My senior year I worked at a local yoga studio, developing a profound connection to the instructors. One day, in a conversation with my yoga instructor, we discussed the fact that if it weren’t for his job in retail and as an instructor, he would be homeless. I was moderately taken aback by this, but instead of shying away from the topic, I asked him how it felt and what his family thought. He further explained that his father’s expectations of him hadn’t matched what his desires were in life, fracturing their relationship.
Instead of feeling dejected, my yoga instructor ended up doing what he loved. Struggling to make ends meet wasn’t a choice, but rather a product of a disjointed relationship with a family member. This story validated something that felt innate to me; we don’t need to directly relate to one another to be understanding and kind.
Growing up with gay parents, I have encountered adversity and discrimination. I have witnessed how prejudice can transform into cognitive barriers, preventing people from treating others equally. During high school, I witnessed a teacher’s aide use homophobic discriminatory language in a classroom setting. Despite my natural inclination to stand up for injustice, I had to carefully consider how I phrased my response.
I presumed the teacher would support me, explaining that what the teacher’s aide had said was insensitive and discriminatory. When I discussed with my moms what had happened, they explained my ability to assess the
I recall one day my parents and Michael coming home from a swim meet clearly distressed. Earlier that day, a mother of one of my brother’s peers had said that my father “didn’t love my brother because he wasn’t athletic enough, he was only smart.” My father, who is a very outspoken man, responded with a few choice words for the woman and went on with his day, but my brother remained visibly upset. That night, my parents sat both my brother and I down and proclaimed that they would always love us no matter the situation, or any of our strengths and weaknesses- their love was unconditional. Although the situation meant nothing to me at the time, years later it is so special.
While I appreciated that one of my peers provided feedback on my work, I feel that the feedback that was provided did not fulfill the assignment. My peer did not provide detailed feedback on my paper that could be adequately incorporated in my review and revisions. Most of the information that was provided as feedback were simply statements that reiterated what the prompt question was. Please see the below feedback provided to me by my peer.
The patience, compassion and encouragement of one person improved my family’s last years with its patriarch in countless ways. It was this improvement that inspired me to pursue a career as an
In his article, A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love’, Gordon Marino discusses his conferences with his students about figuring out what their love to do is. Many times Marino comes across students who are doing what they need to do to pass through life, not what they want to do. “Many of them are used to delivering papers at 5 a.m., slinging shingles all day or loading trucks all night.They are accustomed to doing whatever they need to do to help out their families.” (Marino 2) Throughout the article, Marino uses an anecdote of his life and how his father had a job he detested just so he could send his children to college. “...father turned necessity into a virtue, or that taking the best care you can of your family is really a form of self-service.”
this would usually be the point where I would come to the realization that this
I had gotten to know Jon and his girlfriend "Dee" well in the past few months, and worry racked through me when I heard them arguing loudly through our shared wall. I planned to let the argument subside before approaching them until I heard Dee loudly demand that Jon get off her. Almost instinctively, I stepped into the required role; I knocked on the door while recalling my violence prevention training. They were reluctant to open the door, but I assured them I was there because I cared about them both and wanted to ensure their safety. It was apparent that they were both emotional, but after diffusing the situation, I let them know to come to me if they needed anything. The next evening Jon and I had a long personal conversation, in which he told me of his struggles maintaining his distance from the rough family environment of which he grew up. My heart ached for him as I listened intently at stories I never would have imagined. Together we created a plan for his future, including a visit to a campus counselor and a post-graduate plan to maintain a healthy distance from the family environment that he considered toxic. I checked in with Dee and Jon regularly, even after they graduated. In a roundabout way, it pushed me further into the pursuit of a career as a physician. Similar to patient experiences, I learned the importance of being responsive and open; qualities that allow others to share their untold stories that may be the key to appreciating their
The areas of productiveness in this session for me included the paraphrasing and minimal encouragers. Throughout this session I felt that my paraphrasing was clear and concise. It allowed the client to think about what he had said, while being able to provide me with feedback and allowed for the conversation to flow naturally.
