Category: About Myself

At this point in my life, I know nursing is my calling, for as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be a nurse. When you involve your faith in God and make sure everything you do is within his will, it seems like nursing comes as second nature to me. Helen Keller once said,” Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence” (Helen Keller, 2019). I have been around caretakers since a little girl. My grandparents owned a Boarding Home and my grandmother rented out rooms to farm workers who weren’t from Florida. She provided three meals a day and ensured the home was clean and safe. By watching my family take care of total strangers was so amazing to me, when I was a little girl. So, I believe nursing is a discipline of knowledge acquired both through formal education and through life experiences.

It’s so important to show patients and family members that you not only have the knowledge it takes to care for the lives of others but the responsibility for your own actions as well. Knowledge is the core of success in nursing and learning should be a lifelong process. To me philosophy of nursing is being empathetic, having integrity, and respecting patients as a whole including the mind, body, and spirit. Nursing involves showing true compassion to a total stranger and treating them like one of your own family members without judgment or personal bias. For many years I watched different people living and staying in my grandparents’ homes. Many of them stayed there until they passed away. By being introduced at a young age how to care for and love people no matter their race, sex, or culture; you treat everybody with care and respect. So, to me, when you show your patients that you care, respect them, and are honest with them goes a long way. Maya Angelou once said,” I have learned that people will forget what you have said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel” (Maya Angelou Quotes, 2019).

My professional goals are to continue my education until I receive my ARNP in Family Practice. By increasing my accountability, receiving a higher level of education, allows me to become more knowledgeable about the human body and the different disease processes. By increasing my knowledge, I can better take care of patients in any health condition, situation, or crisis. I will continue to be compassionate, and non-judgmental and care for my patients and their family members resulting in positive patient outcomes. No matter what their culture or lifestyle, I will always show kindness, be patient, and be respectful of others and their feelings. My professional goals as they apply to clinical practice are to continue to provide excellent patient-centered care, show the same high-quality care to all patients, and continue to develop my interpersonal skills. The future has its place for those who have faith in the beauty of their dreams.

My responsibility in the online learning environment is to be proactive by effectively using time management, being organized, and completing assignments by due dates. I will be responsible for managing all course material. I will be self-motivated taking the responsibility of reaching out to the instructor for any help or clarification that I may need. I will be accountable for all my actions, making sure to use proper documentation and citations when using any scholarly sources. 

I recently completed the Clifton Strengths Survey, and I learned that focus is my first strength where I follow my path in a right direction. I always focus on the things I want and be on track. My second strength is relator. I get satisfaction working with team members and enjoy building strong relation with others. Communication is my third strength. I never feel shy to express my feelings and experiences with others. My fourth strength is responsibility. I believe in fulfilling my obligations towards my family, friends or workplace with honesty to meet my commitments and handle the situation strongly. Finally, my fifth strength is maximizer. I have a faith in natural talents. I build my strengths to stimulate my personal and group excellence. From my success coach, I learned to focus on my strengths rather than my weakness to get excellence in goals by turning talents into strengths. Likewise, I learned how to use our different strengths together at correct levels to produce the desired outcomes. Similarly, he guided me to follow the modern talents into strengths avoiding traditional style by realizing real talents.

Actually, I was really surprised to know about my third strength which is communication. My happiness knew no bounds when I got to know that I can easily seek the attention of others by expressing my ideas and emotions on the respective topic. Honestly, I did not realize that my communication is my strength because I had a bad experience at my past. For instance, once, I delivered a speech on ‘My Life, My Choice’ from which I got bad response about my emotions abusing me for being selfish without understanding my true intuition. That situation leads me to stop expressing much. But now, I learn to express myself because I believe, ‘Never allow yourself to be defined by someone else’s opinion of you’.

I can easily resonate with my fifth strength, maximizer. Since, from my childhood, I believe in my self-intuition rather than my weakness. I am quite skeptical person and follow the path of my own rules to explore talents into success rather than listening the opinions of others to obtained excellence. For example, few months ago, I wanted to establish a children’s club for the well-being of today’s children for better future. But people of my society were against different motivational coaching session that focuses to avoid depression among the children. However, I believe on my idea and encourage the society to support the right things and finally, I succeed in improving the better condition of depressed children.

