Reflection Paper

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.’

Throughout this semester, there were many obstacles that I had to face regarding the different assignments assigned. However, I was able to effectively complete all of these tasks to the best of my ability regardless of the amount and specific requirements each one possessed. I also managed to gain a better understanding of the certain processes required to create successful essays. I realized that it was extremely important to stay on task, manage my time wisely, and organize my information in a way that would make the writing process easier. This realization and understanding ultimately allowed me to easily take on more extensive assignments, such as the Rhetorical Advocacy Project.

When I signed up for this class, I never thought it would change anything about myself. This class has allowed me to think differently, and view people in a new way. It has provided me with tools for the future in parenting, career, and relationship. I learn most of these tools in chapters five, six, seven, eight, ten, eleven, and twelve. In these chapters I learned how learning, memory, thinking, personality, psychological disorders, and many other psychological topics can shape how someone perceives others, and life.

Every student deserves the best chance at getting the highest level of education they can, however, some students need a little extra support that others may not. A student, Axel, who is currently in my classroom has had a hard time keeping his focus and is often avoidant when it comes to his work. It has become clear that his avoidance becomes a distraction to the whole class. His behaviors currently include but are not limited to: rolling around on the floor during rug lessons, yelling across the room, walking around the room talking to friends, sharpening his pencil five or more times throughout the day, asking to go to the bathroom at inappropriate times, spending fifteen to twenty minutes in the

As I reflect on this project, I have discovered more strengths than weaknesses. Compared to simply taking an exam – which could be passed with memorization – this project required critical thinking and the application of theories to real-life examples. Despite the occasional imperfection or discrepancy, the positive aspects of the project made it very useful for reinforcing and retaining the information that was learned throughout the course.

Life represents a culmination of unforeseen events that eventually lead to success, and in the minds of the majority college symbolically defines the first major obstacle one must overcome to continue that journey. Every year, high school students across the nation eagerly anticipate the coming of their senior year and the rapidly approaching adventure to follow, but for many it simply reminds them of the heartache that is soon to come. My own personal experience began with the blinding influence hope cast over my judgement as inner levels of excitement exponentially increased and my emotions became steadily influenced by the people surrounding me. However, little was I aware that my future had already been decided and no external force would have the necessary impact to reconfigure my current course. In a sense, my ship had already sailed and was leading me in ironclad chains to foreign lands of which my presence was to be forced. College, to me, would soon become an indescribable burden where reality would suddenly become brutally clear and all hopes for a productive future existed upon the fate of an unstable pendulum.

Writing is like a fine wine, it only improves with age. Through this semester I have meticulously learned the art and appreciations of writing. Over the long semester, I have improved through long sleepless nights. Which in fact were worth it in the very end, upon receiving my grade through the last 3 essays. My last essays that have enhanced my knowledge of writing of summarizing an article, defending a claim, and an op-ed piece. I’ve ultimately used my writing to not only learn, but also to critique and analyze my works, and use them to successfully thrive in this class.

At this moment there is currently 7,430,931,842 people in the world. Nearly 3 billion of those people are currently living in poverty. Today, 350,000 babies will be born. The world, continues to grow, to prosper, as I sit in my bedroom staring out the window waiting for creativity to strike and give me the words that so effortlessly describe me. There is currently only one person in the world with the name Gabrielle Vozzi, and right now she is attempting to describe something that is indescribable: herself.

In 1994, my parents immigrated to Canada from Vietnam to seek better living conditions and a promising future for their soon-to-be children. However, to live in a free nation filled with opportunities, the two left everything behind. While living in rent, my father worked full-time at a factory while my mother had found a job as a cashier. Although they had a sustainable income, my father understood that raising a child would cost them more than they were currently making. In 1997, my father decided to study computer science at Langara in search for a better-paying job while working part-time as a security guard. Meanwhile, my mother took up housekeeping, working at two different hotels to earn more money for their coming child. Understandably, my parents had made their lives much harder immigrating to Canada, but their sacrifices - I can say - has paid off.