“...the strong are the former-weak. They are the ones who persisted when faced with challenge and it is through their struggle that they developed their strength, for they are the ones that continued past the point where many would conceive it to be a respectable amount of effort...Embrace the pain, for without pain, without struggle, without failure there can be no growth, improvement, success, or triumph.” (Francine Henderson) On a warm summer day at a state leadership conference, I met Frankie. At first, we were cordial acquaintances but within days, we connected at an intellectual, spiritual, and emotional level that I had previously never experienced. The mutualistic relationship was founded through a shared love for philosophical, intellectual,
My father’s foresight on diversity, race, cultural relations, and his work ethic left a profound impression on me. However, not all my experiences were positive, many were negative. The negative experiences also helped shape my perceptions on life, and the dark side of a person’s personalit. An example would be my dad’s mental, verbal, and physical abuse for years towards my mother until his death. The fear, shock, horror, and memory of my father’s physical abuse towards my mother would take decades to overcome successfully. Thankfully, I am emotionally past that
Throughout our lives, we experience situations that can undoubtedly challenge our lives. These experiences can have outcomes that are not in our favor, but teach us crucial lessons. In my case, almost a year ago I lost someone who unquestionably had a vast impact on my life. My uncle Sal was taken from me unexpectedly. That day took a major toll on myself and my entire family. However, such an event served as the gate for me to see they type of person I am.
There are incidents that occur in our lives that test our ability to overcome and persevere. These events albeit life changing are integral in developing your personal identity. When a series of incidents occurred at the end of last summer, I fought hard to avoid falling into a serious pothole of failure and doubt. My father hospitalized for a life-threatening ailment, lost his sister unexpectedly while she was visiting him. She was our most beloved aunt and my father’s best friend. Shortly after my father’s discharge, he lost his job, leaving my mother as the sole provider. Our family began to struggle a bit financially until my father got another job; however, they were still able to maintain the tuition for my sister and me, at a private
| |the intellectual conversation of topics that were discussed. I also enjoyed the learning |
Topic: Turning hardships into inspiration Specific Purpose: To inform my Public Speaking class about my early hardships and how I turned them into inspiration. Thesis Statement: My early struggles started when my brother (Tim) was diagnosed with cancer a second time, then he passed away too soon and years later, I turned suffering into inspiration from Tim’s life. Introduction • Attention-getter (narrative)-rhetorical question and ethos: Everyone take a second and think to yourself of someone you truly admire and cannot imagine your life without. I am sure every one of you have someone in mind.
In 2013 a coworker of mine was having a life crisis. Her world before she knew it was turned upside down. She injured herself at work and needed back surgery, was starting the process for a divorce, her daughter was rebelling, and her elderly grandmother was ill. She was limited to individuals to talk to and help her through her situation. I tried to provide her with an ear whenever she needed, provided positive encouragement, as well as provide information on programs that may be able to help her.
A story when I had to help someone one would have to be my friend when he needed help back in high school I had friend who was in the same classes as I was he was going through a huge struggle in his life. His name will not be mention but he was a great kid who had great potential in school but he would live up to that potential since he was the youngest of his brothers he basically gave an idea of what his future had in store for him. He would always come late to class almost every single day and once he finally showed up to class late the teacher would ask him why he is always so late he just sits down at his desk and just lifts his shoulders up as his response this is basically is on par when the parents ran into some disastrous encounter on there way to visit her son at the asylum just like when he started to arrive late to class which was a huge effect on both of them. After a couple of more late appearances by him the teacher had enough she tries to help him just like the parents in the story when they go an visit their son with a gift to see how he is doing the teacher tried to help him up with some advice that was given to him to make him stop showing up late. There was a change that made me think in a different way since I had thought that he did not care about anything which bothered me since I believe that education was important but then an event happen that made me change my view and that I knew I had to help him to lift him from below the bar to above it. We