2017 REFLECTION

Hiya! As you all know by now that I love reflecting upon my life. It's another way to getting to know myself. Instead of my writing three separate reflections (sophomore year, last semester at community college, and this year), I'm just going to share an overall 2017 reflection.

 This year was the year that I live with purpose. This has been the best year yet. I'm going to miss it. 

Education

I love learning more than ever. Our world is filled with interesting ideas. Studying isn't that bad. It has helped me grow into a smart young hardworking lady that I have dreamed of becoming. It was hard. There were tears, breakdowns, and self doubts, but hey I'm still alive. I feel strong. I learned a lot from this and it's going to help me for my next challenge. I got this. Here are some exciting news, I finished community college with 3.82 GPA, got accepted to Florida State University, received a 2 year transfer student scholarship, and I'll be majoring in something that I am interested (health, community service, reflection) and will help me reach my dream healthcare profession, whatever that is! I am blessed and so far my hard work has paid off.

Classes I took:

SPRING 2017: Precalc Algebra, Intro to Humanities, Student Leadership Development, and Intro to Political Science

SUMMER 2017: Precalc Trig (my last math class ever), Human Development, and Intro to Statistics

FALL 2017: Biology 1 + Lab, Physics 1 + Lab, and Nutrition

I loved my professors! Let me share what some of them have taught and inspired me to do.

My math professor: Think positive, be zen, you are capable to do anything, and always ask questions.

My leadership professor: She was pretty much my mentor, always supporting me, guiding me to become a true leader and learning from my struggles and mistakes. She is the reason why I would want to be professor.

My political science professor: I didn't think I would have a connection with him mostly because his field is in social science. But oh my, he has opened my eyes to the world politics. Political science is everywhere. He has inspired me to express an interest in health policy and advocacy. It was cool to write about Planned Parenthood for his class. A piece of advice that he told me, Be bold and apply for jobs in health field. To elaborate on that, he said that I should just ask people if they would like to meet up with me to have a conversation about their career journey. Bribe them with coffee. It never hurt to ask because I would have nothing lose. Don't give up if I receive a decline four times in a row. The fifth time could be a delightful yes. So couple of months later (November), I had a conversation with a Physical Therapist. It was a time well spent. He has definitely helped me step out of my comfort zone and with his enthusiasm, I enjoyed taking his class. I am so pumped for the 2018 Midterm Election.

My biology professor: He gave me a speech about how failure is a good thing because you learn from it and it helps you become better than you were before. Always stay curious. He showed me a cool science related news website, Science Daily He may have been a hard lab report grader, but I learned a lot from him by asking him for help every week. Most importantly, if you keep on working hard, you will get to the place where you want to be.

My Nutrition professor: She has changed my life for the better. I am putting in more effort into taking care of myself. I loved how passionate and personal she was at teaching. She really cared about wanting us to pursue a healthier lifestyle. Eating healthier is a lot cheaper than medical bills. If I ever decide to teach, then it would be nutrition. I love classes that I can take with me for a lifetime.

Family

I love them so effing much. Living with them after high school has been a one true unforgettable experience. I have gotten closer to them more than ever before. They have provided me valuable life lessons, supported me so much, and always been there for me, such proud parents. Of course there have been some downs, but only because they care about me so much. It's what makes our relationship titanium. My family is straight up real. I'm going to miss them when I move out some day. I don't know how I can ever give back to them. I am forever and forever grateful for them.

Friends

Good people have come into my life. This is what happens when you focus on yourself. They have helped me with studying, personal statement essays, connections with health professionals, my self doubts/breakdowns, and so much more. It's crazy how close I've gotten with them. I am so grateful that I have these people in my life. The best part was that they came out of nowhere. Expect the unexpected. I am going to miss them while I'm at FSU, but I am going to make an effort to hangout them. Much love to them. Having a support system is a must and you will find yours someday. The best people in life are free.

On the other hand, somethings are still same, like fake people still exist and friends come and go. That's okay. They have made me stronger. 

Learning about myself

Besides living with purpose, this year was also the year of growth. I feel like Taylor. I can build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me. Anything can come at me and I will figure out a way to fix it while staying true to myself. I will continue to focus on myself with some improvement and surround myself with my type of people. I am so excited to share my vision for 2018 with you all.

