Portfolio

Hallmark #1

This picture of my friend Sabrina and I is significant because it captures the time we went to the candle light vigil for students who were having a difficult time with the news of Donald Trump becoming our new president-elect. We witnessed speeches, gave multiple hugs, and participated in a prayer in the end. This event was important to me because we are generation that is going to be the most impacted by Trump’s decisions. I think it was important for Sabrina and I to show up to this candle light vigil because it was a form of support for one another.

This picture belongs in this section because, “we believe, in the midst of today’s reality, that God is good, and we stand firm in our community to honor that goodness in ourselves, in others, and in our world.” The reality is that Trump is soon to become the president of the United States, and I don’t think many people are prepared for that. But I also think that people are finding hope and strength through God. We believe that He is good and will provide for us in the end.

Hallmark #2

This picture of Vane and I is significant because it’s the first picture we ever took as roommates. Before NDNU, we knew each other through soccer and played against each other. Our teams were each other’s biggest rivals and we saw each other often. Although we didn’t talk at all, our college coach thought it would be a great idea to put us together. On move in day, we officially met for the first time, and it seemed like we had known each other forever. Rooming with Vane is a wonderful experience and I’m glad our coach ended up pairing us up together.

This picture of Vane and I belongs in this section because she is my roommate. Hallmark number two is described as, “developing and appreciating relationships that respect individual differences.” I think that’s what rooming together is all about. Vane and I created a relationship, or a bond, that took respect. We had to learn each other's differences and learn how to deal with them. We have to compromise with each other and respect each others boundaries. I appreciate the relationship that I’ve created with my roommate.

Hallmark #3

My artifact is my “reciept” from registering to vote. This artifact is significant because it shows my effort to play a role in the community. Being able to vote gives someone a voice. It was important for me to become a registered voter, mostly so I could vote against Trump. Unfortunately, even with my vote, Trump still won. Sometimes people can think that their votes don’t count, but they ultimately do. In addition, there is more to vote for than just the president. We can vote for mayors, propositions, etc.

My voter registration receipt was put into this section because this hallmark talks about taking social responsible actions. By registering to vote, it gives me the power to make a difference in my community. “We act on behalf of justice” describes registering up to vote. Everyone should be able to have a say on what goes on in their lives and throughout their community.

Hallmark #4

This pamphlet for the San Francisco Sailing Center was significant because it was my assigned place to go to on Call To Action Day. My freshman seminar class and I were able to assist fourth and fifth graders with their life vests. We also got to assist them with the activities they did inside of the classroom. This was a long, tiresome day but I also remember it being something more than that. It was an opportunity for me to commit myself to community service. It was an opportunity for me to give back to the community without asking for anything in return.

This artifact was put into this section because it is the purest form of community service available. Call To Action Day was meant for our classes to spend the day fulfilling Hallmark number four, committing ourselves to community service. Although it was required for us to go on the trip, it was still a wonderful experience for both our class and the fourth and fifth graders. I think in the end, everyone got something out of it.

Hallmark #5

This artifact is a piece of paper with my name written in Arabic on it. I got it written out for me by a man who was in a booth that informed people about the Arabic language. It is significant because it was a chance for me to learn about another language. It was voluntary, and I took time out of my day to learn something new. I played games to learn Arabic words and numbers, drank special coffee and ate special dates, and received temporary tattoos with Arabic writing. It was a good experience for me to learn something new and expand my knowledge on the language of Arabic.

I put this artifact in this section because it fits hallmark number five, “We embrace the gift of diversity”. By taking time out of my day and listening to what these people had to say out of my own curiosity, it made me become more open to not only the Arabic language, but to other languages and cultures as well. It made me realize that there is so much out there that I am missing. This one experience makes me want to learn more about other languages and cultures and what they have to offer. Learning about different parts of the world can bring the community closer together because we understand more thoroughly on where people are coming from.

