A Glance of My Life

To start, a reflection letter makes me rewinding all of what I did in class and expressing who I am as a person. My name is Maria Listinia. I am a 39 year old woman. I have a 16-month-old baby girl and a 7-year-old talkative daughter. I am not that tall compared to American guys here. I was born and raised in Indonesia. It has many islands. It is located in the heart of equator between the continent of Asia and Australia. Even though I was born and raised in Indonesia, I was not being treated fairly compared to the native Indonesian just because I am Chinese. For this reason, I decided to move to the United States since they respect and appreciate human rights. Moving to the United States is not easy. I have to adjust myself in many ways especially in language and culture. The language and culture barrier that I have to overcome is pretty challenging. If you could imagine moving to another country not knowing their language and culture, you may feel the same as I feel.

 

Furthermore, stepping into the college was a biggest decision in my life. With a multiple role as a mom, wife, and student is not easy to manage the time. A lot of unpredictable situations have changed my schedule. I used to work in the clerical field. I was an office assistant at TOTO USA, a manufacturing company, in Ontario, California. I enjoyed working there until one day I got laid off, because the company’s business was slowing down. Many of the workers, including the supervisor were laid off. Then, I was struggling to find a good job in California. Based on this situation, I decided to go to the college in the United States and changed my career to the medical field for stability of job. I have a several responsibilities for my family’s needs, especially in this economic crisis situation. Becoming a Pediatric Registered Nurse has been my dream ever since then. I have a passion towards children, so I can help the sick children get better. At least I have a goal to pursue in my life.

When I signed up for the English 101D online class, I felt excited. I thought that it would be a fun and an interesting experience. The class is so diverse with people from different ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds.  I learn about people through their writings in our textbook, ReMix. It really inspires me of how they express themselves in writing. Some people write journals about their life to express their emotions through writing. This really fascinates me as I realize it further. It also helps me to be a better writer and gives me insight as a reader. Looking at my classmates’ writings, each of them brings different taste through their ideas, situations, and emotions. Indeed, they bring their own identities and traditions as they jot down their ideas, thoughts, and feelings in their writings. Some of them are pretty direct and others are not.  Perhaps, it relates to traditions and cultures as one culture is more open than others. It really defines their characters as they come from different communities overall.

I have been taught three important lessons, identity, community, and tradition. They gave me a new understanding. Before I took this class, I just knew identity is just who I am. Identity is followed with attributes of what we’re born with, shaped by culture, and shaped by personal choices.

Learning all about community is a rich lesson. I thought that community was just a city, town, or country. It’s more than just a city. I was surprised that people who have same interest can create a community. One great example, some people who collect and love Barbie can be considered as a unique community.

The last lesson, tradition, is an important part to be learned. In fact, we are bound with tradition. Based on the introduction given by our instruction, tradition is a ritual practice that has been handed out from generations to generations. For instance, Thanksgiving dinner has been celebrated for years.

I selected the first Discussion Board of Tradition, Traditions: Embrace Them or Attack Them? This first piece will demonstrate my critical thinking skills . Moreover, I would say thank you for giving me the opportunity to revise my work on this identity paper.  I choose community blog, Ebay is a community as my awareness towards audience and voice. The second Discussion Board on Tradition, Checking Assumptions about Popular Tradition  is selected to be my Writer’s Choice.

Once again, thank you for visiting my blogger.