Before starting this session, I assumed I was well versed in terms, of race, ethnicity, and nationality being that it is a topic I am reminded of nearly every day. However, I may have been partially wrong, I’ll explain. My mother was born in the state of Michoacán, Mexico in the rural town of Arteaga. My father was born in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico in the city of Chihuahua. I have always considered my race to be Mexican and my ethnicity to be Hispanic while my nationality is American. Considering filling out administrative forms, I typically check the block for other when it comes to race and identify by ethnicity. It varies depending on the form, if there’s a block to check for Hispanic usually there’s a blank space where I write in Mexican. If there is only a black space then I will write in Mexican. However, to Mexicans from Mexico, I am not considered Mexican. They will label me as a white Mexican, Mexican American or Chicana. I am undoubtedly proud of my roots as well as being an American. In the world we live today, it’s difficult to neglect the fact that I stand out due to my unique characteristics. That at times I am treated differently. That due to my roots I am told to return to my country. That I shed a tear as I write this because I live with an inner struggle of who I am.

I felt very uplifted after receiving this email, until later that day when we received the papers back and I think I got a C. I cried my whole walk back to my dorm room, wearing my sunglasses down Van Meter at 5:00 pm so I could try and hide my tears. I wanted so badly to be better than a C because in my head, it wasn’t just the papers that were C work, it was me that was a C. Aside from this experience, I really loved Being Human and its introspective aspect was very beneficial for me at the time. I felt very lost and unsure about who I was and certain things that had happened to me during that period. I expressed all of this during one of our first assignments, where I drew an actual human heart and assigned each chamber a moral that I was sure I had. I thought out every aspect of that drawing, from the reasons why I shaded certain areas darker to why certain words/icons were placed in certain chambers. During my presentation, I wanted to be honest about my state of unknowing, and the challenges I was going through. I opened up about my mother's death a little bit and really tried to express how that tragedy instilled specific values in me.

"A failure isn’t a failure if it prepares you for a successful tomorrow." This quote by Lolo Jones has kept me calm for the past two years because if I gave up after every failure I’ve overcame in track I would not be sitting in this class or even attending Slippery Rock for that matter. As cliché as it sounds, everything does happen for a reason. I learned this the hard way during my junior and senior years of high school. Even though most of my experiences from being on the track team are positive, I ended my junior and senior year with the same feeling; regret and feeling like there was more I could’ve done to prevent myself from having to end my season earlier than I initially intended.

Being in a life or death situation, or at least believing you, can radically affect how you feel about the world, and everything around us. To unknowingly shake loose your repressed feelings and thought, through the rush of adrenaline and reflection on your own actions, is a truly freeing experience. While such a freeing experience comes with a terrifyingly dangerous cost, I was able to find a refreshing outlook on life.

Growing up, I considered school one of my safe places. However, this all changed in 8th grade when one of my classmates began sexually assaulting and harassing me. My sense of safety and security was replaced by an overwhelming sense of fear. Simple freedoms such as going to my locker became luxuries that I no longer enjoyed. The harassment both restricted my freedoms and affected me emotionally by inducing extreme anxiety. One classmate had the power to transform a place I had known and felt safe in for over six years into the place I feared the most. But even more disconcerting was both the lack of support and the inadequate concern to my safety and well being by the administration. The overwhelming decision to essentially push the entire case under the rug left me feeling ashamed and powerless. But, the abuse continued and it became clear I had no control over this situation.

Since I was 12-years-old, my dad drilled the following three rules into my head: boys are dumb, drugs are bad, and stay out of bars- regarding both jail and alcohol. I did not know it at the time, but I should have abided by my dad’s “rules”. When I started my freshman year of high school, the first rule was incredibly hard to listen to. Though I had never been in a real relationship until the end of my junior year, I went through my fair share of douche bag “flings” up until that point. These flings taught me what not to look for in a man, because each resulted in me feeling really awful about myself. So awful that I did not know how I could go on some days. But, I would not be where I am today without those douche bags. They dropped me onto the path of another soul who was just as lost as I was.