Hallmark #6

The artifact I have for this section is an NDNU Golden Fleece Week blanket. This blanket is from one of the many events that went on during Golden Fleece Week, or WOW week. It is significant because it reminds me about WOW week and how welcoming NDNU was. WOW week allowed all of the freshman to become familiar with each other and make friends with each other in a fun way. It was an interesting way to break the ice with people we would be with for the next four years.

I put this artifact in this section because it was a memorable item from WOW week. It fulfills hallmark number six, “We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve”. The students, for example, would be the ones with whom we work. The RA’s who ran the events, on the other hand, would be classified as those we serve. Putting these two together in the form of community building created community between them.

Hallmark #7

The artifact I chose for this section is a rock. It’s a group therapy rock that I made in my intro to psych class. This rock is significant because it was my group who came up with the idea. Each group had to come up with a game or activity based on their chapter in the book. My group chose to create inspiration rocks as a class to demonstrate “group therapy”.

I chose this inspiration rock as my artifact for this section because it connects to the way we “design and implement academically excellent educational experiences. My group and I took initiative for the class that day, and taught the rest of my class about our section in the book. One of the definitions of hallmark number seven is, “ we create curricular/co-curricular interactions that facilitate student-centered learning/teaching environments. This is a perfect example because it was the students who facilitated the class and taught the other students the material for the day.

Inside Out Reflection

The film Inside Out has a lot to teach us about happiness. It connects back to our class theme of happiness in many ways. The film illustrates how happiness is the most important emotion out of the 5 characters. Throughout the movie, we begin to realize that every emotion plays an important role in Riley's life and how she acts. One of the emotions that the movie revolved around was sadness. Sadness, at first, was not important at all. In fact, Joy did not like the presence of Sadness because she would tend to mess things up and prevent Riley from feeling Joy. Even Joy herself thought as if she was the most important of Riley's emotions. As the movie continues, we learn that Sadness plays a very important role in Riley's happiness. Riley's "sad" experiences were what was needed to ultimately become happy. One example would be when Riley missed the winning playoffs shot. She was sad and disappointed. But because of that, her parents and teammates came over to comfort her. That turned her mood from sad to happy. With this example, we can see that by experiencing sadness, happiness will come. Sadness is ultimately essential for our happiness and well being. One difference I noticed about the movie and our class was that the movie sees happiness, or joy, as the main goal and main emotion. In our class, happiness is seen as a side effect. Overall, Inside Out taught us that happiness can be achieved through sadness. 

Freshman Research Conference

After listening to the presentations given by my classmates, I got a clear understanding of the certain topics they chose to present on. For the exception of one group, every group presented on the connection between wealth and happiness. The other group presented on self-esteem and self-efficacy. I think the groups who presented about the connection between wealth and happiness presented their information well. There was a particular group who included "The Wolf of Wall Street" as an example. I think that allowed me to more clearly understand the relationship between wealth and happiness. Although the groups for the connection between wealth and happiness presented well, I think the group who presented on self-esteem and self-efficacy presented best. Their presentation was very structured and organized. Furthermore, they got their point across quickly and clearly. My role as a supporting member of the audience was to pay attention to what the presenters had to say and hopefully gain some insight on their topics.

Call to Action Day Reflection

The fourth graders definitely had fun during their field trip to the Treasure Island Sailing Center. They also learned some new things as well. Aside from that, I think there was more to learn from the field trip. Stepping into the shoes of the fourth graders, I think they were just happy to get away from school for a day and do something other than schoolwork. Even if they didn't know it, some of these kids will probably never ride in a sailboat again because they might not be fortunate enough to. I think that's one positive experience that they were fortunate enough to have. I think field trips in general show the value of the experience for the children. The ability to step out of a classroom and get hands on learning instead of the same, repetitive classwork in a classroom, can really help them understand and learn better.  

