Category: Personal Experience

“The great mission of our day is not conquering the sea or space, disease, or tyranny. The grand quest which calls to the hero in every one of us is to become fully alive – to stand up and claim our birthright, which is inner freedom, love, and radiant purpose”, said by Jacob Nordby. Throughout my life, I have always thought that a superhero is a humungous man or woman who is gifted with a powerful superpower, and with it, he or she will be able to encounter any challenge. As I grew up, I realized that I changed, my perspective in life changed. Well, that is not an easy thing to say. It is as if a roller coaster bumped into my head and woke me up. As I grew up, I started to realize that even I could become a superhero. A superhero is a person who seeks every opportunity to help others. Any person can be considered a superhero if they save the life of another. Superheroes may be afraid of something, however, they are not afraid of working hard to overcome their fear and face the world. Everyone can be a superhero: your high school teacher, or even a mail carrier. Also, these people have become superheroes of somebody in their lifetime. Your teacher, for example, is already a superhero because he or she was the one who gave you such valuable information; also, teachers are the ones who gifted you with the ability to enter a university and get a good job without going to school and acquiring that knowledge. “Aspire rather be a hero than merely appear as one”, said Baltasar Gracian. We see superheroes in our daily life, and it was a surprise for me to find out that many ordinary people in my life are superheroes. A superhero is someone who is a role model, someone with good character traits, and a positive person that others admire and imitate their actions. Superheroes don’t need to fly or have a certain superpower; they just need to be gifted with a tender heart shining in the night. Some incidents happen in your life that are so memorable and cherishable to you, and they continue to linger in your mind. These events leave an everlasting mark in your life and propose lessons that you can never forget throughout your whole life. In this essay, I want to talk about an incident that happened in my life that made me realized that I am a superhero.

Throughout my life I have been classed as the kind girl; the girl who always studies hard to get good grades, and is very comfortable for herself and outspoken. I have always been happy with myself and had huge confidence in myself. Self-confidence is an issue that is widely ignored by many people as it is either regarded as attention-seeking or humility. I used to be a person who is full of joy, happiness, and cheerfulness. I always had huge confidence in myself, my body, and my personality until these recent years. It all started at the beginning of grade 10, when I started to realize that I am always left out between my close friends. It all started in the first lesson of the year. On the first lesson of 10th grade, I was sitting in class next to my friends, in the meantime, the biology teacher asked each one for his or her name. Then it was my turn to stand up, say my name, and how many years I’ve been in this school. I exhaled, hard: “My name is Malak Elkady and I have been in this school for seven years”. Everyone was looking at me, and then a boy in my class kept on laughing and said harshly: “Miss, you probably will know her name well in a quiet of days because she doesn’t do anything except studying, plus receiving honorable grades”. This incident broke me and made me suffer insecurity.

I started losing my self-confidence and started seeing myself as the worst person in the world. I can’t believe it, the first day of school is finally OVER. I rode the bus with a feeling of shame and unable to defend myself. I started to feel that I was unable to show the world who I am, and I started thinking to myself: “I am not only the girl who gets good grades; I have fun and go out like all other students in my class and I hope that one day they will start to see more of me that just that kind girl in class”. When I finally returned home, I started looking at myself and my body in hatred. It was a huge bump for me because it appears that I started losing my confidence. I didn’t know what to do and how should I solve my problem. I then came up with an idea of enhancing everything in my personality and start making people have a different view on me. This idea will take a long time because I need to become more powerful and regain my self-love, that was a really important key to make everyone see me as a new girl, not just the kind girl, who is a nerd.

Two months of school passed; in the meantime, I was still working on myself and to regain my self-love. What always broke me and made me refuse the journey that I had to enter to overcome my fears were the stereotypes that always made me feel that I wasn’t good enough and that I am not worthy enough. I always kept on saying to myself, I am a hard worker, I should not worry about what other people tell me, and that I am just a normal girl with hopes and dreams that I want to reach. But it always crushed me and a part of me got broken when students at school told me you always get good grades, you never fail, and you always say the correct answer. I always wanted to tell them that they always crushed me when they say these kinds of phrases, although they don’t know how much I was trying.

On that day I decided that I should talk to my mother about what happens to me in school every day and how I started to lose my self-confidence. I started talking to her about the stereotypes I face at my school, and how my friends using me for home works and classwork. Also, I started to tell them that my dreams are getting crushed day by day and how I started to struggle to regain my self-confidence. Then my mother hugged me and calmly told me: “My hard worker and precious daughter, you are putting too much pressure on yourself, let go a little bit and don’t think about what people say from stereotypes, they only say that because they don’t know you well enough. I believe that the most important thing is to start loving yourself and who you are. You also should start to become more powerful and start regaining your love in yourself and your body. I will always be there for you to help you regain your confidence in yourself”. So, then I said to my mother: “I can’t be thankful enough for having you in my life, I love you so much, and thank you for being my inspiration”. At this crucial turning point where I needed guidance, my mother was there for me to help me overcome my fear of losing my faith in regaining self-confidence, and she also gave me a push to try harder to regain my self-confidence.