My top five strengths can help me to achieve the purpose of my life by developing positive psychology and the concept of PERMA, which are positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment (Kem, Waters, Adler and White, 2015). Similarly, for my focus talents, I must be clear about my goals and be on the right track. However, focusing on my career, I have to maintain my personal relationships with my family and friends by giving them time, developing understanding power with my employees to maintain positive emotions. Furthermore, utilizing my communication skills for different advertisement, my business activities, promotion of my articles would help me to engage with my audience which lead me to become more responsible for my society wellbeing. Likewise, I must believe in my talents and intuition and spend time with successful people who discover their strengths to learn optimism and flow in life (Seligman, 2002). Overall, if I use my strengths into proper action, then I can achieve excellence in my life.

I think that the fear of losing hope and underestimating myself in tough situations are the greatest challenges which may create disturbances for reaching my career goals. It is true that sometimes, my confidence slow down when I see the crowd and complexities near me which distract me from reaching my goals. For overcoming these challenges, I must maintain my first strength (focus) and fifth strength (maximizer) talents. For instance, if I stay focused on my direction, it brings me motivation from inside rather than losing hope. In the same way, if I follow my decisions and feeling, then I am never going to underestimate myself in any situation as ‘You change the world by being yourself’.

References

1. Kern, M.L.,Waters, L. E., Adler, A., & White, M. A. (2015). A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Well-Being in Students: Application of the PERMA Framework. The journal of positive psychology, 10(3), 262-271.
2. Reeve, J. (2014). Understanding Motivation and Emotion. John Wiley & Sons.
3. Seligman, M. E. (2002). Positive Psychology, Positive Prevention, and Positive Therapy. Handbook of positive psychology, 2(2002), 3-12.

“No, but where are you really from?”. This question, this seemingly straightforward, succinct question has brought forth anything but clarity for me. Most people expect me to answer with India, and yes, the majority of my blood and ancestry originate from there. However, I’ve never lived one day of my life there, I cannot speak a single word of one of its more than 22,000 dialects, and I do not practice Hinduism. I have never felt truly honest calling myself Indian. Identity, specifically cultural identity, is a topic I have struggled with for some time. The older I become, the more I recognize the significance my culture holds on my identity. I have often been called a coconut (brown on the outside, white on the inside), ABCD (American-born confused desi), or sometimes simply just ‘white’.

I have been labeled someone who behaves more in accordance with North American culture than their Indian roots, someone who abandons their roots for Western integration. But this is not who I am. Am I rootless or am I free? I never thought of race as a big part of who I was, or that it should dictate any of the choices that I make in my life. However, the older I get, the more I realize that the unfortunate reality is color matters to people a lot more than we would like to think. I often feel limited by my inherited cultural identity. I find that people categorize my exterior cultural identity to be more important than my authentic self, and this makes me question what exactly my roots are. However, I have learned to know myself, mostly through introspection, memories of my past, and expectations of my future.

No one else could ever know enough about me to know what my true identity is. What others perceive as my identity, is precisely that: their perception. They may base this on my appearance, words, or actions, yet these are only observed from an external viewpoint which proves nothing of my inner worth. My fusion of cultures has given me perspectives on life that you cannot learn. Being Indian, Canadian, English, and Singaporean has only strengthened my abilities as an individual. I have knowledge and thoughts in me that can only be inherited by leading this multicultural life. I am more than just my color. I have grown up mixing and merging different cultures, essentially creating my own. I am not singular, I am a culmination; a citizen of the world. Am I rootless or am I free?

Personally, I believe that our identities are dynamic and ever-changing. To try and look for a static is a mistake. You are not assigned an identity, you evolve into it. As you discard the image of the formed self you allow the authentic self to emerge. A strong, authentic identity is upheld by the capacity to realize and come to love who you are, not settling for anything less. Four Guiding Principles of Self-Betterment I am a woman independent of the good opinion of others I am a woman who cultivates peace of mind. I am a woman who meets each day with reverence for the opportunities it contains I am a woman who lives in a constant state of gratitude for everything I have 

Writing an essay describing yourself and your story is very intimidating. Coming up with a topic can be challenging. So, I asked my mom, and she said: “Write about your art or your love of animals!”. I found that cute, I thought it would describe me as a girl that likes to draw all day long and spend all my time playing around with animals. My dad said: “Write about a business degree and how it can lead to success”. While this idea sounded fine to him, I decided that it could make me sound boring.

