Service Learning

Based on the presentations that people have in class about their sites I think the most important thing should be that they enjoy what they do. Everyone said that they pretty much enjoy working at their sites. It would be unfortunate to have to work somewhere that you do t even want to be.
I also think that every service learning site should include people that have good time management. I think that time management can be a strength or a weakness for some people. But since we have to do 25 hours a month in this class, it gives everyone more sense of time and to know where they have to be and when.
The last thing I think a service learning site should include is they should give the person a sense of appreciation. Some people said the people that they work for let them know that their volunteer work is appreciated. This makes them feel good and like they are really needed.

I'm Proud!

When i sit back & reflect, I think about how I have so many things to be proud of in my life. There are times where I feel down and out and like there is no hope. But in reality I have to remember that things could always be worse and i DO have reasons to be proud. A quote that i thought was interesting is "It's just a bad day, not a bad life". I have to always keep in mind that I will have many bad days but its just THAT day that is bad.

When it comes to what I'm proud of right at this moment, I would have to say it is my performance in school. I believe that I have all A's. In both my English classes, Math and also Personal Growth. I put so much hard work and effort into school work so I see why this is the outcome. It's fortunate that I am pulling an A in math right now because I am NOT the best in math. But I like my professor and I feel that he's doing a good job teaching me. But on the other hand, I am doing my part and making sure I do my homework and study for tests and quizzes. I just recently got 100/100 on a Math test! I was so so so so so PROUD of this. I worked hard to get this grade.

Also in my English 48 class I received the highest grade in the class on the midterm which was a 46/50. This made me feel good. Not just because it was the highest grade, but because I know i put a lot of effort towards that test and like my favorite quote says, "Hard work pays off". In college, I feel that my hardwork is definitely paying off. THIS I am proud of! :-)

Fooooood!

In my English 49 class we are talking about Americans nutrition & how most of the food that we eat is bad and harmful for us. I related this to what we are talking about in Personal Growth. It's interesting to me that once you become educated about the whole food organization that there's no turning back. You know what's good for you, & you know what's bad. But sometimes we as people still continue to make unhealthy food choices when we know its bad.
I just recently learned that mostly everything in your average grocery store like Albertsons and Food4Less
Is mostly processed food. Processed foods contain harmful ingredients & many things that do bad stuff to our bodies. For example, even when it comes to produce at these grocery stores they inject things in our fruit to make it ripen faster. You go to the store thinking you're being healthy by eating an apple but in reality that apple may not be good for you.
Even when it comes to the meat that they sell at stores. These companies do harmful things to animals like inject them with hormones to make them grow faster. The things that are harmful to the animals then become harmful to humans because we eat it.
Me personally, I feel that eating healthy is a work in progress. It's expensive but since everything around us basically bad for us we have no choice but to consume bad things every once in a while. I try to eat fruits & vegetables more often. But you never really know which foods to trust. I think that all Anericans should be aware if what they are REALLY eating.

Nutrition Assignment

I love to eat healthy and I don't mind doing it. I try to eat healthier because I realize that in doing so it is better for my body. I just recently started eating better than I use to. I cut a lot of fast food out of my life. I now only eat fast food like twice every 2 weeks. But this also saves me money. I'd rather go to the grocery store and get food that I can make for long term periods of time. Overall, eating healthy is pretty expensive because healthy things cost more. But I still do try to eat well.

To me organic means foods that are taken directly from the source and doesn't have preservatives or artificial things in them. I think that gluten is sugar, or a bad sugar, the sugar that isn't in fruit.

People are concerned with American children's health because it seems as if kids are becoming more and more obese. I'm not sure what GMO's are.

I could eat in a healthier way. I could do this by cutting fast food out of my life all the way. But I could also make the first step to cut out fried foods that I cook at home too. I could just mostly bake things because its healthier. I could also try to eat more balanced meals. This would be sure to give me all nutrients that I need in a day.

Service Learning Experience

My service learning experience connects to my short term goals because it is helping me gain experience working with kids along the way. I'm thinking about becoming either a child psychologist or a criminal psychologist. So therefore I feel that working with children at an Elementary school is helping me gain experience interacting with them. In the future I may be doing the same thing. I feel this same way for my medium and long term goal. 

The knowledge from my service site that I will utilize to reach my goals is to just have patience and stay on the right track. I know that with kids I have to be patient because some can be hard to work with. I know that I will have to continue being on track and staying positive, the same way I am at my service site.

Understanding past issues of diversity and tolerance can help me define these goals by trying to be more open minded. By being more open minded to others diversity I will be able to accept other people for their different culture or background. I know I will come across a lot of different people in my future. 

Social Media

What is your reaction to the presentation last week on “Netiquette” and what will you be doing differently after having heard Tracy speak?  Do you believe social media will impact you at your learning site and/or in your future career, and how?

My reaction to the presentation last week is that it was very interesting. A point that Tracy mentioned that stood out to me was about how everything that we post online can eventually catch up to you if it is negative. This is an important point about privacy because you will never make a clear defined line between your private life and your educational or even work life. Many people are unaware of their privacy settings on things like Twitter and Facebook and they may post something from their private life that may not be needed to know. 

What me, personally, will be doing differently online is making sure that I just don't post anything that I wouldn't want an employer or even my mom to look at. Chances are that if its THAT inappropriate it shouldn't be said publicly online anyways.

I don't think that social media will impact my worksite, this is because I'm going to be working with kids and I cant have any outside connection with them. However when it comes to my future career, I will just limit my life to  having a work side, and then a personal side. But as of now, I don't have anything negative in the social media. If anything I have good things because of situations I've had in school. For example, my blogs and things I've been apart of in in high school.

Community Service

A way that I expect the community that I am serving to satisfy me is by everyone doing their own fair share of helping the community also. Serving my community makes me feel like a better person at the end of the day. I think that if everyone took the time to be involved in some type of community service that they'd feel better about themselves too. It would satisfy me to see more people engage in helping each other in our community instead of everyone doing things for themselves only.

Two ways that I will take responsibility for that community is: One, by making sure I fulfill all the hours of community service that I need to plus more. By doing this I know that I will feel like a achieved something great. And by two, encouraging others to partake in community service. I could encourage my friends to do things for people in our community that doesn't involve in receiving money. If I do this I know I can make a difference within the community not by just actively DOING community service but by telling others to be involved too.