I was now ready to truly begin my long quest or journey emotionally. I started crossing the threshold between the world I am familiar with, where I am just the kind person who started losing her self-confidence, to the new world, where I started regaining my self-confidence. I started watching many TED Talks about self-confidence, and there was a young woman who said that the first thing she did is went to the mall to get new clothes to change her style and go out of her comfort. So, I decided to do like her to inhibit my self-love again. This action signified my commitment to my journey. Throughout the journey, I started to realize that one of the greatest obstacles that are thrown to my path were my thoughts. My thoughts kept on telling me that I am not beautiful like all the other girls in my class, that I am not powerful enough, and that I won’t be able to get rid of my insecurity. To solve this problem, I started to write my thoughts on paper and right what do I like about myself. Also, I started to try to find solutions for all these thoughts. I started looking at myself in the mirror and started giving myself power by saying, “I am really beautiful and that I have the purest heart”. I realized that saying to myself positive words will help me reach my ultimate goal.

Then I was forced to approach my inmost cave, which is an inner conflict that I still didn’t face. I realized that at that moment I had to overcome the hatred I feel towards my body. I decided to go to a nutritionist to help me lose weight, even though I already had an ideal weight, but I wanted to reach my target weight to love my body. My doctor had a huge role in helping me regain my self-confidence and lose weight. Then I was able to lose weight with the help of my doctor and mother, and hopefully, I finally started to regain my confidence. After that, there was a deep inner crisis that I had to face to overcome my fear. I also said to myself: “I went through a lot and overcome many of my fears to regain my confidence, and throughout my journey I have captured many skills and knowledge, however, what I am missing is being powerful enough to stand up for anyone who hurts me”. Then I yelled fiercely: “SOCIETY IS THE WORST ENEMY ANYONE CAN HAVE AND I HAVE TO OVERCOME MY FEAR OF STANDING UP FOR MYSELF AND THE SOCIETY’S STEREOTYPES”.

Suddenly, the next day, two bullies from my class came to me while I was with my brother. One of them looked with his gloomy eyes to me and said: “Give me your homework, you probably got all the answers correctly, and you probably don’t do anything but study”. The other boy with glasses screamed to my brother. “Go to the resource room, where you belong, and don’t forget to bring me a pen”. So, then I heard a humongous ‘Boom’ and a sudden of the feeling of sadness, and anger. I finally was able to speak up for myself and said to the bullies: “Enough is enough, although you 2 always keep on bullying me and my brother, and you keep on calling me a nerd and calling my brother a ‘special need’, but my brother has the kindest and purest heart in this world. My brother and I can stand up for ourselves and we can stand up for ourselves. From now on we won’t tolerate any bullies around us”.

“OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT”, I said loudly. “I can’t believe that I was finally able to stand up for myself and society’s stereotypes”. Seriously, girl, I thought to myself, you’re like a million times stronger than the obstacles you face.

I can’t believe it. I finally defeated my enemy, which is my thoughts and my fear of standing up for the society’s stereotypes. After a month, I finally realized that I am a superhero and emerged from this battle as a stronger and more powerful person. I said to myself it was time for me to return to my friends as a thinner girl, a more stylish girl, and a more powerful girl with a strong self-confidence in herself. When I was ready to go back to my friends and my ordinary world, I started to doubt myself if I am ready enough to return to my ordinary life. I don’t know why, even though I was a different person, I was still afraid to be broke from my friends and classmates again. I was still afraid after this journey that took me 6 months, they won’t see me as a different person.

The last step in my journey started now. This was my climax in which I had to overcome my fear of returning to my ordinary world. I said to myself: “If I fail, I will suffer, so I have to succeed and not be afraid of returning to my ordinary life”. I realized that now I have grown wiser and more mature to return. I yelled to myself and said: “It is your time to prove to anyone that you are the most heroic person in the world, who was able to overcome all her fears”. Then I finally went out with my friends after 6 months of working hard on myself and not going out with my friends. I have grown as a new person, learned many things, and faced many of my fears, when my friends saw me wearing really lovely clothes, and my hair was done in a really lovely way. Also, I was walking towards them with really powerful self-confidence. They told me: “You look different, and you have become skinny and you look so beautiful in what you are wearing. Also, we feel that you became more confident in me”. I was happy with the words they said to me although they were one of the greatest causes of my fears and they made me lose my confidence, I was happy to put an end to all their stereotypes and prove to them that I am powerful enough to stand up for myself.