I could easily have written about any of these things but something was not right. I’ve been told that a college entrance essay needs to describe you, to tell the readers something that they needed to know about you. I felt none of these topics could explain the essence of me in 650 words or less. The problem is that I am not quite sure how to describe myself.

When I was younger, I could have easily described myself because I was sure of who I was. I was a Baptist Puerto Rican. I was conservative. I hung out with overachievers. I disliked athletes and people who only wore brand name clothes and accessories. I frowned up girls who liked things that I thought were immature or silly. My favorite book was ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ by John Boyne, and I was sure I wanted to be a music producer when I grew up.

Some things haven’t changed but a lot of other things have. I’m still a Puerto Rican Baptist and a conservative, although my beliefs are no longer so black and white. Yes, many of my friends are overachievers and I still value their academic intelligence very much. The difference is that I no longer see intelligence as a single idea. I have come to admire a person’s ability to make Music or art or to simply be a thoughtful person just as much as I respect the courses they take or the kinds of books they read. Most important, I have come to see and respect those traits in myself.

I’m no longer sure I have only one favorite book. When asked, I name some ranging from science fiction to historical dramas. I’ve come to see my parents as people and have learned from their good and bad qualities. I completely changed my mindset of what I want to be when I grow up. I still love music and the arts but I have found a passion for forensic psychology.

I’ve learned that I am also many other things. I am a girl who sits on her bed thinking about theories on deviant behavior, but I am also a girl who watches ‘Stranger Things’ and thinks science fiction is cool. I love my mom’s bacalaitos (cod fritters), talking to friends and learning about the psychology of deviant behavior.

These things are all a part of me, but not all of my story. In fact, they are all things that other people might suggest that I write an essay about. This essay, however, is distinctively me, just as I intend to live my life.

The past 4 years of high school have been an experience in self-discovery and I expect the next 4 will be as well. While I feel I know more about myself now than I ever have before, I recognize that there is a lot more there that I don’t know. I have the rest of my life to figure out who I am and what I’m here for.

Introduction

This Professional Development Portfolio aims to explain and critique my personal development goals in the form of SMART goals. Using my own skills to self-reflect on my strengths and weaknesses, I will be able to build and improve the skills that will be essential for my future as a student and as a future graduate seeking employment. This skill development will be assessed based on theoretical concepts, academic journals as well as results from group activities. As part of the self-reflection, this report will also include improved SMART goals that have been altered based on my own personal experiences since the PDP checkpoint.

Section 1: self-reflection

A) Motivation

“Motivation is the driving force that empowers action” (Lai, 2011, p. 17).

Since the creation of my SMART goal in regards to increasing my own personal level of motivation as well as others, I have made significant progress. “Employee motivation is considered as a force that drives the employees toward attaining specific goals and objectives of the organization” (Shahzadi, et al., 2014, p. 159), although in this case, it is not with employees but with university students, my mindset is justified by Shahzadi’s academic journal. My own personal motivation thrives from wanting to do well and get good grades, which correlates to McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 405) in particular the achievement aspect (refer to Appendix B). Since this course relies on teamwork for some of the marks, I tried to engage and draw out my teammates’ own motivation for doing well in this course. The way I went about doing this was based on reinforcement and extrinsic rewards (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 422, p. 418). Using positive reinforcement, I was able to instill a sense of community within the group. This friendly culture allowed for my teammates to speak freely and not be insecure about their level of English and thus, we were able to be an effective team for the Liberty Air Gamulation. Also, another factor which had contributed to my teammate’s high level of motivation was the risk of failing. During our meetings and tutorials, I emphasized the risks of failing a course, which further improved their attitude to studying.

