Reflection Paper

When asked to reflect on what I have learned in relation to Canada’s celebration of its 150th year the first word that comes to mind is ignorance. By celebrating Canada as a nation people are celebrating all types of histories, but many parts of Canada’s history should not be celebrated. Canada’s 150 is something that can be comparable to celebrating Columbus Day; a celebration of genocide. Moreover, the celebration of Canada’s 150 also disregards current struggles occurring within Indigenous communities, overlooking the multiple years and traumas that have tormented Indigenous women. The image of Canada as a successful and thriving melting pot is what the banners of Canada 150 convey. This works against its history as it erases and shadows the stories of trauma and resiliency that have occurred since the beginning of colonization. Overall, I have many personal opinions on Canada’s 150th but from my personal experience and from what I have learned in this class I find that this celebration negatively affects Indigenous people and condones the continuation of poor treatment towards Indigenous women in Canada.

“I have told you theses things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 14:13. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your god; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10. Theses are the words that god has spoken. The lord christ has helped with so many things you may not know about. Have you hear of miracles he does the little miracles in life.

Children often repress memories from their childhood due to lack of will to remember or lack of wanting to remember. Tragedy or uncomfortable childhoods help cause children to forget what has happened to them. Growing up, I didn’t have the best childhood and often struggle with recalling any details from it. Now being grown up, the only thing I am certain that I remember is going to school, my teacher’s names, and things that I did at school. School was a place where I went to escape my home life. If someone were to ask me how to define my school experience it would be: Safe-haven. When I was at school, I was so absorbed in learning that all I could focus on was my education. After school, I would come home and play “school” with my brothers with reverse roles. I would be their teacher and they would be my students. I would explain and teach them in depth the things I had learned that day. The overall main reason that school was so enjoyable for me was because of the teachers. The teachers that I had in elementary school helped to instill my love for learning. They also helped me realize that I wanted to help kids such as they helped me. In addition, they gave me my dream. My dream has then be to become a teacher and help my students escape from whatever happens when they are not at school. I hope to have all my students in love with the learning process so therefore school can be their place of forget. They can come into my classroom and forget everything that is wrong with the rest of their life. As time passed and I am now a college student, my love for learning has continued to grow and has had me want to become the best teacher I can be. My ultimate goal and dream in life is to become an Elementary Education teacher that makes a difference to her students, whether that is making them feel safe, or helping them learn to love school.

Perspectives of how we view the world around us at many points of life can become so obscured that they often become lost and forgotten leading one to live a life with a single perspective--a single story. You see it was a day like any other in the chaotic mess that is the center for the community during dinner hours where hundreds upon hundreds if not thousands of students converge in a swarm echoing clattering noise of conversations, and endless queues wrapping around every little space to eat what most consider to be subpar food. I was sitting alone merely being that weird guy who preferred to read. All the while, I noticed some students horsing around, and in my attention, I saw a full cup of soda which was obviously at some point going to get spilled.

Every school has these four main academic subjects: English, Math, Science, History/Geography. The class I like the most in my eighth grade school year is History. This is because we get to learn about different time periods, different people, different religions, and so much more. We don't just sit in class and read out of a textbook. We get to do fun activities to help us understand more. While we work, we talk to our teacher and have funny and weird conversations. We make fun of each other and have a good laugh. I'm always excited to go to History class.

Ever since I was born, I was raised in a Vietnamese household where my parents and grandparents always communicated to me in only Vietnamese. Before I was four years old, I slowly learned English from watching television and listening American radio stations. In my elementary school, I learned the American alphabet by memorization and repetition of the sounds and signs of the American alphabet. Then teachers started to make students learn new vocabulary and helping students make flashcards with pictures for visual aid. To improve my communication skills in English, my teachers often made the students work in groups, so students can learn from each other and practice their speaking. English is all about memorization and then applying what I learned to other situations. During the summer, I went to extra English classes, and my summer school teachers emphasized the importance of vocabulary and grammar. I learned how to diagram sentences based on their parts of speech and memorized how certain phrases must correspond to a set of rule to satisfy the English grammar. My teachers in high school tested my English skills through public speeches and numerous essays. During high school, I also went to Vietnamese school for four years every Sunday where they emphasized the importance of memorization and repetition. My teachers gave me homework to read, and I had memorize certain poems or short stories. They would test me by making me recite the poem or write down the short stories by

She compared her life to a hurricane, a natural disaster that took everything in its path and destroy any shred of light in her life. Thus, the weeks turned into years of regressive behavior that led her to believe that she was not good enough to truly be herself. She only allowed herself to be her mother’s puppet, an item only used for public occasions, for if she ever became her own self, she would be outcasted. Yet, during those times I recall a shout in the cave of darkness, a murmured voice saying: Carpe Diem. Seize the day. My brother used those words when I was little —he was an extroverted fellow who vocalized whatever he felt because he was confident in whom he was. Nevertheless, I was an introverted, insecure, and self-conscious kid who was silenced by the public because they scared me. Fear ruled my actions. Fear ruled my mind. Fear ruled me; yet, my brother’s words rang a certain alarm in my head when I grew up. Thus, I realized that my individuality was stolen. My silence was bought, and my uniqueness was used as a weapon for society’s cruel expectations. I noticed that the world has so many beliefs, ideas, and aspirations that I wanted my own drum to beat in my own rhythm.