“The hero journey is inside of you; tear off the veils and open the mystery of yourself”, said Joseph Campbell. Throughout my journey of regaining my self-confidence I realized that even I can become a superhero, I realized that every person lies within him or her a superhero that is revealed when he or she overcomes a challenge in his or her life. Throughout your life, you are approached by several incidents that change your perspective in your life. It can also make you realize what kind of superhero lies within you. I also realized that a superhero doesn’t need to wear capes, fly, or have a superpower. Also, all superheroes do not want to be famous for their daring acts. Some, however, do not look like a superhero as many would imagine superheroes. I also perceived that every step in your life you will encounter a mission, and to solve this mission or overcome your mission; you will find out that you are a superhero. I realized that through my superhero’s journey I should look on the positive side of everything, and I should extract what I have learned. “Someday you are going to look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart is broken, but your life was changing”, said Elizabeth Gilbert. Life is full of journeys that may break you and crush you, but you always have to stand up again on your feet and face the world.

‘ I trust it is all in all correct to downplay difficult circumstances just relying upon its furthest points. I trust this since it can take the pressure, outrage, and hoist the strain of the circumstance simply as they did in the novel bringing into the world wrongdoing by Trevor Noah, and in the event that I recollect accurately, this was done in my past circumstances too.

First, give me a chance to begin by disclosing to you making light of a major circumstance. Downplaying circumstances is to go about as though something isn’t not kidding, particularly, when it is not kidding. A few people on the planet may concur that it’s an entitlement to do it and others would oppose this idea. For instance in Trevor Noah’s book brought the world wrongdoing he utilizes the saying of downplaying circumstances by saying ‘We as a whole poo the equivalent, regardless of how acclaimed you are’ on the grounds that in those days with politically-sanctioned racial segregation whites were dealt with various and were the famous people and blacks the direct inverse.

I trust that it’s entitlement to downplay circumstances since it can improve the circumstance, be less pushed, and can brighten up the two gatherings engaged with the major circumstance. For instance suppose you are contending with your friends and the contention is heightening, nearly to the point where you all may battle, it’s great to perhaps split a joke that will get others to chuckle just to discharge pressure that you all may have among one another.

A few people will in general feel that it is impolite and puerile that there are individuals that consider downplaying difficult circumstances simply because it can compound the circumstance. For instance, Trevor Noah’s book brought into the world wrongdoing when his mother goes to the police headquarters to report how Abel was mishandling the officer’s joke around saying that she didn’t have a clue what she was discussing and that it was nothing genuine when it truly was.

I additionally trust that creation in light of significant circumstances is a way you can viably unite individuals. For instance suppose somebody near you passes away as opposed to harping on the trouble you can downplay the circumstance, and acquire joy during a period of misery by getting everybody to stop and simply talk and recall the great occasions that went through with the individual that passed.

Another contradicting view a few people had were that it can outrage the individual you are in a significant circumstance with, in light of the fact that imagine a scenario in which they would prefer not to joke or have the strain removed. They can start to feel like you don’t pay attention to them and the circumstance. In any case, as a general rule, everybody needs to downplay difficult circumstances since that measure of pressure you get can without much of a stretch be removed and keep a circumstance path more awful from coming up.

In end, I trust it is directly for individuals to downplay difficult circumstances just when taking thought how awful the circumstance is on the grounds that it unites individuals in harsh promotion times, removes the worry from individuals in the circumstance, and wraps things up it keeps everybody as companions rather than adversaries.

During my undergraduate studies in the medical sciences program, I had the opportunity to study the human body from a biochemical, physiological, and histological perspective. My interest in the clinical anatomy program was piqued while I was studying mammalian histology in my third year. This course was fascinating as it was a perfectly balanced combination of human physiology and anatomy where I learned the function of different types of cells that make up complex organ systems. I was also able to deepen my understanding of concepts through the visual exploration of histological slides.

My interest in teaching was sparked by Dr. Sarah McLean who taught me in several courses including mammalian histology, medical science lab, and diseases of inflammation. I was inspired by her efforts to introduce more interactive and web-based learning to enhance the delivery method of complicated concepts. As well, I was exposed to the flipped classroom technique in her courses, which I found to be an effective and engaging method to solidify my understanding of difficult material. Experiencing different teaching styles throughout my undergraduate studies fueled my desire to enter the field of teaching where I hope to have the opportunity to educate students in a non-superficial manner to ensure students get the most out of their education.

My research experiences come from the medical science lab courses I have taken throughout my third and fourth years where I had the opportunity to learn many lab techniques such as PCR, western blotting, and cell cultures. I am currently enrolled in fourth-year courses where I am learning to critically analyze scientific research articles and assess the validity of novel research findings. I will also learn about the process of developing and defending a thesis, from which I will gain valuable knowledge and skills that will help me succeed in my clinical anatomy research project.

