DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

FA Cap 3: Prompt 1

Prompt 1

            There is nothing quite like Fight Night for the women’s boxing club. Professional, rings, referees, equipment, and lights set the scene for a thrilling night. The best part is that it’s all for a mission in Uganda. I never thought that when I signed up for the women’s boxing club on Activities Night that just a few months later, on November 8th, I would be fighting at our Fight Night.

            Four times a week, I would go to boxing practice for two hours. I would go on Tuesday, Wednesday, and twice Thursday – once in the morning and once in the evening. Every time I went to practice, I had two hours to myself to unwind, exercise, and work on my personal wellness both physically and mentally. Boxing was an integral part of balancing my day and being mindful. Practice, being two hours long, took up a good portion of the day, so I had to balance around it studying and time for homework. I would set goals for how much studying or homework needed to be done before or after practice. This forced me to organize my day more efficiently between sports, classes, sleeping, homework, studying, and friends.

            Secondly, boxing helped me to improve my mindfulness. In boxing, one has to pay attention to each and every one of their movements, thus staying focused and mindful of what they are doing. This mindfulness that I developed from boxing helped me outside of the ring as well, as I suddenly became more aware of my surroundings. One must be more alert in the ring, and more aware of his or her own movements in day-to-day life, which aids mindfulness. This helped me to understand myself, my feelings, and my emotions better.

            Physically speaking, I got into much better shape with boxing. I found myself pushing myself farther than I ever had before, and even doing certain exercises that I was not physically able to do before the intense boxing workouts. The physical aspect of boxing improved my emotional state as the exercise released endorphins that improved my mental well being, as the “Brain Rap” video we watched suggested. Additionally, as the video suggested, the better the exercise, the better your brain works. Boxing did not just workout my body, but also my mind. Pushing myself physically forced me to push myself mentally as well, helping me to encourage myself to persevere during difficult challenges.

            This boxing experience relates to the two of the five pillars of education: Mind and Zeal. Through mind, one tries to use “active engagement” in order to better understand themselves and a “deeper purpose”. Through my active engagement in boxing, I came to understand my own mental fortitude and ability to persevere when all I felt like doing was quitting or giving up on the extremely difficult days. Hand in hand with mind came zeal, as my desire to continue boxing even when practices got hard could be attributed to having both pillars of education. Boxing empowered me to make healthy choices in that I ate better, worked out more, and learned to balance my life and days better in order to also maintain my mental well being.

            With this experience, as I move forward into second semester and boxing season has come to an end, I have plans to find another outlet for exercise, to balance my time better, and I have a goal of staying more organized. For exercise, I have joined my dorm’s intramural basketball team. We have one practice and one game a week starting second semester. Having less days where I need to be at a practice will allow me to get homework done earlier, take more time to organize myself, and be mindful of how I am feeling or doing. I also have a goal of taking fifteen minutes a day to myself, where I can draw for a while or read. In that way I can unwind a bit and take a break from the hectic days that can occur. With this plan in place, I will be able to improve on my physical and mental well being as well as life balance and mindfulness.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

FA Cap 3: Prompt 2

Prompt 2

            Growing up in a Cuban-American household fostered a strong sense of cultural identity within me. From the traditions and foods that my grandparents brought with them to the United States, being Cuban was and always has been a major part of my identity. In high school, I chose to participate in Heritage Day by making short films about culture on campus in order to share my culture as well as the cultures of others. The love I have for the own culture that I grew up within helped me to realize how much I enjoyed learning about other cultures, and I wanted to take advantage of engaging with diverse communities while at Notre Dame.

            At the University of Notre Dame, I have had a chance to explore different communities through culture and by sharing my own culture. I believe that I have achieved the course goal of engaging with diverse communities in those ways. I believe that one way to understand a culture is to learn the language. This year, I decided to challenge myself by taking a Beginning French I class. Through this class, I have met people from all across the world. They are my fellow classmates, professors, and acquaintances from the occasional visit to French Coffee Hours in Decio. We have had the chance to learn from each other and our own unique experiences of where we are from. I have been able to explore the French culture within this class, as well as meet people completely different from myself in it. Additionally, I have had the chance to share my own culture and allow others to engage in a diverse community. Earlier in the year, my friends were curious about Cuban culture and so we decided to make Cuban food together. I had the chance to teach them about the food we eat and how we make it. In this way, I not only discovered and engaged in new communities through conversation, but also shared my own community.

