Reflection Paper

I grew up in Greenville South Carolina. Growing up in the south, I was always around people who are more traditional in viewpoints, especially when surrounding the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual/Transgender, Questioning, and more community. I went to a high school where no one hesitated to throw around extremely derogatory terms. I had friends who had expressed their feelings of not fitting into their biological sex, I felt bad for them because they lived in fear of people finding out and what their reactions might be. They constantly feared for their safety.

Many governesses before Maria considered the von Trapp children to be incorrigible. They hated the children for the mischief that they do and the children hated the governesses in return. Hate begets hate.

No one begins their writing career level as the Hemingway of literature. We start from the bottom and work our way up. I began my writing career with poor organization and cringe-worthy grammar. In high school, my English grade would always sit on the risky border between an 89 and 90. I was also never one of those people who could write an essay in one sitting without having anyone look at my writing before the final submission. For the most part, I had to put in a good amount of effort to feel like I was on the same level as my peers. As we reach the end of the semester in Discourse 100, I have seen improvement with each paper due to the help of my peers, professor and awareness in the four kinds of knowledge: self, content, rhetorical and critical knowledge.

Over the course of the semester, there has been numerous amount of areas where I believe I have improved in comparison to high school. What has helped me in my writing is the writing class and the in-class writing workshop. The writing class that is located in the Kremen education building has helped me with my writing greatly because in the writing center the person in charge teach us lenses and we apply those lenses to the writing, draft, or reading that someone brings in. The in-class writing workshop has helped me because other students get to read my writing. This is helpful because I get feedback from many students and they let me know what needs to be fixed. A new tool I have been using is They Say I Say. The book is very helpful because of the information and examples it provides such as the templates. I have been applying the templates into my essays and I have seen a significant difference.

Growing up, my vision appeared to get worse and worse every year. Until I was in first grade I never thought to told my mom, considering it never caused any problems. It was until I would find myself squinting at the board everyday did my teacher wonder if something was wrong. Shortly after, I found out I needed glasses. From first grade to tenth grade, I went through multiple pairs of glasses, and my vision continued to deplete. I never complained about having glasses because they rarely got in my way. That was until high school, when I started running. Trying to sprint with glasses on can be extremely challenging. It took me two years to finally get the courage to get contacts. As someone who struggled with getting contacts in everyday over the summer and struggles now, I want to help those who go through the same conflict.

This counselor met with Anthony, his grandma/guardian, and transition coordinator, Joe Delegato to review the results of his community based assessment and draft his plan for employment, on 10/10/17.

The policies I was found in violation of are Use/Possession Drug, Allowing a Guest to Violate Visitation Policy, and Failure to Comply.

Imagine yourself as a young child, just starting the first year of junior high. You sit on the floor with your siblings in your living room on the weekend, playing Sorry, Monopoly, Clue, or whatever game spikes your interest. You do not have any other cares in the world, as you turn around to see a parent or step-parent leave for work. You tell them bye and that you love them, as they walk out the door, but receive no response. You feel hurt by this and think that you did something wrong, but soon find out that you will never see this parent again. They left your family, for a “better life.” This takes an emotional toll on your whole family, but particularly you. You begin to experience uncontrollable anger, depression, you begin to blame

We begin at an early age training our brain how to work in coordination with the rest of our body. Walking with one foot in front of the other, holding a fork and getting it from the plate to our mouth with the food still on it, all require training muscles to respond in a certain fashion. Then we progress and learn various other skills and facts that cause us to function in certain fashions. We learn what is deemed as right and wrong in society and then try to live within the norm. After much observation and study some of us, myself for one, believe that the sun comes up and goes down because that is how God made the world. That much I know to be true, but my understanding of how that works falls short. We try repeatedly to understand the things we know and yet we continue to search for clearer and sometimes even reasonable answers. How does our mind work? Do we know or do we understand? Turn left and you will go right, turn right and you will go left, said no one, until Destin Sandlin tried to ride a bike that worked backwards.

During this course, I have developed a new and useful skillset. One skill I can away from this course is that developed better argument skills. We have been assigned several assignments revolving around what is an “argument” and learning when and how to argue. My arguing skills have since increased and become more polished. I can use my new-found skills at work, in conversations, and at work. These tools will help me advance my conversations and language. I believe that this skill will benefit me primarily in work settings.

Looking back on the last 15 weeks, so much has changed. For me working and going to school, adding homework in the mix has been a personal challenge. Learning to make time for homework, life and work at first proved to be difficult. These weeks have shown that while my current skill set has given me areas to develop as both a future educator and learner. The opportunities afforded to me through classes to improve areas to develop as both learner and future educator.

It was two and a half years ago, in Conroe, Texas. The sun beat down and drew every bit of moisture from my breath. Every move that was made was a sweaty and laborious process. I was atop a steel frame, eight stories in the air. Laying on my belly with my feet dangling over the side pulling measurements and creating pools of sweat in my safety glasses. This was a typical Monday for an ironworker; pouring sweat by 8:00 a.m., cursing the sun, and disregarding your own personal safety to benefit someone else’s interests.

Have you ever had a moment in your life where you thought there was no possible way that it could be any worse than it is now, or where it feels like you have no one to go and you feel alone? Unfortunately, that was my daily life for most of my eighth grade and freshman years of school.

This past year has been a learning experience that has led me to where I am today, attending Citrus. I graduated from Glendora High School in May of two-thousand sixteen with the intention of moving away to school and attending the University of Arizona; however, within the week post-graduation I decided it would be in my best interest to take some time away from the books. I love education and every ounce of learning. My school work, grades, and attendance have always been a top priority, but I began to feel as if I was a car running out of gas, I knew that if I went into my freshman year at a university with the mindset I had and the drive I was lacking, I probably would not be very successful nor would I get very far. For me to figure out myself and where I desire to be a break was needed from not only school, but also this town. Unfortunately, my gap year wasn’t filled with any crazy stories of finding myself while lost backpacking or traveling, but it was filled with personal growth amidst new coworkers, a newer environment, and a boyfriend as well as some family. I moved to Arizona anyhow and that is where I did most of my recent growth. Now you’re probably wondering how I landed myself back in Glendora, a question I now have the confidence to answer. Arizona was great, I love it, and it holds such a large part of my heart however I could not muster up an ounce of motivation to go back to school. I felt too comfortable with what I had and feared going back with

Ever since move in day here at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, it feels as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. In terms of freedom that is. At home, I would always have to worry about what time to be home and make sure my friends could actually take me back home. I was not allowed to drive the car anywhere expect work or school and occasionally I could take it to get some food but rarely. My friends, in my opinion at least, were always annoyed they had to come pick me up or that we had to leave somewhere early because my mother called and suddenly decided I had to be home right then and there.