish a presentation that needed to be presented that week.

Even though I could die in the process, I knew it was the right thing to do. How could I live with myself if I didn’t do everything I could to help the world?

To be completely honest, I had no thoughts on what the course may be like I was just positive that I wouldn’t like it. I was ready to wash my hands of the class before it had even begun. But, again, being completely honest, it had nothing to do with the class itself, but rather my own attitude regarding my schooling so when it officially began and assignments were handed out, I struggled without a doubt. I will freely admit I lacked motivation and proper self-discipline – I wanted for the year to be over and I was all right with brushing by to wait it out. Throughout the whole semester, it is entirely up to each individual to take responsibility of their own actions and achieve goals on their own motivation. Eventually, the class forced you