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Iker Garcia
Ms. Britt and Ms. Regina
32Q
June 20 2017

Celebration 1
I Now Know What I Want To Pursue As A Career
In the past two years I have been wondering what I want to do. In 7th grade I wanted to
study politics and become a lawyer, I then realized that this was not going to work for me
because of all the lies that are hidden beneath and sometimes corruption. In 8th grade I got into
computer engineering a lot. I saw that a computer programmer had a good salary, which if I am
honest, is what I am looking for. I wanted to buy components to build my own computer since I
saw it as a puzzle. My 8th grade POL was called my Legacy/Destiny project, we had to present
ourselves like if we had our dream jobs and did everything we wanted like go to our dream
university, purchased our dream house, and dream car if our salary allowed us. I was set with this
until now, I assumed that I was going to pursue computer engineering all of high school until
Ms. Britt and Ms. Regina stepped into my life.
Ms.Britt helped me understand that when you are going to work, it should be something
that makes you happy not just a source of money. I would like to use teachers as an example.
The job of a teacher is not a million dollar job but from what Ive seen from Ms. Britt and Ms.
Regina is that it makes them happy. They have the ability to impact humans, I havent connected
as much with other teachers the way I have with Ms.Britt and Ms.Regina. Ms Regina has showed
me that anything is possible if you try. I remember when she told us that she was almost able to
become an astronaut. To me an astronaut is someone important and someone that is able to push
through the toughest things, literally.
I want to be part of the car industry. This could either be working for a car manufacturer
or me creating my own company. All this time I have looked over what I have passionate about,
cars. Cars have been with me for as long as I can remember. From watching the movie cars,
looking down at cars from bridges, and most recently the study of cars. I have seen the
entrepreneurs that have become successful and I hope to join them. I have looked at my
possibilities to becoming a car manufacturer myself. The first one is to make a performance car, I
dont really want to pursue this since it is an expensive and risky option for various reasons.
They time to make such machines and material it takes to make one is expensive and to have it
fail and not work would be a huge loss for financial reasons. My second option is to do a car that
is either electric or a car that runs on non-fossil fuels. I believe that with what Elon Musk has
done with Tesla is revolutionary, not only did he make comfortable stylish cars, but he was also
able to get performance number out of it. If I made an electric car the only thing that would come
out of it is a more efficient electric motor with a different body, doesnt really seem like a ground
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breaking creation. If I made a car that runs on a non fossil fuel, it would change the way we see
oil companies. I could target different kinds of customers. First I could target those who are
against the emissions that current petrol (gasoline) cars leave, next I can target hotheads, those
that want to hear the engine revving and want to feel power instead of a motor spooling. I have
never taken into account my potential like the way I have this year. For me this is a huge
celebration for me since I am finally able to find myself as person. I am someone who wants the
good for the people but sees the big picture.

Celebration 2
My Ability To Analyze Something
I remember when I would pick up a book and just go through and find them entertaining
sometimes. I remember when I would watch my favorite movies over and over because I found
them amusing. One of my all time favorite movies is Transformers, I guess the cars and robots
caught my attention. Recently I have been rewatching my favorite movies during the same time
we were reading The House On Mango Street. In the book we see the protagonist, Esperanza, is
beginning to go through changes both mentally and physically. I remember in a vignette she
mentions a boy named Tito pushes her into the water coming out from the fire hydrant, she then
says that she lets him. We analyzed this in Ms.Britts class and we came to the conclusion that
she maybe likes Tito. If had I just read this book on my own I probably wouldve overlooked this
detail and keep on reading. When I was watching Transformers towards the beginning there is a
scene where the main character, Sam Witwicky, sees a girl, whose name is Mikaela, and notices
that she is walking home, Sam offers to give her a ride and she accepts. In the car ride they begin
to talk and then Mikaela begins to talk about boys who have big muscles. Sam then begins to
point at a light that he installed while flexing and point at a disco ball that he has on his mirror. I
felt like I discovered something new when I finally understood the meaning behind it. This can
make movie become more interesting for me, if I have watched a movie 3 times well know I can
go back and rewatch and analyze why do I think the director added that and how does the
dialogue add suspense or make it more captivating. This is something that I can use for the rest
of my life which makes me happy because usually one only learns things and memorizes them,
this is a habit for me now.