Upon completion of an MSc in Clinical Anatomy, I hope to continue my research in this field and ultimately obtain my Ph.D. in Clinical Anatomy. After my Ph.D., I want to pursue medical education with further specialization in geriatrics. My interest in geriatrics stems from my experience volunteering for the Hospital Elderly Life Program at the Bluewater Health hospital in Sarnia. The purpose of this program is to prevent patients over the age of 65 who have been hospitalized for long periods of time from entering a state of delirium. My purpose as a volunteer was to develop trustworthy connections with patients and engage them in mentally stimulating activities as well as provide social support for patients and their families. Additionally, I documented any signs that indicated changes in the patient’s behavior or cognition. I also addressed patients’ concerns during their time in the hospital in order to alleviate their anxiety. My detailed reports were then reviewed by my supervisor for the purpose of developing a plan of care that is tailored to each individual’s needs. I gained a great sense of fulfillment from this volunteering experience as I was able to positively impact patients’ lives during their recovery process.

I believe that pursuing a career in geriatric medicine and clinical anatomy will fulfill my desire of working directly with elderly people to improve their health while being able to teach students at universities and medical schools. I envision myself using the research training I receive through this program to conduct my own research in the prevention and management of chronic diseases that negatively impact the elderly population, such as COPD and Alzheimer’s disease. I also hope to become affiliated with a teaching hospital where I would be able to take advantage of my teaching skills to educate residents and future physicians about geriatric medicine. Having a strong skillset in teaching, along with my medical knowledge will be of great importance as a medical educator.

The skills I have developed through my undergraduate courses, work, and volunteer experience are highly transferable to the clinical anatomy program. My communication and interpersonal skills were greatly enhanced through direct interactions with patients while volunteering for the hospital. I also developed teamwork and leadership skills through my work experience as a supervisor of my family’s restaurant. I learned to delegate tasks and ensure that the staff is always working together as a team while working with other members of the management to develop strategies for improving staff communication and collaboration. The interdisciplinary nature of my undergraduate courses taught me the importance of collaboration with individuals from different educational backgrounds and expertise. Overall, I believe that my leadership and teamwork skills will allow me to successfully fulfill the expectations of the MSc in clinical anatomy program.

One accomplishment that I am most proud of is becoming a supervisor at my family’s restaurant business, where I began working at the age of 16 as a waitress. During summers, I invested my time in understanding the core operations of the business and strived to improve the management by developing policies that resembled those of larger franchises. I quickly became involved in the decision-making process regarding wages, employee benefits, and workplace safety. I am now in charge of supervising employees as well as recruiting and training new employees. I also play a major role in integrating our restaurant business into the community and developing relationships with organizations to support a variety of charities within the city.

Another accomplishment I am proud of is my involvement in the hospital’s elderly life program as previously mentioned. I gained a unique hospital volunteering experience as I developed the ability to communicate directly with patients in the intimate environment of their hospital room. It was challenging, in the beginning, to convince patients to participate in the interventions, however, as I practiced and devoted more hours in the hospital setting, I was able to learn new techniques to increase patients’ participation. I also developed a strong relationship with my supervisor who allowed me to explore the program further and understand the process of assessing patients’ cognition to determine if they were fit for the program. I also had the opportunity to train new volunteers and extend my knowledge to others.

The third accomplishment that I am proud of is my ability to continue to improve academically during my undergraduate education, while dedicating my weekends to working at the restaurant in Sarnia, ON. Despite working approximately 30 hours on weekends, I promptly met deadlines and sufficiently prepared for my exams on time by learning to work efficiently and managing my time wisely. I have turned these challenging circumstances into motivation that helps me work harder to achieve my goals. I developed time-management skills and coping mechanisms such as creating and following strict schedules that allow me to focus on one task at a time. Although my situation posed a great challenge during my university career, it has also instilled strength in me as I continued working towards my goals while enduring such circumstances.

Overall, I believe that I will be able to make a valuable contribution to your program using my interdisciplinary science background and I hope to one day be able to teach research findings to students as well as translate them into a clinical setting.

Joan Didion’s essay “On Keeping a Notebook” explores the practice of journaling and its significance in the author’s life. In this essay, Didion reflects on the act of writing and the personal insights that can be gained through the process of keeping a notebook.

Didion begins by explaining the motivation behind her journaling, highlighting the importance of capturing fleeting moments and preserving memories. She notes that her notebooks serve as a repository for observations, experiences, and thoughts that might otherwise be forgotten. For Didion, writing in her notebook becomes a way of establishing a sense of continuity and holding onto the past.