The level of motivation that I instilled within my team is apparent with the Liberty Air Gamulation marks. Although our final marks are not substantially high compared to the rest of the cohort, there was a big increase between crises 1 and 2, and crises 3 and 4 (refer to Appendix A). My teammates, who are predominantly international students, tend to keep to themselves and due to the language barrier, communicating with them has been a struggle. However, this did not deter me from wanting to draw out their full ability to do their very best in this course. There were countless occasions during the hours that we met up for the Gamulation when I attempted to increase their level of motivation. This can be proven by the peer feedback that I received from one of my teammates (refer to Appendix C). To increase the level of motivation within my group, I adopted Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (Kinicki, et al 2018., p. 407-408) as well as Shahzadi’s beliefs that “… intrinsic rewards positively motivate employees and ultimately affect their individual performance”. In particular, I adopted the theory of motivators to ensure that they were satisfied with completing the Gamulation to a high standard. This theory is also discussed in Shahzadi’s academic journal. With the use of a team agreement that was given to us in our tutorial, we were able to adapt that to the Liberty Air Gamulation. Thus, everyone was able to understand their roles and were accountable for their actions and their impact on the satisfaction scores. According to Herzberg, the aspect of accountability is a motivating factor. Using this, I was able to encourage my teammates that they try their hardest in order to not let the team down. This increased level of motivation can be further reinforced in the marks given in the peer review (refer to Appendix E). For crises 1 and 2, my teammates gave me an average score for motivation and conflict management of 4. This was increased by 0.3 to an improved score of 4.3 for crises 3 and 4, hence, qualitatively showing how I increased my level of motivation as well as my teammates.

B) Teamwork

“Trust is essential and without it, social groups cannot function properly” (Illes & Mathews, 2015, p. 5).

My SMART goal for teamwork, to be specific, the ability for me to develop total trust for my whole team has not been achieved. That is, I need to have “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth” (Becton, et al., 2002, p. 1) of my teammates. This trust includes having faith in my team to turn up for group meetings, replying to the intended communication channels that were agreed upon, and ultimately, trying their best in cases where group work is needed such as the Liberty Air Gamulation. Initially, I adopted strategies to increase trust by focusing on creating an open and friendly culture, as well as having clear and mutual accountability for the roles that were assigned (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 447). However, since the PDP checkpoint, I have come to realize that this method was not working. Although I have instilled motivation within my teammates, I cannot seem to have complete trust in my team. Instead, of focusing more on teamwork, I believe that having a key leadership role is essential for my team to work efficiently and deliver high-quality results.

During the first crisis of the Liberty Air Gamulation, I witnessed that there was a substantial amount of conflict present. At first, I had thought that this was due to the team having its first actual problems and it was our own way of working through it. However, for the second crisis, it became apparent that there were no more conflicts. Instead of engaging with others and giving reasons as to why each decision was bad, a majority of decisions were made via groupthink (refer to Appendix D). Each decision was made quickly due to nearly everyone “agreeing for the sake of unanimity” (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 451). At this point, I believed that the team just did not want to try anymore, and thus, was a moment that reinforced why I do not have faith in my team. This change in mentality from the team resulted in extremely poor results for the Liberty Air Gamulation (refer to Appendix A – Labor Perfect Storm). However, this changed for crises 3 and 4. Whilst there was a conflict during the first crisis, the third and fourth crises all had a dysfunctional conflict, one that “hinders the organization’s (in this case team) performance or threatens its interest” (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 454). The way that we approached each decision was very confrontational, with most decisions from each member’s respective roles being heavily questioned by everyone else. Although the management theory suggests that our performance should deteriorate, it was actually the opposite. Despite the team playing devil’s advocate and not putting forth one good point for any decision, our results improved. Despite this improvement, I still have a lack of faith in my team since, instead of making the arguments they put forth strictly relating to the Gamulation, some had personal effects on some members. This not only reduces the trust that I have in the team, but it also reduces the trust that the members involved have in the team.

Section 2: Smart Goals

A) Strength. SMART. Description of Goal #1

Specific

I wish to improve my leadership skills by understanding and applying suitable leadership approaches to various parts of my life. This may include trying different approaches to leadership such as valuing relationships over task completion or vice versa when taking on tasks in my society as well as doing group work and/or assignments.

Measurable

I will be successful on a variety of factors. These include getting above 70% satisfaction when peers review my leadership qualities within my society, the growth of subcommittee members by 30%, and having at least 3 different approaches to every problem that I encounter.

Attainable

To attain these goals, I will develop a team agreement that will clarify each team member’s role and task requirement before the project begins to ensure accountability for one’s actions. I will also be proactive in approaching members and helping with their inquiries with a high level of emotional intelligence and empathy.

Results-oriented

These goals will allow me to make the most of the opportunity to be given a leadership role within the society. It will also increase the level of commitment and motivation among those that are under my leadership.

Time-bound

I aim to meet this goal by the end of semester 2 in 2020.

