“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” Three areas in my life where I have broken these walls and mature as a person is when passing my level 8 piano exam, learning how to code, and completing my first service trip. Specifically speaking, I learned practice makes perfect during my piano exam preparation. Coding taught me the importance of patience, as it took countless hours of trial and error in order for me to acquire the perfect code. As for my service trip, it was learning how to step out of my comfort zone so I could develop a mindset filled with compassion instead of pity. Despite the differences in all three experiences, I truly learned what it meant to preserve to the end. First of all, passing my Level 8 RCM Piano …show more content…
When I tried to learn programming, I realized it was a lot harder than I thought and decided to tackle this by taking ICS 2O1. It started off fairly simple, such as learning predefined commands. Then the bomb dropped. We had to take everything we learned and combined it for our culminating assignment. My program, when finished, was over 350 lines long, and over two weeks worth of time was used to perfect my code. During the two weeks, I hit multiple obstacles where the program would not function when shortened. Each time this occurred, I rewrote my program to test different situations until it would function normally. By the end of the two weeks and numerous attempts of trial and error, I managed to shorten my program to 229 lines long. After completing the course with a mark of 95, my sister congratulated me and told me, “Now you can finally maybe join me in Waterloo.” This filled me with a sense of pride because to study Software Engineering at Waterloo had became a dominant goal in my life. This made me realize the potential I can have as a programmer since I do not easily admit defeat. Programming may seem small, but it had taught me to be patient, and the solution will come with …show more content…
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” There's no better quote than this to describe my experience. Prior to the trip, team members learned how to step outside of their comfort zone in order to serve out of compassion. As for myself, I was uncomfortable about many of the tasks given to us. Yet through countless situations where I was required to go beyond my comfort zone, like approaching and talking to a homeless person, I learned that comfort zones are mental barriers that disconnects you from others. My Pastor said to me, “Hey Wendi, it was an awesome chance to work alongside you and see you grow in the past four days.” It was a change in me that not just myself had witnessed. During my post trip meeting, I felt the change. I was not moved by words said to me by families or friends, but moved by the most generous words I heard from those who were homeless. I thought I was undeserving of everything I had, I can spend countless dollars on something I will not necessarily ever use while others are scrambling for a dollar to eat. As a result of this trip, I felt that everyone needs to reflect on their own world and take a look for themselves instead of believing everything they hear. The world needs to learn the importance of equity, and that can first start with
This past summer, I acquired an internship at Baldwin and Lyons, an insurance company in Indianapolis. Every Wednesday during my internship, a couple of employees and I would participate in a prodigious community service project, Meals on Wheels. Throughout the three months that I worked at Baldwin and Lyons, I got acquainted with some of the individuals whom we delivered to. These inspiring individuals were so grateful and appreciative that we took time out of our day to volunteer to do such a service. One elderly woman who we delivered to would sing to us as she came to the front door “good meals, good meals, good meals.” She is one woman that I will never forget. First going into this, I was elated knowing I was I getting out of the office for a few hours. I did not comprehend the fulfillment I would receive from delivering meals to the elderly and disabled. But I am pleased and proud of the work that I have done for Meals on Wheels. There is no better feeling than doing something for someone else and seeing such gratitude for something so simple. Acts 20:35 says, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Peterson). In an effort to revisit and make a difference in my community, I have arranged that over Thanksgiving break, I work Monday through Wednesday delivering for Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana.
The lunch bell rung at full volume as the main doors flung open. I predicted that a herd of people will rush in like the water from a spill gate. But instead every person was a line; in fact it was a neat single filed line. Another thing I was astonished to see was to the fact that every single person I served to was superbly well mannered. It was the magical word of thank-you which left great remarks in my life and made my volunteering experience an enjoyable one. After the shift, I have come to realize that everything my family and friends have said about impoverished people was nothing but just a stereotype. In addition, I have self-discovered that volunteering is what I want to do on my spare time. The joy from making new friends, appreciated and making a difference in society was too meaningful to put in words. From then on, volunteering had become one of my most highly valued priorities. Whenever I have time to spare, I will go
Today was one more of those average days. Saving the world, climbing big ben and snooping around Buckingham Palace. I don’t understand why everyone underestimates me. For all they know I could be putting myself in mortal danger. My headquarters is on the corner of Clapham Junction. I
As Chili Davis says. “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional”. To this day I am still learning more and more about myself everyday. Through my capstone project I learned that to put together a big project like this I have to accomplish a list of things. I should not procrastinate so I am able to get the job done on time and not feel rushed or stressed. I learned that this is hard sometimes when you have a very busy schedule. Often times I was tired or had other work to do so I would push it off. I also learned that I want to go back to Whaley’s in the summer and donate paintings there again because the people were so friendly and I really felt like I was impacting someone's lives.
