Reflection Part 1:
The issue our class project addressed was basically two ideas for one. One was to continue the spread of how much damage we are doing to our planet but also in the process we were bringing awareness to single mothers and the struggles they go through which was the main reason for fundraising. Before the project began, I know little to nothing about the struggles a single mother raising children was like. I do know a little bit about the affects not recycling can do to our planet such as build plastic islands in the oceans. Something I learn from House of Hope, which is a not profit organization for single mothers, is that in those housing programs they help the mothers get back on their feet by teaching them how to live life in the real world. An example of this can be as simple as showing them how to cook or as complicated as how to solve math problems.
During the project the class faced a lot of challenges. One of the first challenge was how we were going to set up a bake sale when we aren’t a student organization. We had to talk to many different people about it but luckily there are three people in the class that know who to talk to or know other people to talk to get it set up for us. Because we are not a student org., we had to pay a fee of $50 dollars to set up a booth. We had a few different ideas. The fundraising group was split into two groups, just regular fundraising and bake sale fundraising team. I would say these two teams stood out the most because both groups dealt with money. Another problem the class encountered was finding people to join the pageant. The problem with this is that it’s towards the end of the semester and it can be assumed because of that nobody wanted to join. To solve this problem everyone in the class room invited people to the pageant.
I learned that since last semester I have grown quite a bit. I believe this because I was almost always at class and did all but one of my works on time or ahead of time. Like setting up meetings I was assign this role to set up our group meetings which was not hard at all, but it is when the team leader is a student athlete. I learned that I am a little bit better at self-management this semester compared to last semester but also given my circumstances of last semester that it makes sense why I couldn’t be at one of my best like this semester. I really enjoyed having to make use my knowledge from being a part of a student org because it felt as though I had a useful skill or knowledge to help with the project.
I plan to further sharpen my skills and improve on areas I lack in. One being is self-management because it can be both a strength and weakness of mine depending on my mood. I think that is definitely an area I can work on too because whether I am in the mood to do it or not if it has to be done I should be able to push myself further beyond that and get it done if it is urgent.
Reflection Part 2:
I’ve struggled so much last semester because of the circumstances I was in. People don’t understand what is like to be a first-generation student with extremely sick parents back home and being the youngest family member that being the first child to go to college outside of their hometown. Yes, it is easy to say that everyone has issues in their lives but that doesn’t mean that, there should be little bits of shade throw around when the student knows who they are. They try their best and yes sometimes that’s not enough. Something I learned from this experience is to go to the professor and speak to them individually to let them know they were in the wrong for doing such. Therefore, I am most proud of me bouncing back to show that I am not a failure. Second semester I really step up academically and I think I can say the best me hasn’t even shown up to the court because this semester was a breeze. To continue these ambitions of mine I will have to continue as I am and seek for any opportunity of help that I can receive.
I wish I was more discipline academically during my first semester. I could have been a high achieving student and I’m not saying I can’t, but I know it would of gave me more opportunities if I was more academically disciplined during the first semester. I gave up half way through the first semester even though I could have pulled my grades back up if I really put in the work and if I reached out like how I did during my second semester. I think it is great to start strong so you can say “yeah I can do this for another 7 weeks” because it will boost the confidence in the individual’s motivation to go on and if they fall half a letter grade of or even a letter grade they can try to maintain it or even bounce back. The best reason I was able to continue the discipline of hard work this semester was because of the support system I didn’t utilize last semester when I only saw them as a social get away from my failures in school. Next year, I will continue to ask for help from my friends and if they know anyone that could help me in areas I am not understanding. I will also continue to study hard and continue to try to do my work on time as best as I can next semester.
An advice to a friend is never to run away from your responsibilities even if you feel like you are overwhelmed then because either way it will be there waiting for you later. Another advice to a friend would be to have balance in academics, social, job, you time, etc. This is cliché but it is true because if you have too much time on one thing it will take over everything and you will use that to escape from your other responsibilities. So, use your intuition to guide you, if it’s something you don’t want to do you should probably do it. An example is if your friends are going to all go online to play game, but you know you have a paper due at the end of the week, break up that paper into sections to do throughout that week so it doesn’t feel so long. If it is a regular 5-part paragraph, then write 3 Monday and 2 the next day. Just be wise in whatever you choose to do while at college.