B) Development area. SMART. Description of Goal #2

Specific

I wish to consider a wide range of decision-making approaches in a variety of different situations in order to reduce the level of emotion and bias associated with the decision. This will also make my decision-making process be done in a timely manner. This will include basing my decisions on a rational model that satisfies most of the affected parties (Kinicki, et al., 2018 p. 234).

Measurable

I will be successful when a peer review of my performance in instances such as group work reveals that my decisions were logical and were made in a timely manner.

Attainable

I intend to encourage group participation in the decision-making process as this will lead to efficient brainstorming of possible solutions to the problem. If this were to be an individual activity, all brainstorming would be done by myself. From here, to make the decision-making process as rational as possible, all solutions will be reliant on evidence-based decision-making, which “brings rationality to the decision-making process” (Kinicki, et al., 2018, p. 237). This can be done by rating all solutions on the same criteria and seeing which solution is ranked first, implying that said solution should be chosen.

Results-oriented

Improving on this goal will allow me not only to be efficient with my decision-making process, but it will eliminate any biases that may affect my decision-making. It will allow me to come across as a fair individual who makes decisions based on facts rather than my own personal emotions.

Time-bound

I intend to develop this style of decision-making by the week before semester 1 of 2020 starts, so I can implement it into my studies.

Conclusion

“An individual’s strong understanding of the reason why they pursue their own goals is a fundamental driver behind consistent work habits and achieving long-term goals (Sinek, 2018, p. 12). When an individual’s goals are based on a theoretical framework, their own critical self-reflection will allow them to realize what worked and what hasn’t. Through trial and error of different methods, it will ultimately result in the individual reaching the intended result. Through analyzing motivation and teamwork data that was collected from a wide variety of sources, I have found out that although I was able to strengthen what I already perceived to be my strength, that is the ability to have a high level of motivation as well as to be able to instill this to others, my weakness still lies with having trust with my team. As such, I have created improved SMART goals that aim to target this weakness. This report will allow me to explore different approaches that can be applied to motivation, teamwork, leadership, and decision making which will ultimately be useful in the future.

References

1. Becton, C. et al., n.d. Building Teamwork and the Importance of Trust in a Business Environment. [Online] Available at: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HR/HR01800.pdf [Accessed 7 October 2019].
2. Illes, K. & Mathews, M., 2015. Leadership, Trust, and Communication: Building Trust in Companies through Effective Leadership Communication. [Online] Available at: https://www.allthingsic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Trustreport-1.pdf [Accessed 7 October 2019].
3. K., S.-L., P. & Williams, 2018. Management: A Practical Introduction, Sydney: McGraw-Hill Education (Australia).
4. Lai, E. R., 2011. Motivation: A Literature Review. [Online] Available at: https://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/Motivation_Review_final.pdf [Accessed 9 October 2019].
5. Shahzadi, I. et al., 2014. Impact of Employee Motivation on Employee Performance. 6(23), pp. 159-166.

Moments in a person’s life will largely affect one’s mental growth at some point, and I, like many others have learned from it. The hard-working woman I am today is only because of how I was raised. Through yearly family gatherings, my views on the world have been shaped and allowed me to grow into the strong person I am today.

Although I was raised in the small town of Texarkana, an important part of my upbringing happened in Lubbock, Texas. It began as a tradition. Once a year my family would pack up their bags and take a week-long vacation to visit my father’s side of the family. Because they live so far away it’s a rare occasion that the opportunity arises for us to see each more than once a year. For as long as I can remember this trip was something to look forward too, and there a certain aspect that never failed to spark my excitement. It’s the gathering of all my family members to spend time together, commonly known as family game night. We would spend hours awaiting night time to come so we can begin, and it was something we upheld almost religiously.

My family would gather around the table and bring out the boxes of board games that were stored in the cabinets. The fresh scent of pumpkin bread filled the air, while we argued over which activity to play tonight, and waited for the rest of my family to arrive. Through these small moments I was shown the importance of keeping in touch with your family members, and received a glance at the hard work that was put in to make these nights happen. One of my favorite games to play is card games. I learned many skills through them, and one of the most important things they taught me were how to multitask and work together as a team. These nights show an unexpected importance in my life and has helped me become good at teamwork, being able to work problems through, and given me a chance to become a better person.

These trips have always been held dearly in my heart, they fueled my knowledge and helped me outgrow my shell. The games were never meaningless fun to pass the time, and they were well worth the long drive. A foundation of comfort and trust were laid upon us, and helped shaped the person I am proud to be today. Because of these nights I was given the tools I need to thrive in life and I will continue to uphold these lessons every day.

