Trinity MerendaAssociate

of Science

Personal affirmation: The affirmation that I have decided in which suites my personal qualities to help me stay on track to achieving my goals and dreams is aligning your words and deeds. With this affirmation, I know when I tell myself to do something that I am always capable of becoming or completing what I have previously told myself. It is about setting your mind to do something and following through. I believe strongly in keeping your word therefore I will always keep my word to myself to only better myself in the future.

Top 3 class assignments:

Scavenger Hunt- On of my top favorite assignments is the Scavenger Hunt. This is my first semester back at Grayson with no idea what they had to offer around the school. It helped me find names and emails for departments I did not even know existed. I now have more knowledge on what the school can offer.

Preferred Learning Styles Assignment- I enjoyed doing this assignment because it taught me how I learn best and why. I learned that feelings are my preferred learning style. If I feel comfortable with the people surrounding me I tend to do better on my assignments.

Blog Reflection- With this assignment it was an eye-opener for me. After reading the article I have learned that I to just fill in the gaps from previous knowledge and that is not always correct information. I learned to ask more questions instead of just assuming because like the article that could really affect your life

Top 3 Journal Entries:

Journal Entry 8- While reading about the Inner Critic, Inner Defender and Inner Guide. I learned from this my Inner Guide has helped me in a lot of situations through my life. Occasionally the Inner Critic and Defender will get in the way but my Inner Guide can always help me succeed in any type of situation.

Journal Entry 13- After doing this journal it has showed me that I do not waste very much time. It has proven to me I am an extremely productive person with how I manage my time. I rarely use Quadrant IV, I am always focusing on the more important situations in my life.

Journal Entry 29- With this journal I was able to dive deep into my personal life and explain when I experienced a time of fear as well as happiness. I thought back to my childhood and how both experience have made me grow into the women I am currently today. Without those experience, I do not believe I would be as strong and confident as I am right now.

Modules 1 “Power of Words”- This video really touched my heart and was extremely meaningful to me. It showed me that simply changing up words with the same meaning can have a major impact on how people think toward what you are saying. The ending of this video had such a wonderful message from the kind-hearted lady who helped man by just changing up his wording.

Module 3 “How People Learn”- With this video it taught me that studying is about how much you are paying attention to the material. You can spend hours studying and learn more by glancing at the concept and learning more that instant verses sitting there for hours trying to comprehend the concept. Refocusing yourself to the material instead of getting distracted can make a major difference in your study habits.

Modules 5 “Putting Principles into Practice”- While watching this video I liked the idea of using the concept and relating it to something that is occurring in my life in order to memorize the material. I struggle memorizing the material but if I am able to format it in a way that I can understand with my life, I am more likely to remember the concept. With almost anything subject, if I think hard enough I am sure to find something to relate to it.

Three lessons that I will carry with me:

1) The Victim and Creator mindset.

2) The Inner Critic, Defender,and Guide.

3) Scavenger Hunt

Scores Before: Scores After:

1) 47 1) 68 2) 51 2) 613) 48 3) 674) 34 4) 495) 35 5) 546) 57 6) 577) 24 7) 668) 60 8) 63

With personal responsibility my scores from the beginning of the class to now have definitely moved up significantly. I recognize that I am the cause of my outcomes and experiences. I understand that I have to take full responsibility for achieving my goals and dreams. With the mindset “I will” and “I can,” I am capable of doing whatever my heart desires.

Dear Future Class,

When I registered for this class I had no idea what it would be about and not knowing was very stressful. When I found out that the class is meant to help me learn about myself, this was also stressful. My life is very hectic, and it seems like I am always rushing from one thing to another, from one crisis to another, feeling like I don’t have time to do anything but react without understanding myself or my reactions. I put myself down all the time, blaming myself when things went wrong, thinking that I will only fail, thinking that my life would always be a series of disasters and bad luck and that it was all my fault. Class taught me that this way of thinking and seeing my life and myself is called my Inner Critic. My Inner Critic is a very harsh judge. My Inner Critic tells me that I will always be powerless, tells me that there is nothing that I can really do to make a difference in my life, tells me that my life will always be a mess. Learning about my Inner Critic, being able to understand what I was doing and having a name to give to what was going on made a huge difference. Suddenly I could see what was happening, and seeing made me realize that I could change this, that I could replace my Inner Critic with something else that I learned about in class: my Inner Guide.

My Inner Guide shows me my own good qualities. My Inner Guide tells me that I am strong and that I can change things that are difficult and painful in my life. My Inner Guide helps me see the steps that I can take to make things better in my life. While my Inner Critic only has bad things to say and tells me that the bad things will never change, my Inner Guide points out the positive and shows me how I can take steps to bring more positive things into my life. While my Inner Critic told me that everything is hopeless and that I was powerless, my Inner Guide gave me hope and empowerment. This is a huge difference, and also a huge relief to me in my life.

When I began this class, it seemed like it would be one more stressful thing that I had to endure, one more bad thing in my life, one more thing that made me powerless. But learning about what was going on in my own head changed everything. I realized through my Inner Guide that this class could be a tool to help me, could make me stronger and more aware and more capable. This class showed me that I can replace my Inner Critic with my Inner Guide and totally change my life through changing my mindset. This was a very big change for me.

My hope to people in a future class is that you too will have learn things that will bring positive changes to your own lives. Life can be very hard and it can also sometimes seem very hopeless. This class gave me tools to understand myself and my life and to envision change and then take steps to make that change happen. I went from dreading this class to finding what I need (what I didn’t even know at first that I needed), and using what I found in class to start changing myself and my life. I hope that you too will find what you need in this class and that you can take your knowledge and apply it for positive change.

Sincerely,

Trinity Merenda

Highlights from my Letter to my Next Class:

My Inner Guide shows me my own good qualities. My Inner Guide tells me that I am strong and that I can change things that are difficult and painful in my life. My Inner Guide helps me see the steps that I can take to make things better in my life.

This class showed me that I can replace my Inner Critic with my Inner Guide and totally change my life through changing my mindset. This was a very big change for me.

Life can be very hard and it can also sometimes seem very hopeless. This class gave me tools to understand myself and my life and to envision change and then take steps to make that change happen.

While my Inner Critic told me that everything is hopeless and that I was powerless, my Inner Guide gave me hope and empowerment. This is a huge difference, and also a huge relief to me in my life.

If I accomplish all my goals and dreams, my life would be officially complete with the feeling of satisfaction and being overwhelmed with how proud I would be of myself. My life would look like helping other people and watching them evolve as well as person. To help other people and pick them up when they are down is something I have always wanted for myself so to become that person is more than an accomplishment it is definitely a dream. I would have a family that I am able to support, go on vacations with, a career I love and the satisfaction of always trying to help another person. I would be a social worker, seeking to help people. The people who would be surrounding me are my family, my future cat and my friends who have been there supporting me from the beginning.