Emma Haeusel

Dr. McNabb

BCORE 119

6/1/16

Reflection Essay

            Hello, my name is Emmalyne Haeusel, but almost everyone just calls me Emma. I am from all over really; I have lived in four different states—California, where I was born, Hawaii for a brief time, Texas for six years, and finally Washington, where I have lived for almost 3 years. Right now I live in the U-District, just blocks away from the UW Seattle campus. I am very close to my family, I have two sisters and a brother. When I started at UW Bothell, my goal was to do as well as I could and just last through the year. Originally, I only saw Bothell as a temporary school, it was my plan to transfer to the Seattle campus as soon as possible. As time went on however, I grew to see that I was at UW Bothell for a reason, and my goal soon became to do as well I could but also make new relationships and get into my major- Educational Studies and then Elementary Education- and eventually graduate from UW Bothell. The change has been extraordinary and I have found myself appreciating where I am much more.

            Initially, I, as I’m sure many other incoming freshmen are, was very nervous about the course load and how different it would be from high school. And it was just that- different. It was not easier or harder, just a completely new experience. All of the classes I took I really enjoyed aspects of, even if it was just because I made new friends. One of the classes I truly enjoyed was my BCORE class from Winter quarter. I had never done much photography, except on my phone or on a camera’s auto-mode, and I found so much joy in taking pictures and capturing images the way I saw the world. I have including some of my favorite pictures in my eportfolio because I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish in that class.

            I also grew tremendously in my writing skills. I have a page marked “Research Class Essays”, as well as “Compare Contrast Short Writing Assignments” and I feel that it is clear how far I have come in my writing abilities from both. From the essays I have included both an assignment from my first quarter where I stated that I only needed a marginal amount of help on my writing, then a standard writing assignment from Winter quarter, and finally a paper that is still only a draft that I will turn in next week. Even though it is only partly done, I still see vast improvement, something I am very happy about because I know that I will use writing for the rest of my life, and I actually enjoy writing. I have always kept a journal, and I enjoy the assignments and because of that I would like to be as good at writing as I can be. I included the other page in my eportfolio because I shows two similar assignments—the first from the first couple weeks of the year and the second from the last week. Once again, it shows how much I have improved.

            The final item I have included is the field trip from this BCORE class. I included it because it was my favorite assignment from this course. I liked being able to go out on my own and take a “field trip” (even though it was in my own home) and look at a movie in a new way. I had never thought to look at the movie “Inside Out” as a movie about mental health and it opened my eyes to the issues surrounding it and I hope it will make me more aware of mental health problems as well as addiction and the brain in a broader sense. I also loved that I was able to watch a Disney movie for my field trip, as I will never pass up that opportunity.

            One of the resources I used quite often was my advisors. The pre-major advisor, the study abroad advisor, and now, my advisor for my major: Educational Studies. My pre-major advisor helped me so much in figuring out what I needed to do and what classes I needed to take as well as helping me declare my major and get started on what I hope to be doing as my career. The study abroad appointment was with a peer advisor and it was so interesting to hear how study abroad was from her perspective, and I am so excited for the possibility of going abroad. I have always loved to travel and I love history of all kinds and getting to have new experiences and learn while in another country is an opportunity I could never pass up. My Educational Studies advisor is very important to me not only because it means I got into my desired major, but also because she helped me so much and I have now planned out every class I’m going to take and when I’m going to take it for the rest of my college career. Being a planner, this is a big deal.

            I think my relationship with my family grew and changed. Because I was so close with them before, I was strange having my older sister out of the house for the first year and me having my own schedule and being away a lot of the time. I am closer to my family, but I think our dynamics have changed. I also made many new and surprising friendships this year, both in school and out of school, something I am very grateful for. Moving to Seattle my junior year of high school was very challenging and it was hard making new friends at first, but this year I have grown in many relationships.

            I feel that I achieved my goal, though it was a fairly simple one. I wanted to get good grades and do my best, and ultimately I feel I did that. I have always enjoyed school and learning, a reason why I want to be a teacher, and getting to learn new things in an almost alien environment was exciting for me. My long term college goals completely changed this year. Going to Bothell was my last resort, I only went because I was waitlisted to the main campus, but it has turned into so much more for me. I now want to continue on at Bothell and have even made plans for the rest of my college career. My life goals did not change, and have not changed since my freshman year of high school, but I saw more of how I am going to achieve those goals. I am looking forward to study abroad the most next year. I hope to do it during next year’s Spring quarter and I can not wait until I get to go.