I am so darn proud of myself. 

The Good Stuff in 2017

Hiya! This is the second part of my 2017 Reflection Series. Almost 3 years ago, I shared my best moments of 2015. I would like to do that again for 2017. This has been my best year yet.

Seventeen great things

1. Reputation album 

2. Volunteered with North Florida Planned Parenthood's Leadership Action Team for my service project

3. Attended the Women's March in my hometown.

4. Celebrated my 21st birthday with my family

5. Got accepted to Florida State University

6. Spent my last semester at community college with some good people

7. My biology study group

8. Received my CPR certification

9. Re-established PeaceJam, a student organization, on campus

10. Went bowling for the first time after 6 years

11. Took a nutrition course

12. Happy cried after listening to Taylor's Look What You Made Me Do

13. Bought a waffle-maker 

14. Celebrated Solar Eclipse Day on the first day of classes

15. Met Shirin Ebadi at the PeaceJam Conference. She took a picture with my group while holding my sign!!

16. Gave a Linked-in Presentation at the STEM's Career Development Series workshop

17. Took a student leadership development course in spring semester

I have realized that I have so much to learn and to look forward in 2018. Isn't crazy that it gets better than?!

So here is to 2018, where..

What were your 17 greatest moments?

Quote of the day: 
"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something." - Neil Giaman

GOOD MUSIC 2017

Hello everyone! I must admit that I miss posting my monthly favorite music posts. No worries, I still enjoy listening to music. Our friend Spotify did a really cool that thing where they collected all of the music that we listened to this year. I want to share that and my favorite songs of this year with you all. This will be my first part of my 2017 Reflection Series.

                                                        

                                                          Give it a listen! 2017 favorites

The songs that I supposedly LOVED the most this year:

 Spotify: Your Top Songs 2017

What were your favorite or top songs of this year?

                              Google Images

2017 was a good year for music. 

My Leadership Philosophy

Hello, All,

I would like to share an assignment that I had in my leadership class during spring semester. It shows the development of how I created my leadership philosophy. This was of my favorite assignments because I definitely learned more about my views of leadership and its aspects. There's so much more to leadership than holding a position. I hope you learn something from this. 

My Three Important Values

Stay you

Being open and your true self leads to honesty, high moral standards, and integrity. Authenticity leads to connecting with others, which can encourage diversity because of the accepting the idea of inclusiveness. I started living this value in high school when I became more true to myself. It was hard because I lost some friends. I learned that being truly who I am is important because only a few will stay true to me. Therefore, I stopped caring about people's thoughts and focused on myself and the people that care about me unconditionally. Authenticity will help me act upon my values and morals. It will play a role when I am figuring out the purpose of my actions towards a cause that I have a passion for. It will be the backbone of the "WHY". I believe that the "WHY” is suppose to be personal. When I am expressing my personal thoughts/feelings, I hope to be genuine.

If that person can do it, then I can do it too

Inspiration helps me guide to become the woman that I aspire to be and leads to new possibilities. It expands my horizons to see that I am capable of doing a lot more than just observing and jotting down ideas. It gives me the push to do something. I have role models that inspires me to be at my highest potential, chase my dreams, work hard, and stay humble. Be a good person. They have helped me and made a strong impact in my life. Inspiration will help me pay it forward. I aspire to inspire. By being guided by my role models, I want to follow their footsteps, but add a little twist of my own  (can't forget about authenticity) to inspire someone.

Stretch the circle wider

Inclusiveness brings people together to share ideas. No one should feel left out because of their background. It is important to be open-minded, recognize and understand other cultures and customs. The moment I joined PeaceJam was the moment I truly started living this value. This is an international organization collaborating with Nobel Peace Laureates from different backgrounds and all striving for the same purpose, which is creating young leaders of this generation to make a positive difference. Diversity will help me develop an appreciation for multiculturalism to build inclusiveness, collaboration, and a common purpose. I will have a deeper understanding of empathy and compassion. This will help me gain strength in cultural competence.