Celebration 3
Being Able To Be Open With New People And Connecting With My Teachers
Being a freshman is something big. It brings you into a new school atmosphere, brings
you to new subjects, and brings you to new people. Since in high school there is an entire new
classroom, that mean that there will be 50 new students. I did not know what to expect and I
wasnt thinking of becoming really good friends like William, Alberto, and Isaac, who I have
known since middle school. I was able to meet Roy has been overall an amazing person this
year. Hes been there for me and hes always happy. I owe a lot to sports this year, if it had not
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been for swim I wouldnt of gotten as close as Roy as I did. I didnt only connect with new
friends, I also connected with people from the middle school who I didn't really talk to. Since
Alberto, William, and Isaac were not in my class I was able to connect with Xander, Eric, Rafa,
Jose, and Guy. I had been friends with them and talked to them once in awhile, but now I am
always hanging out with them and messing around. What was even better is that Eric lives close
to me so we have been able to go to each other houses so we have gotten even closer. Usually
you think a teacher is just always in a bad mood because theyve been working with teenagers
and getting ready to yell at you the moment they have. In high tech I notice that it is different.
We get teachers that are willing to let kids pur their heart out and ready to help them in anyway
they can. Usually I have mild communication with teacher usually being Good morning, I
have a question, What is the homework?. You dont always get the chance to ask your
teacher, Did you see the football game? Packers suck! I have been able to get comfortable with
my teacher and I feel like that makes me want to come to school and learn. I feel like having a
teacher that speaks to you so softly that it warms your heart is absolutely incredible. This is
something to celebrate because not only is the teacher responsible of making the relationship
with Teacher to student, but also the student. A student can not be rude to their teacher and not
do the work they ask you to do. I think that is why my relationship with both Ms.Britt and
Ms.Regina has been so strong, I know it is because I treat them with the utmost respect and I do
what they ask me to do, usually. I remember telling myself in the beginning of the year, This is
my year, and I was right, this has been my year.

Area Of Growth 1
Growing In Vocabulary
Recently we have taken a star reading test, this test is to see what level vocabulary you
have. The average american's vocabulary is of a 5th grader. I got the score of an 8th grader, the
same as when I took the test in the beginning of the year. I want to expand my vocabulary
because I feel that it is important for you. In my opinion, having better vocabulary makes you
seem more professional and people take you more seriously, which is important for me if I want
to become part of the auto industry. I have felt that I have not been putting books first, instead I
put videos first. Don't get me wrong Ill say roughly 85 percent of the videos I watch have to do
with engineering and science, the rest are just funny videos and regular youtuber, but that doesnt
mean literature is useless. My dad always tells me that books will open more doors for me in this
world, the knowledge is key to everything. I began to boost up my vocabulary this year thanks
to Ms. Britt but that is not enough, I still only know rudimentary words, but summer is coming
along so I can focus a lot of my time in learning better vocabulary. Not only will I begin to focus
on my vocabulary in English, but in Spanish, this way my 1st language will stay with me and I
will have a higher chance of teaching it to my children.
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Area Of Growth 2
Being More Open With My Family
Although this year Ive gotten closer with friends and teachers, I feel that I have gotten
distant from my family. I feel that the reason for this is due to sports and school. Sports this year
were amazing for me, although I am nowhere near as good as my other teammates, I feel that I
am doing myself a favor. I am being active doing healthy activities rather just being around
friends, I have gotten closer with people and some friendships have expanded past 9th grade.
Although this is all good, the time I spend with family has decreased. The only time I get to be
with them at my fullest is Sunday, during weekdays Im either at practice or doing homework,
which by the way isnt too hard just sometimes time consuming. It is not bad for me to devote
my time to school, I am sure my parents agree too, but I need to find a balance and look for them
more. I usually isolate myself from them because I am either tired or just not in the mood to talk.
I feel like if I dont take advantage of the time I have with my parents, then I will regret it later
on in my life. I want to be open with my family by telling them if something is wrong or if I feel
lonely. Lately Ive been trying to have conversations with my dad when we are eating, but
sometimes I feel like I cant talk to him because the topic I want to conversate about is not easy
to have a one on one conversation about. I hope to go places with my family and see if this helps
us bond more and I plan on doing a project with my dad, one that can settle my urge to build
something that moves.

Question
Has the academic world tried to tell you that the way you teach is wrong and you should
teach traditionally, if so how did you overcome it?