Every student alive in this world must have academic success and vocational calling in college for what they want in life and to know what they want to become when they grow up, not only that but to acknowledge their strengths that can pursue their goals. Academic success from my perspective in college is all about making outstanding grades in all of your classes, volunteering in organizations or clubs that benefits you positively, and making the four years of your college meaningful. Vocational calling is basically a call from beyond each individual self, to execute an individual strengths, achievements, and gifts to benefit and make the world a better place through service, creativity, and leadership in college. A call can also mean a sense that God has a plan for you to do, like a mission. Discovering vocation is very important because it reveals your capabilities of your identity.

My vocational calling is to serve and help others and contribute good things that enable human life to flourish, that is the reason why when I grow up, I want to be a psychiatrist. That is my goal, and by doing so that is where academic success comes into play. I need to excel in all of my classes as usual, have some clinical hospitals experience by shadowing doctors, joining clubs that relates to medical fields, and going into pre-med. Given my five top strength that will benefit my goal which are harmony, responsibility, consistency, connectedness, and positivity. I believe all my strength are useful.

Connectedness is one of my signature strengths that will help me be successful and achieving my goal, people who inherit this strength particularly think that things happen for a reason. They have a powerful conviction that everyone is connected. That they build bridges for people of different cultures. They give others comfort that there is a purpose beyond everyday existence. They are the ones most likely to help those around you cope with unpredictable and unexplainable events. They will bring them a sense of stability as they handle the unexpected. This signature strength is beneficial for me becoming a psychiatrist because it considers a role for me to connect with people who have mental health illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, or PTSD so that I can listen to them and counsel them as well which is very crucial when it comes to being a psychiatrist. Connectedness is all about adapting at helping people see connections and purposes in everyday occurrences, and it is difficult to know that people who suffer from depression or ADHD see themselves helpless and don’t see themselves as a normal human being. According to this signature strength, in order put connectedness into practice, I can explore specific ways to expand your sense of connection, like starting a book club, attending a retreat, or joining an organization like I’m starting to do. I’m going to start joining clubs like the American Red Cross, going to Young Life, and etc. Moreover, another reason why this signature strength relates to me is because you have to be caring, accepting, and considerate in order to connect with people. Which is the three adjectives that describe me and helps me willingly to reach out to others in need.

Another signature strength that will help me be successful towards my goal is harmony. People with harmony talents want peace and try to bring others together. They see what people have in common, even during conflict. People who have strong harmony talents build a network of people with differing perspectives on whom you can rely on when you need expertise. Their openness to other viewpoints will help you learn. This signature strength can help me be successful achieving this goal because my goal is to bring peace into conflicts and try to steer others away from confrontation and toward reconciliation. In order to get there, you got to take a conflict-resolution course in an area such as nonverbal communication, accept the responsibilities of being a good team member, and consider taking a class to tune into your interpersonal skills. Acquiring negotiation habits and loquacious skills will help you adapt to certain styles and help you prevent or resolve future disputes or conflicts.

So, all students got to have academic success and vocational calling in order to succeed at a goal you want to achieve in life, but most importantly to find their strength in which they are capable of doing such as myself. My vocational calling is to help and counsel others by being a psychiatrist and in order to pursue that goal, I have to know what might strengths are which includes two of the signature strengths that I believe will help me be successful towards my goals and to have academic success, meaning to succeed in your classes, joining and excelling at clubs, organizations and achieving greater things in college.

Upon reflection, I have discussed how changes in my motivation levels were severely impacted both negatively and positively in year 9 due to unexpectedly flying overseas for a very sick family member. Bronfenbrenner’s sociocultural model of development is the “concept of the ‘ecological niche’ is a very useful way to think about and analyze the context of childhood” (Clark, 2010), this piece will discuss how the microsystem, mesosystem, ecosystem, and macrosystem were being impacted. Also linking how intrinsic motivation is “motivated by factors within themselves or inherent in a task they are performing” (McDevitt. Ormrod, 2013) and extrinsic motivation is “motivated to either attain or avoid to extrinsic motivation certain consequences in the outside world” (McDevitt. Ormrod, 2013) played an aspect and were influenced during year 9. Furthermore, I to continue with what strategies or supporting mechanisms were put in place to help assist my learning and development as my motivation levels.