My Leadership Experience

Negative

During my senior year of high school, I held the position of Co-Historian for Latin Club. I was an awful Historian. I didn't for-fill my duties. I literally did nothing. The other Co-Historian ended up creating the annual scrapbook with the help of her friends. I didn't have the passion. The "WHY" was unethical.. It was random of me to run for this position in the first place. It was actually never the plan, but still what I did wasn't okay and bit humiliating. Because of my pathetic action, an amendment was added in the constitution, stating if one doesn't for fill their duty, he/she must step down from the position. This was a learning experience. I got so caught up on being involved with organizations because a leader position will look great on college applications and resume.

Positive

During my high school summers, I used to volunteer at Camp All That, an Arts and Science Camp for students below 9th grade. It was by hosted by the former Mary Brogan Museum. My role was Teacher's Assistant. I helped pass out materials to students and guided them to complete their weekly themed art/science projects. I was also with other assistants that were around my age. When it was lunch or snack time, we handed the children the daily snacks and their lunches. We also had the chance to play outside, eat snow cones, and go on mini adventures (walking around downtown area). This was a positive experience because I learned to interact with children from all ages, 4-14 years old. I also learned about children's safety, liability issues, and how you would have to fill out a form if a camper needed a Band-Aid. I was also in charge of making the name tags, since I was always the first assistant to arrive in the mornings.

My Definition of Leadership

An inclusive group of inspired and passionate people, who have a purpose to come together to serve others to create a positive change through an ethical and authentic process.

I first came to know my leadership definition through my values, the understanding of the relational leadership model, and my involvement. My involvement in PeaceJam during high school gave me an opportunity to experience with leadership for the very first time.

Who Influenced my Leadership Definition?

Barack Obama's Farewell Speech

Obama's speech focused on being an active American Citizen:

“Change only happens when people get involved, and they get engaged, and come together to demand it.”

“To believe you can make a difference, to hitch your wagon to do something bigger than yourselves.”

Michelle Obama

I admired how she used her “First Lady” position to stand up to what she thought was a problem, whether it was fighting for girls' education around the world or creating initiatives to strive children to eat healthier. Her true purpose was to create a positive change in United States of America. She also inspired people to come together to join her mission.

My experience through PeaceJam has made the biggest impact on my

 definition of leadership.

• Diversity
• Inspiration
• Authenticity
• Action
• Serve
• Collaboration
• Their motto: Change Starts Here

Leaders can be negative too: People, who have caused others harm can be leaders because they took action to use their influence and strengths to gather people for a common purpose. Their purpose to create change may have been negative, but they can be good at following their intentions and making it happen.

People with negative influence can be good leaders.

Leadership Qualities: Leaders don't always have certain qualities. One should use the quality or strength that they possess because it’s important to lead authentically than leading how society views a leader. It’s more open, honest, simple, and potentially powerful. However, to lead effectively, one should have purpose, passion, be open to learning/understanding, and appreciate diversity and the concept of followership.

Leaders should lead with qualities they have already and learn more qualities along their leadership journey.

Who Leads Who? If there are people who have shown interest to taking an action for a cause, then there should be an ethical group vote on who gets to lead the group. If a single person observes a problem and stands up to do something about it, then that person should take the lead.

The person who has the true passion towards the cause should lead.

Leader's Credibility: Leaders gain credibility through knowing, being, and doing. It express their view of leadership through their personality, service, and values/morals. It also shows the true purpose of leading.

Knowing: They share their wisdom about self-understanding, empathy, and their understanding of change.

Being: It’s important to be true to yourself and others. Open-mindedness and inclusiveness strongly connects with people. The concept of being shows your true colors.

Doing: Taking action and being consistent shows passion and commitment.

Leadership is good: Leadership is so broad and yet very empowering. I have learned that leadership is like a blank canvas because you get to create your idea of leadership. At the end, it’s about guiding and collaborating with all types of people to make a positive difference through authentic and ethical actions and inspiration from the people that also pursued the same mission before them.

Leadership is a good teacher that all must have in their lives.

The Purpose of Leadership: Leadership unites ALL types of ordinary people to come together to serve for a common purpose through inspiration and guidance.

Leadership behavior: Leadership Behavior is developed by personal experiences because it helps us learn and reflect from our mistakes and accomplishments. It guides us to become better leaders. It can also be developed through external power because inspiration is powerful thing. It can gives us that spark. Most of the time..“You can’t be what you can’t see.” Our leadership behavior teaches us all about who we are as a contributing citizen to society.

Disclaimer: Gifs and Images are from Google Images.