30 Entries + Best Day

1. I scored my first collegiate goal.
2. I killed the suicides.
3. I went to the mall with Giulia and Zan.
4. I spent the day in SF with my friends.
5. Many people came to support me in my game against CSUEB.
6. I got named Pacwest Freshman of the Week.
7. I got to train at the Starfire soccer complex, home of the Seattle Sounders.
8. Moi, Ken, Josh, and I gave pizza to a homeless man.
9. Moi bought me flowers.
10. We held off Western Washington for 90 minutes and took them into overtime.
11. Javi brought me Starbucks.
12. I heard my sister got back into soccer.
13. Dinner was really good.
14. Jen, Sab, and I took a trip to the park.
15. I tried Pho for the first time.
16. I finished 1st in suicides.
17. My mom, sister, and I had breakfast burritos together.
18. I got pineapple soft serve at Menchies.
19. The lights and cold water both worked in my dorm at the same time.
20. Johnny Rain liked my tweet.
21. They had breakfast for dinner!
22. I realized how fortunate I was to be able to play the sport I love.
23. Someone returned my cleats to me.
24. Sab sang and danced with me in the middle of the parking lot.
25. I went swimming with squad.
26. My teacher said I write well.
27. I did well on my presentation.
28. Vane did my laundry.
29. I had alone time while walking up the hill from practice.
30. I got to see my parents after a while of not seeing them.

My best day of September would have to be the 9th. Although the morning started out rough with study hall and some bad news, it quickly made a turn for the better. I was in Seattle for a soccer trip and had the day off to do whatever I wanted. After finishing study hall, my friends Josh, Alexis, and Moi proposed that we walk around Seattle. First, we visited the Nike store and H&M. After the stores, we walked down to Pike's Place market got sandwiches and donuts. We visited the famous gum wall and soon after, Moi bought me flowers which really made my day because it was a sweet, little gesture to show how much he cared... After buying a few things from the little shops in Pike's Place, we decided to visit the Seattle Art Museum. After, we ubered back to the hotel and then walked for a team dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Overall, the day was very eventful and I had a good time touring Seattle with my friends. I think what made it the best day of September was that my mood for the day was turned around so quickly and really couldn't have gone any better.

Applying Signature Strengths Pt.2

Applying my strongest signature strength, kindness, to my task went semi-well for me. When planning to apply kindness, the task seemed so much simpler in my head. When Wednesday came around, I managed to listen to myself early in the day. I worked on my presentation but only got about halfway through it. Mid-way, I became lazy and decided to put the other half of my presentation off until tomorrow. I guess in that way, I was no longer being kind to myself. By putting it off until the next day, it added more weight to my shoulders and created more stress. After Wednesday night, everything went downhill. On Thursday, I began to work on the second half of my presentation. It took a lot longer than I expected it would take. I worked on this until 11, when the library closed. After finally finishing my presentation, I still had a paper to write. This took me about 4 hours and a nap in between. In the end, I didn't get to sleep until 4am. I was tired for my presentation, and I believe, if I were to have worked on the essay earlier, it would've turned out better. I think if I was more disciplined on applying my signature strength, things would've turned out better for me. 

Applying Signature Strengths

At first, I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate my strongest strength, kindness, into an upcoming task of mine. The definition of kindness, according to the strengths test website, is "doing favors and good deeds for others; taking care of them." My problem was that I didn't have any upcoming tasks that involved other people. So I decided to slightly tweak the definition and show kindness to myself. I did this by planning to make life a little easier on myself. My upcoming tasks are a paper and a presentation, both due Friday. Instead of procrastinating, I'm deciding to split the tasks up, giving a separate day to work on each one. By doing this, it helps me focus on both tasks separately. In that way, I'm relieving myself of stress, and getting the tasks done at the same time. In an odd type of way, preventing myself from procrastinating and actually getting my work done on time is an act of kindness towards myself. I hope that by applying this strength it will reduce my stress when it comes to assignments and overall make me a better person. I plan on further using this strategy and executing it not only in my schoolwork, but the rest of my life as well.