            In order to continue my success in this area, I plan on exploring more of the diverse cultural and community opportunities Notre Dame has. For example, the other night, my roommate and I went to a Las Posadas on campus and were able to join in the Latino tradition of following Mary and Joseph as they look for room to stay. This experience opened our eyes to a new tradition and helped us join together with diverse people here in the community. I plan to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities more as they arise. Also, off campus, I would like to get involved with the South Bend community. I plan on applying to be a Take Ten volunteer with the Robinson Learning Center in order to experience communities in South Bend.

           

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

FA Cap 3: Prompt 3

Prompt 3

            Throughout the fall semester, I have found that I have the most room for growth in the course goal of intellectual growth. While I feel as though I have grown intellectually throughout the semester, there is always more room to grow.  My classes have gone well, but I want to push myself more and make more time in my schedule for studying, organizing myself, recopying notes, talking to teachers during office hours, and really taking advantage of my resources here on campus like the Writing Center or group study sessions. Personally, I struggle with math in comparison to my other classes. This semester’s math class proved to be difficult making it harder to grow in that particular subject. These challenges have helped me to figure out what my goals are for next semester so that I may grow more intellectually.

            For the Spring Semester, I want to be able to challenge myself intellectually, more so than I did the first semester. During my math class for next semester, I would like to ask more questions in class, study my notes every night after class, and spend more time on the subject overall. I would also like to find the time to attend office hours more frequently, or make appointments with my teacher if office hours do not fit into my schedule. Film is what I am most passionate about, so I found my Basics of Film and Television class to be more interesting and easier because of how much time I dedicated to it. I want to take that same positive mentality and apply it to my math class. It is as important to work on the subject I struggle with most as the subject I do best in.

            In regards to the pillars of education, I feel as though my goal for second semester of improving in math aligns well with hope. Hope helps students to be confident in their decision-making, as well as help them to think more positively about their academic studies in regards to majors, classes, and careers. Hope aligns well with my goal of becoming more confident in math and thinking more positively about the subject, like I do with film. If I hold on to hope and remind myself of this pillar of education, I will be more likely to succeed in my math class next semester and therefore grow intellectually.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

FA Cap 3: Prompt 4

Prompt 4

             Taking advantage of the right resources has allowed me to truly take advantage of my time at Notre Dame. Some of these resources include Activities Night, office hours with professors, website resources like ePortfolio and Sakai, and coffee hours in the language department.

            Often times, I would put the events occurring on to a monthly calendar in my room and then go back each day to check what events were going on. I found out about these events from my resident adviser, the Week@ND emails, and other students. By scheduling each activity that had some of these crucial resources to becoming accustomed to life at Notre Dame, I could make sure to attend each one. For example, by attending Activities Night, I was able to sign up for different clubs that helped me to become a part of the Notre Dame community. Joining the club Boxing Team gave me a chance to continue playing sports, while NDTV allowed me to work on short films. Other than these scheduled events were office hours and coffee hours. Attending office hours with professors helped me to improve in my classes, especially in areas I might struggle in. They gave me the opportunity to learn more about my professors and get to know them as well.  Coffee hours in the language department provided me with the opportunity to talk to different French speakers and improve on my newly developed French speaking skills. Web resources like the ePortfolio website and Sakai helped me to stay on top of courses while documenting this process for future employers or professors. The resources that I was able to take advantage of were crucial in that they helped me to become a part of the fabric that makes up Notre Dame, both in activities and academically.

            During the Spring 2016 semester, I plan on having continued success in this area by scheduling activities again as well as office hours and coffee hours for my French class. In addition, I can try new resources like the Writing Center, different tutoring groups if I need help in a particular class, and the First Year of Studies website. In these ways, I can improve on the course goal of taking advantage of crucial resources.

 


DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.