The author emphasizes the raw and unfiltered nature of her notebook entries. She views the act of writing as a means of exploring her own mind and gaining self-awareness. Didion describes her notebooks as a form of self-interrogation, where she delves into her thoughts and emotions, attempting to make sense of them. She recognizes that the act of writing itself shapes her thoughts, allowing her to discover insights that might have otherwise remained hidden.

In addition to personal reflection, Didion sees her notebook as a tool for capturing external observations and details. She emphasizes the importance of paying attention to the world around her and recording even the smallest details. By carefully observing her surroundings and jotting down her impressions, she creates a vivid record of her experiences.

Throughout the essay, Didion acknowledges that the act of keeping a notebook is not without its challenges. She grapples with the inherent subjectivity of memory and the limitations of language in capturing the full essence of an experience. She recognizes that the act of writing inherently involves a selection and interpretation of events, which can shape the narrative of her own life.

In summary, Joan Didion’s “On Keeping a Notebook” is a contemplative essay that explores the significance of journaling in the author’s life. Didion views her notebook as a repository of memories, a tool for self-reflection, and a means of capturing the world around her. Through her personal insights and reflections, she highlights the power of writing to shape our understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit. Ultimately, Didion’s essay serves as a reminder of the importance of introspection and the value of documenting our thoughts and experiences.

Thinking is simply the reasoning one has about a given situation like how you will go about it. This essay aims to cover a piece of advice given to me and the positive effect it has.

Recently I was given a piece of advice from my literature advice after seeing I was encountering some difficulty while in class. The advice was simply to focus on my own life and stop worrying about what people think concerning people. The piece of advice has been of great help to me, for instance, I have come to see how effective it is when you decide to focus on yourself rather than what people think you should have done about a certain situation.

Through research, I have come to see why I worry so much about what people think, which is very disturbing, for instance, the fact that I was afraid to say what I really thought and felt about something, and at times I would worry I would get people upset upon the kind of decision I make. At times when you think about what people think, you find it hard to do something new and adapt to new changes, even when the environment is different. At times we do what people think is the right thing to do and seeking out for approval from an outside source.

However, as much as we would love to please others, we should be mindful of our own priorities that we want to achieve at the end of the day. I have realized that we think too much about what people think and forget that they also have the same insecurities on their sides. In a situation where two individuals are meeting for the first time, you will observe that they are both thinking about pleasing each other when they come into contact, but the possible truth is that one of them probably is thinking that the other person is not thinking like you.

The best way to get around this situation is probably by first making sure you let go of perfection and just do you. Once you let go of perfection, you will probably notice that you are following your own lane and not pleasing anyone, instead, your priority comes first in place. Another perfect way to go about it is by questioning your thoughts like what is the end goal of what you want after the action, this way you will realize that you are going forward positively.

In conclusion, it is evident that people think what others think about their ideas, as well on the other hand, when one thinks on the same road, no positive outcomes come from it as the decision what not based on self-achievement but keeping up with relationship in the end. This is definitely the best advice I would have come to help me a lot in getting my priorities straight.

References

1. Hofmann, W., Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2018). What People Desire, Feel Conflicted About, and Try to Resist in Everyday Life. In Self-Regulation and Self-Control (pp. 256-266). Routledge.
2. Hood, B., Weltzien, S., Marsh, L., & Kanngiesser, P. (2016). Picture Yourself: Self-Focus and the Endowment Effect in Preschool Children. Cognition, 152, 70-77.
3. Krouwel, M., Jolly, K., & Greenfield, S. (2017). What the Public Think About Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy: A Narrative Review of the Literature Covering Opinions and Attitudes of the General Public 1996–2016. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 32, 75-84.
4. Miller, D. (2017). Distributive Justice: What the People Think. In Distributive Justice (pp. 135-173). Routledge.
5. Robbins, J. (2015). Ritual, Value, and Example: On the Perfection of Cultural Representations. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 21(S1), 18-29.
6. Pawson, H., & Herath, S. (2015). Dissecting and Tracking Socio-Spatial Disadvantage in Urban Australia. Cities, 44, 73-85.

Being the youngest child of immigrant parents has impacted my views on the world in many ways. Growing up, my parents would tell my sisters and me stories about what it was like to live in India, as well as the cultural shock they received when they arrived in America in 1996. My dad would recall a time when he would walk the family cow in the streets. To this day, I still don’t know if he was serious or not. My mom would tell us stories about how she and her friends would walk to the local sugarcane juice stand after school. After living in America for 21 years, my parents have adjusted to the way life here; however, their Indian roots are still instilled in them, and they are stronger than ever. They have tried their hardest to instill those same roots in me while trying to keep me ‘American’. Although I am American citizen, I still keep my Indian roots very near and dear to my heart.

