Reflection Letter

     I am a 27 year old female, I am working on my prerequisites for the nursing program. I became a nursing assistant in 2002, when I was fresh out of high school. I had always planned on going to college but life happened and I got married in the summer of 2002 and by 2005 I had two children. After my second child was born I decided to take a break from being a nursing assistant and opened an in-home daycare and I did that for two years. After two years of that I need to get out of the house and work with adults again. I loved being able to be home with my children and was thankful that I could work from home. So in 2007 I returned to work as a nursing assistant and once both my kids were in school I was able to start college classes. It has been a challenge juggling work, school, and family, but I have a very supportive husband who I can always count on.

     I have a long road ahead of me when it comes to finishing school, but I know I can do it and when it all said and done I will have a career that I know I will love. Having been a nursing assistant for nine years I have seen and learned a lot, and what I have learned will help me in the nursing program. I see a lot of students from the EVCC where I work and some have never even been a nursing assistant, the only training they have had is what they got in the class. I am thankful that I will know what I am doing when it comes to taking care of patients, it must be pretty scary for those who have never done it before.

     I have to admit that this class has been a huge challenge for me. I never have or will be much of a writer, I have always been better at math and science. I am glad to have been able to take this class though, and even though it is not required I might even take another English class just to challenge myself. I feel like my writing has improved a little over these last few months, and could get even better if I keep at it. Taking this class has been quiet an experience for me and I have learned a lot about what makes a community, what forms our identity, and the changes in traditions.

     I never realized that communities came in so many different forms. A community can be the neighbor hood that you want to move into like in the essay, "Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia." It can also be a web site on the Internet like in the essay, "MySpace Outrage Leaves Millions Friendless." It would be hard to find someone that isn't apart of some sort of community, it's human nature to want to be apart of something. I am involved in a lot of communities and they are a big part of my life and who I am.

     As for the I identity unit, I really enjoyed reading the different essays and hearing how some people felt about their own identity. The one essay that stood out the most to me was, "Who You Callin' a Bitch," Queen tells how you can become who ever you want to be no matter where you came from. one line that I really like from her essay is, "Through it all, though, I never forget who I am. The one Thing that has kept me going is, knowing who I am."  This unit has made me think a lot about my own identity, it made me look back at my life and they things that have help to form my identity.

     The Tradition unit was one of my favorites, Tradition is important to me and my family. My favorite essay from this unit was, "A Wobegon Holiday Dinner," Garrison tells about his family holiday dinners. The essay made me laugh because it reminded me of my family holidays, they are always very eventful. The family holiday meals are our biggest family tradition and one that has never been broke, but it has been improved. There are some crazy and unreasonable traditions, and I'm glad I don't have to carry them on.

     The pieces that I have chosen for my E-Portfolio are: The Tradition DB 1 to demonstrate my critical thinking skills, The Timed Writing to revise, The Community Paper that illustrated my awareness of audience and voice, and for my "Writer's Choice," I chose my Tradition Blog.