Finding motivation after losing a close family member is tough and challenging even when all microsystems are around, however not having the main microsystems can definitely affect a person’s sense of self. Microsystem “is the setting in which the individual lives. These contexts include a person’s family, peers, school, and neighborhood.” (Christensen, 2016). The first microsystem impact was peers, as flying overseas and not seeing or having the normal support system impacted my motivation levels as I leaned on them for help, guidance, and motivation. The second microsystem impacted was school, as not having the normal structure was unbalancing and unsettling as I didn’t have my teachers or allocated time to learn and develop therefore allowing my studies to slip and leading to the decline in my motivation and confidence levels. Not having these two main microsystems meant that important aspects such as trust, reliability, and support to a person’s sense of self could contribute to low self-confidence as “children seldom put themselves in situations where they believe they won’t succeed” (McDevitt. Ormrod, 2013). Even though my motivation levels were declining, my connection with my family was strong and continued to strengthen as they provided inspiration and support, allowing for my self-confidence to grow as I didn’t feel alone or that I couldn’t succeed. Having my family allowed me to keep on track and keep motivated which was a huge part of my learning and development in year 9. My intrinsic motivation was increased due to family because they were a huge part of my sense of self defined as “Knowledge, beliefs, judgments and feelings about oneself as a person this motivation” (Christensen, 2016), I became motivated to continue to work and finish it to then be able to spend as much quality time possible with them. The next system from Bronfenbrenner’s sociocultural model of development is the Mesosystem referring to “relations between microsystems or connections between contexts.” (Christensen, 2016). One relation was between myself and my family, having such a strong connection with my family meant that I was able to feel supported and therefore motivated and confident in my studies. Another relation is between me and the school, telling the school on the day you are leaving is not ideal however thankfully the connection between the school and myself was positive. Having this strong positive connection, especially with the teachers allowed them to be supportive and allowed me to feel supported as they were providing work solutions to how I would be able to continue to learn and develop overseas without being jeopardized and left behind.

In addition to Bronfenbrenner’s sociocultural model of development, there are two more systems to be discussed. Firstly, the exosystem is defined as “involves links between the social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual’s immediate context” (Christensen, 2016). The exosystem is influenced by the rules and curriculum that the government had set for all school pupils in different year levels to follow and pass to ensure they are adequate for the next year’s content. Being away from school for 2 months was a large proportion of the school year, so maintaining motivation was important to pass year 9. This impacted my sense of self as spending time with family is valuable however knowing there were deadlines and a criterion to meet changed the importance of schoolwork and increased my self-motivation as the fears of failing subjects grew although decreased my happiness and freedom as spending time with my family had to become limited and not the number one priority. Secondly, the Macrosystem described as the “overall societal culture in which individuals live” (Christensen, 2016) was related to socioeconomic status which is the “social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation” (American Psychological Association, n.d). Being overseas while still studying was difficult and challenging however, fortunately being a part of a high socioeconomic status enabled me to afford and have the privilege to use resources such as laptops to help my learning and development even from afar. Having these resources enabled me to still keep in contact with teachers when necessary and be able to access the workbooks and tasks assigned, it, therefore, kept me on track as I knew what was required of me and kept me motivated. My extrinsic motivation was impacted by the exosystem and macrosystem as having the school curriculum to adhere to and having the teacher frequently checking up on the completed work meant that I was continually motivated to avoid the negative consequences that would occur if I didn’t abide by. However, even though I had the motivation to continue studying, it felt forced and made it hard to stay motivated as my priority during this time was to spend as much time with my family.

Throughout this period of year 9, the motivational levels have increased but also decreased due to different reasons. It was so important that strategies were put in place to allow for learning and development to continue while being far away. One strategy was that my teacher would send me work online to assist with my studies however to check up at the end of every week or every second week. Another strategy was allocating a time and place with my cousin who was a teacher to help guide me and encourage me through this work. Having both these strategies not only helped tremendously as there was someone to answer questions if need be, keep my motivational levels up but also try creating a similar structure to the school dynamic.

To conclude, motivation levels will never always be the same, different factors such as who you are, what you believe in, and what inspires you will play a huge part. Although there are always ways and strategies to help continue to motivate and inspire people.   