Over the summer, I visited my family in India for the first time as a vigilant teenager who is now able to pay attention to their surroundings. On my previous visits, I was too young and oblivious to comprehend what was really surrounding me. It never struck me about how lacking India is in terms of natural resources. Poverty is located all throughout India. While traveling throughout India, I would see signs about visiting America, which stated that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I never realized how fortunate my parents were; they got the chance that some children, and even adults, dream about having in India.

My mom would tell me how lost she felt in a world where she did not look like those around her. Most Indians have a specific stereotype held to their name, which included a heavily accented way of speaking as well as being the smartest person amongst a group of people. Even though she experienced this 21 years ago, I am still able to relate how she felt. Ever since I can remember, I have been going to schools that are not heavy in diversity. I felt that everyone would think that I was ‘that Indian’, who talked in a funny way and smelled like curry. I was afraid that I wouldn’t blend in with the others. My parents told me to never be ashamed of where I come from, and that is something I carry with me to this day.

Hearing stories about my parents’ childhood made India seem like a dream that was worlds away. The culture in India is much different than here. They would describe streets filled with different food stalls with cows sitting right next to them. It always baffled me, but it was something I had always wanted to see. Fast forward to 2018, and I have visited India all of 3 different times. I have begun to appreciate the culture and my heritage more and more each time.

My Indian background is something I hold very near and dear to my heart, thanks to my parents. I am glad I am able to enjoy some of my favorite Indian dishes for lunch and then have some of my favorite American, Italian, or Mexican food for dinner. Living in America has provided me with so many opportunities to be able to blend these two cultures without losing sight of my Indian heritage. Thanks to my parents coming to America, they have provided me with a life some children in India as well as other third-world countries only dream of. At one point in my life, my dream was be able to visit India, and I am lucky to say it has come true, while a child right now is wishing they could have the opportunity to visit America.

Talking about myself, I consider myself a 20-year-old university student who is still on her journey, figuring out where she really belongs. I was born and raised in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, until I was 8 years old. Being raised by supportive parents who tried their hardest to allow me and my brother to experience a better world, we were given the best of everything. I enjoyed the ‘Saturday Picnic’ with my family in the park nearby, and I also had loads of friends who had my back. Until then, I definitely was an outgoing person who always had a big smile on her face.

It was July 2007 when everything started to become a little different from what it used to be. Education… This was the only reason my parents had decided to move to Thailand, leaving everything behind. Although they are very open-minded in most aspects, our opinions were prioritized over other things, and they both had a distinct value toward education. Just like typical Asian parents, they taught us that education as well as graduating from a decent university plays a crucial role towards a successful future. They did not expect us to be the first above all, but to perform to the best of our ability.

I was placed in an American curriculum-based international school. I was amazed at how the school was gathered by people of different races, from various parts of the world. Luckily, I was a fluent English speaker and had no problems managing myself. Yet, the majority of my classmates and the staff were Thai and weren’t familiar with English. In need to communicate with them and to adapt to the new atmosphere, I was keen to learn the language along with their culture, moving one step forward as a globalized person.

However, everyone did not have the ‘learning attitude’ as I did. Being a Korean living in Thailand was a real struggle. Even though both countries are located on the same continent, Asia, racial discrimination was inevitable. I was often stared at by people and told to leave the country only because I was a foreigner. They chose to reject me rather than respect me. All those attentions and discrimination were just enough to make me conceal myself. Since then, I started seeing myself through the eyes of others. I was no longer a child full of laughter, no longer bright and jolly. Instead, I commenced to pretend and squished myself into the molds that others had made, hoping that it would make me feel better.

Eventually, I ended up losing the ‘real me’. I was made weaker and weaker by forcing myself to smile as being upset over those humiliations will make me seem faint-hearted. I sometimes hurt my own feelings by humbling myself, just like the others did. I realized that it was me who was pushing myself to the edge of the cliff more than anyone else. Not long after, I was assured that I had to speak out my own voice rather than keeping everything shut. I started to change. I started to have the courage to say things that weren’t correct. I started to give a hand to those who were like the ‘past me’, and finally I started to love myself.

Even though this still remains a pain deep in my heart, I surely believe that all these hurdles I faced have shaped me into who I am today and made me a tiny bit wiser than before. From those, I learned how to respect others and that being the odd one out definitely isn’t wrong, as well as that it isn’t your fault. I want to emphasize that the world is huge and blaming yourself solely because of the offensive minority is the same as harming yourselves. The more hardships you face, it is so much more important to speak for yourself, embrace yourself, and stand firm.

To help others is something taught to almost every child in their earliest years. It is an idea so simple and sticks with most throughout their lives. Many selfless people donate much of their own time and energy towards the humble joy of helping others. I come from a normal background, I live with my parents and younger sister.