Over this course, my writing has significantly improved. I have learned a lot of new skills that have helped me become a better writer. Writing drafts has always been difficult for me, and in this course, I learned how to write drafts that helped me write strong final essays. The essay that demonstrates my progress as a writer is my progression 2 essay. In this essay, we were asked to use multiple sources and use them both to work together to analyze an issue relating to a river. My writing 101 class is on water, politics, and place. I wrote my essay on the Columbia River and the impacts that government policies have on the health of the river and the ecosystem surrounding it. This essay shows my progression as a writer because I worked on the writing process by writing drafts, but also shows one of my weaknesses of incorporating quotes.

This summer has been quiet a busy time to say the least. Since I recently started a new job, I was unable to partner with an organization for my community engagement project. Instead, I worked with my neighbor, Betty, who is 78 years old woman who has recently transitioned home from a six week stay in a rehabilitation center due to a severe fall that prompted her stay. Betty was discharged after Medicare would no longer cover her stay at the rehabilitation center. When she returned home, she returned to home where her grandson stayed but could not relyed on. Betty was basically on her own at home, unable to walk, care for herself the way she was used to, and felt that her needs were not being met upon her return. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how my personal involvement has been service oriented, helped her achieve her goal, and ¬¬¬to critically reflect on the integration this course has provided in carrying out this assignment.

At dinner my father practices math problems with me. I want to be the best in the class, and I know there are people who are better than me at math, so I need to practice. Later than night my mother reads me The Hobbit again so I can fall asleep. I fall in love with the way the story makes pictures in my mind. When my father wakes me up for school the next morning it’s all too soon, and I drag myself out of bed for the warm cup of milk I know is waiting for me. At this time my mother is a practicing Christian, she dresses up for church on Sundays and we go out to brunch with my grandparents after the service. My father is a practicing muslim. I don’t know about the complexities of each religion yet, I just know my father wants me to be muslim, and my mother wants me to be able to choose. I learned at a young age balance was incredibly difficult as I tried to be both christian and muslim to make my parents happy, attending church and the mosque on alternating Sundays. Though I didn’t know it at the time, the desperation for balance showed me that choice is ultimately powerful. But I couldn’t see that yet.

On September 11, 2001, my life was involuntarily changed permanently. As a New York native, more importantly, a Queens native, I’ll never forget the tragic events of that day. I will also never forget the three weeks following the tragedy that I was off from school. We were not give off because of physical damage to our infrastructure, but because of the emotional toll that day had on my city, my country and our families. I will never forget the wakes and funerals for people, some of whom I had never met. But I attended to show support for the numerous classmates of mine who lost a parent or other close relative. The steadfast resolve of New Yorkers in the following weeks, months and even years is nothing short of inspiring and I’m so proud to be called a New Yorker. However, the one thing that always stuck out to me that was negative was the misunderstanding of what had happened. People I loved and respected told me that we were at war with Islam, that it’s a ‘dangerous ideology’. I never for a second believed that irresponsible statement and I have plenty of Muslim friends to this day who demonstrate day in and day out what it means to be an American. I did this for them.

In our everyday lives, we tend to categorize people because of their race, culture, their socioeconomic status, and judge people by their looks, age, ability, and gender. When I was working at a daycare past summer of grade 9, I met one Chinese girl who was around 4-5 years old. One time I witness her classmates making fun of her because she has a asian accent when she talks in English, her eyes are small, her mom works at a restaurant with low pay. Even during break, I would always see her sitting in a corner all alone, while others were having fun. Therefore, I took the courage to talk to her. Throughout the conversation, I realized that she was mad at herself because she has a different race from others, language barrier between her and her classmates and she was ashamed of her mother working at a restaurant because other parents work at a higher pay occupation.

In school, I used to loathe the icebreakers that involved saying an interesting fact about oneself. I would fumble around and iterate some unoriginal sentiment about my favorite color or animal and leave without actually providing substance about myself. This all changed after I lost the vision in my right eye and could tell people about the three-inch needle that pierces my eye multiple times every year. I thoroughly enjoy watching people squirm as I chuckle and explain the process.

I attended an awareness seminar of Syria, on Thursday, September 21, 2017 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., however, I stayed after to speak to several guest speakers, and didn’t leave until almost 10:00 p.m. It was held at the Santa Clara County Government Center located at 70 West Hedding Street, Isaac Newton Auditorium, #114, San Jose, California 95110. Parking is only for state employees between 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. I was able to park without getting a ticket, because it was after 6:00 p.m. This is my third day volunteering for the San Jose Peace & Justice Center, in San Jose, California. Learning about Syria and the people made me more aware of their culture, globally.

Over the history of this country, many families across the globe have come to the U.S. in hopes of a better life. My family was one of the many that decided to leave our home country and come to the United States. We never realistically imagined coming to America, but when we did, it was a real dream come true. Knowing I was coming to this country as a student was especially exciting for me personally. We were so excited about this new adventure and the opportunities we would have, despite the many challenges that lay ahead. Two of the obstacles I had to overcome, were having to learn a new language, and build new relationships.