Christmas uplifts the spirit and brings joy every month of December. It is one of the most awaited and highlighted seasons of the year. A magical time for every family to bond, dine and have a great fun and feast together.

My Christmas vacation has always been great although it has been years since we’ve spend it together as one. Most of our family members are working abroad, which makes it hard for them to come home in this kind of occasion but everyone’s in touch as we celebrate Christmas, making it feel like everybody’s home. As this season approaches, I can almost feel the enchantment and radiance of twinkling lights, the calm breeze coming out from my window, the joy of the children singing every Christmas song they know, and the warmth of everyone’s smile around me. Christmas is indeed the spirit of giving. It is a time of giving and sharing that brings happiness and satisfaction to those you love. It took me a long time to think of a perfect gift to give but I remember a friend of mine once told me, “It is the thought that counts. As long as it comes from the heart, it will be more than appreciated.” I went to the mall with my friends to buy gifts with the amount of money I could only afford/I had. It may not be as good as those you see in the market nor the finest ones crafted with signature brands but it will surely carve into one’s smile. As I grew up I learn to appreciate the simple things around me no matter how big or small it is and I hope it will be the same for them. I can hardly wait to see the smiles on their faces as soon as they unwrap their gifts. We also attended midnight masses together to remind us how much we are loved and should love. I’ve spend Christmas Eve with a simple feast on the table with my grandparents and cousin. We were able to get in touch with our loved ones across the country that brought us closer together. Moreover, I get to eat my favorite desserts I always make in this kind of occasion. Christmas will always be my favorite holiday of the year because I get to spend time with my loved ones and I get to take a break from the busy school days. It may not be as amazing as what I’ve seen in the movies. It’s too old for me to believe in a man with a beard wearing red suit and costly for me to travel abroad and experience snow. I had a blast this Christmas vacation not because of the things I received but with the amount of love I’ve felt from the people around me. It’s all about the time, effort, and bonding spent with our family near or far and cherishing those moments by heart. Nothing can be compared to this because the love of a family will always be one’s greatest blessing.

This holiday season we must look at the Christmas tree in a new light for us to see the true beauty of this holiday celebration in which we often mistakenly forget in its true value and essence that is forged in our customs and traditions from previous generation to the present ones. Let us celebrate Christmas simply but with abundant love to share around us. Fill our hearts with pure happiness and genuine love because Christmas is always found/felt in one’s heart.

We know Christmas is a good holiday for many reasons and also it is the most exciting part and wonderful time of year. So after our Christmas Party, I am so excited to go to my hometown Puerto Galera and I have always thought that “I am spending my Christmas with my family” and yes I am so happy. Ofcourse because no one deserve to be sad this Christmas. Being excited I cannot sleep while on my way to our province and I think that is cute.

After a long traveling time, Finally, I am Home. The long wait is over. My mom hug me tight because we missed each other. I feel the Christmas spirit because of the cold wind, Santa Clause Statues on our house, Christmas Lights and also the most tradition that always happen in Christmas is the “Caroling” and also the most exciting in our province is to see my cousins and to spend quality time with them, I do not know why it is different when I am with my cousins, I think the smile on our faces say it all and that is the best. December 25 the Christmas Day, The most exciting day, the birth of Jesus Christ. Everyone feels the joy and peace of this special day. And also everyone have a lot of food, so I am getting fat again but nevermind its Christmas. After Christmas, we spend time again with my cousins, Just a bonding moment like sharing funny experience, childhood memories etc. After that, I realize that “There’s no place like home” because it is home with love I have always thought that I want to stay here in our province for a long time, And I said that I do not want to go to manila again. Because there’s no happines in manila just like in province. But I am just kidding but I want that life it can relieve stress. After that everyone getting ready for the New Year and sad because there was a tropical depression that possibility to have a chances of rain. Suddenly it is rainy, everyone buying fruits and firecrackers for new year. Later on we go to church with my cousins to thank the blessing the we have in 2018 so after that finally we are waiting for the 2019 we just bond again and again. That is my experience this holiday season with my family, cousins, and friends so finally the most exciting season of the year is over. After all that I have experience this holiday season I just want to thank to god for giving me an amazing family and amazing people in my life. That always sending love and kindness not just only for me but also for eveyone of us. And that’s it. I am going to manila again, but I never forget the love and the happiness that I have this meaning ful vacation, I will bring it to manila the memories that we have shared together. “Bye Province life, do not worry I will be back”.