My typical school day consists of sitting in a classroom and taking notes. While there is great value in this style of learning, my community service work has taught me the many benefits of learning not only from teachers, but also from classmates, partners in the community, and individuals at volunteer sites. It has also taught me to be an active member of my community and to share the responsibilities that go along with that role. I believe that helping others, on whatever scale, is a healthy way to grow and learn more about yourself, as well as those whom you aid. On average, when people think about community service, they assume that volunteering is just ‘hours we need to be able to graduate’ and that is it. Community service is more than just hours; it is based on the acts performed by someone with the purpose of helping or bringing benefits to their community. Being a volunteer means that, that person is giving his or her time and skills to help their own community and those in need, whether in service, project, or organization.

All across the world millions of people are in need of help from others. They need people to help provide money, food, time, or care. This need could be on a smaller scale even with something as simple as the need to have someone being nice. I have always enjoyed the feeling that I acquired after doing a good deed or simply helping someone out. It is a gratifying experience to see how happy your actions can make others feel. Our actions can always be impactful when we see the joy and gratefulness on the faces of the people we have helped.

This past winter I volunteered at the Jingle Bell Run. The Jingle Bell Run is organized to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation, my experience with this event was amazing. It was very fun and festive and helped raise funds for benefits research. I was responsible for setting up tables and signs to guide the runners throughout the event. Aside from this opportunity, I have been able to make blankets and birthday cards for children in hospitals. I later transitioned from volunteering to babysitting. Taking care of younger kids helped me learn about responsibility and how to become a person other people can rely on when they need something. At the beginning of this volunteer experience, I walked in hopeful that I would gain some knowledge and have fun while helping out, but I got so much more than that.

I learned that community service is about making an impact in the lives of other members who share my community. Through volunteering, I have learned that many organizations exist only with the help of volunteers from the community. I have seen the amount of joy that volunteering brings to those who you are helping out. I discovered a feeling of self-satisfaction that no other activity can bring, and lastly, I have learned to spend my time wisely. People’s lives are changed every day by their actions and experiences. None of this service asks, “what’s in it for me?”, all of it requires setting aside personal convenience for unselfish service. I strongly believe that we are happier and more fulfilled when we act and help for what we give and not for what we get.

In the novel “The Things They Carried” talks about how war can take a toll on a soldier and his comrades. The author Tim O’Brien addresses his readers in this book about how difficult it is for soldiers to adapt back to reality after the war. This novel talks about the loss of innocence that develops throughout the novel and affects the lives of Tim O’Brien, Mary Anne, and Norman Bowker.

First I would to look at Tim O’Brien’s life. His life throughout the novel has shown me how you just can’t let things go. Throughout this novel, Tim O’Brien enters the war as a scared young man and would have shame if he didn’t go to war, but throughout the novel, he can’t cope with his past. Tim O’Brien’s innocence is lost after O’Brien kills somebody in war. O’Brien can not get over the fact that he has just killed a man. O’Brien just keeps on describing how the guy looks before and after he was shot. “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole, his eyebrows were thin and arched like a woman’s, his nose was undamaged, there was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, his clean black hair was swept upward into a cowlick at the rear of the skull, his forehead was lightly freckled, his fingernails were clean, the skin at his left cheek was peeled back in three ragged strips, his right cheek was smooth and hairless, there was a butterfly on his chin, his neck was open to the spinal cord and the blood there was thick and shiny and it was this wound that had killed him”(pg.118). O’Brien then sits across the man studying him in pear silence and can’t take his eyes off of what he has done. Just knowing the fact that he has ended someone’s life in war tears him apart. He thinks to himself that he has ruined this guy’s career outside of the war. “His chest was sunken and poorly muscled- a scholar, maybe. His life was now a constellation of possibilities. So, yes, maybe a scholar. And for years, despite his family’s poverty, the man I killed would have been determined to continue his education in mathematics”(pg.122). In the chapter “Good Form” the author Tim O’Brien talks about himself now and how he faces guilt and grief. It has been 20 years since he has been in war and still is battling through pain and suffering from his past. “And now, twenty years later, I’m left with faceless responsibility and faceless grief”(pg.172).