I have three reasons to continue hoping. They are: my freshman physical science class, the manner in which I came to take calculus in junior year and my experiences with high school swimming. These incidents have, despite the odds against it, added to my confidence in my academic ability and have shown me that there is something to be learned from even the...
I chose to do my service learning project at Feed My Starving Children. I chose this service learning project because I had prior knowledge and experience by doing it with my family and church. Feed My Starving Children has been a huge impact to those who have participated in this service experience because their mission is to pack meals that go to very hungry children around the world. Being from a single parent family, it is hard for us to not be concerned about where the money for food is coming from, yet we have food on our tables for everyday meals. Therefore, I can’t imagine what it is like for those who experience hunger.
For the first time in my 13 years on earth, I was genuinely frightened for my life. In addition to this burden of anxiety, I experienced a rough case of culture shock. Not only was I in the middle of the desert, but I had to connect with children who had experienced life on a completely different level: many were homeless, repeatedly beaten, fed dog food on account of extreme poverty. One young orphaned boy was even sold as a sex slave by his
The focus of my folio for his year was to capture a sense of wonder and curiosity. During unit 3 I began by exploring different mediums to get a feel for the different attributes they bring to a piece. However, I found that though how art was completed is important, the what is more significant. I wanted to tell some sort of story, either one of my own or one that had significantly impacted my life in some form, particularly through childhood. I also aimed to emphasise contrast and symbolism with a touch of dark context. These aspirations for what I visioned at the beginning played a large role in helping me decide what story and emotion I wanted to tell.
TIRAINE, no, RITINAE, no, INAIRET no…..INERTIA! INERTIA! I quickly place the tiles on the board in a moment of victory. Yes, I did just begin my personal statement with a bunch of mumbo jumbo nonexistent words. But this moment, my very first seven letter word in Scrabble, which means an extra fifty points added to your score, accurately represents the joy I feel when playing board games.
I was forced to reevaluate my perspective; I was not there to be their savior, but to help them in the way they asked me to. I learned an important lesson about service; one that I believe it is possible to teach.
This trip was a very humbling experience. The people we served were so grateful and thankful for our help. Some even tried to offer us some of their possession as a token of gratitude. On the last day we got to go to a local market where
Ever since I was a small child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the
The Right Answer Playing the violin is an experience. The friction of bow hair slightly catching on to the strings before smoothly gliding, the warm rich tone as I played an open note, the cloud of rosin as the bow landed on the string with great pressure, the feelings of my fingers flying across the fingerboard, the tension I felt as my fingers stretched to find the note, the weight of the violin on my shoulders accompanied by the pressure of my chin resting on the appropriately named chin rest. Feeling the area between my first finger and my thumb caressing the neck of the violin, my palms, every once in a while, grazing the back of the violin, the bow weighing heavily on the strings as my bow hold allowed the slightest change in pressure to affect the tone and style of the piece, the vibrations of the string reverberating throughout my body. All these sensations resonate within me.
Going into the experience I was open to learning and supportive of those with less than myself, but I was more withdrawn than I see myself now. With this, the values that were gained through volunteering softened my outwards view and also increased by compassion and want to make a change for these people. While addressing the conflict of the homeless population within the cities, I would first choose to focus on areas of affordable housing and supplies. With access to shelter and goods that can be used to clean oneself and their belongings, it portrays an image that would be desirable to employers, thus making the job process slightly more manageable when applying and interviewing for positions. By creating areas that low income citizens can go and afford to shop, it would not only boost their opportunities, it would also boost the local business economy and overall help the area.
I am by myself wearing my blue jeans and an old flannel shirt. It is cool outside but I decided to leave my gloves at home, feeling comfortable with my warm shirt and my sturdy boots.