In the book The Things They Carried that fascinates me the most is Mary Anne. This character doesn’t show up until the chapter “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”, this is a good example of a character to show that the war could show the loss of innocence in someone. Mary Anne came to Vietnam a sweet girl who was curious about the environment she was in, she would ask about how things worked like trip flare mines and claymores. She wanted to explore so much and in this case, curiosity did kill the cat. “Her body seemed foreign somehow- too stiff in places, too firm where the softness used to be. The bubbliness was gone. The nervous giggling, too. When she laughed now, which was rare, it was only when something struck her as truly funny. Her voice seemed to reorganize itself at a lower pitch”(pg.95). Mary Anne wasn’t like your average high school girl who would normally be scared of blood, needles, and tasks that require getting hands dirty.” At the end of the second week, when four casualties came in, Mary Anne wasn’t afraid to get her hands bloody. At times, she seemed fascinated by it. Not the gore so much, but the adrenaline buzz that went with the job, that quick hot rush in your veins when the choppers settled down and you had to do things fast and right. No time for sorting through options, no thinking at all; you just stuck your hands in and started plugging up holes. She was quiet and steady. She didn’t back off from the ugly cases”(pg.93). At the end of this chapter Mary Anne gets lost in war and goes to the jungle and never returns. This is a perfect example of how this character lost its innocence from the war, from being a sweet little girl to being a vicious killing machine

The next victim to lose their innocence from the war would be Norman Bowker. After the war Norman felt like he couldn’t fit in with reality after war, also he was lonely and he had a lot on his mind about the war. The author tells us that Norman is under a lot of stress because he keeps on talking about how Norman wants to talk about how he almost won the silver star on the river of the Song Tra Bong, but he has nobody to talk about this. So the author puts us in Norman’s mind and Norman is thinking about how the conversation would go if he was talking to his father. “If Sally had not been married, or if his father were not such a baseball fan, it would have been a good time to talk…..He would’ve explained to his father that none of these decorations was for uncommon valor”(pg.134-135). During this time too the author shows us that Norman is going through a lot of grief or pain from the war, from that small event in the Song Tra Bong river. He feels like he needs someone to talk to because he has a lot on his chest. In the next chapter “Notes”, the author gets word that Norman hung himself in a YMCA, Tim O’Brien gets a letter from Norman explaining why he can’t live in the real world. “I received a long, disjointed letter in which Bowker described the problem of finding a meaningful use for his life after the war”(pg.149). Another quote that shows Norman Bowker’s loss of innocence is” ‘The thing is’, he wrote, ‘there’s no place to go. Not just in this lousy little town. In general. My life, I mean. It’s almost like I got killed over in Nam… Hard to describe. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank into the sewage with him… Feels like I’m still in deep shit’”(pg.150).

The loss of innocence has been described and shown as the author takes you through the lives of Tim O’Brien, Mary Anne, and Norman Bowker. It first shows you how innocent and human they were. But after the war it turns them into totally different people that are filled with grief or that can’t sustain back to the reality of the real world.

The loud ringing noise of the bell echoed through the gym. The peering eyes of spectators as they looked onto the court. The bell meant that warm-ups were over, and the game would start soon. The coach had watched our warm-up with an intense gaze. The team gathered around the coach, adrenaline rushing waiting for the start of the game. The coach had her clipboard in hand. You could feel the intensity in the air, we stood around waiting for the game plan. The minutes turned to seconds as the play order was called by the coach. “Numbers 1, 9, 14, 18, 11, 5”. My number 11, was called I would be playing in the first set, often the first set initializes the mood for the rest of the game. The opposition was the O’Neil team currently in second on the leaderboard, if we beat them today second in the conference would be ours, and a chance for first would be given.

We took our places on the court, the polished floor reflecting the lights overhead. Our team had the serve, all focus shifted to the corner of the court. Number nines serve. The ref’s whistle blasted throughout the gym signaling for her to serve. She dropped the ball to the floor waiting for it to return to her hand, then she spun it, making the years of practice look effortless. She tossed the ball into the air, and in the blink of an eye she hit and it went flying at a hundred miles per hour to the other team. As the ball sped towards the floor, a tall girl dove almost falling to the floor, the volleyball made contact with her hands and popped out into the air. The girl who hit it quickly recovered and swiftly returned to her spot. The team’s setter, an average-height girl, with light hair messily pulled into a ponytail. Sped towards the ball standing under it waiting for it to descend she gracefully set the ball to the side, appearing to be going to the outside hitter. Two hitters sped toward the ball and simultaneously jumped. The outside hitter didn’t swing meaning it was a decoy. The ball hovered by the middle hitter, as their arm stretched and slammed the ball to the ground. The blockers jumped but the ball passed on the right just out of reach, It was heading towards my direction, it felt like slow motion, I got near the ball and popped it high into the air so the setter could get it. The setter set middle, and the middle hitter flew into the air, tipping the ball to the other team. The opposition was caught off guard, and their front line was too far back, the ball fell to the ground. 1-0 us.

Lots of good rallies happened between our two teams, climbing for victory, with only one being able to claim that spot. The score is currently 24- 21, with us winning. Intense math is meeting its end, with us needing one point to win, but the other team only needs 4 points, it’s down to the wire, and anyone’s game.