Photo Essay Reflection

In this essay, we are going to be talking about my first-year experience in TAMIU (Texas

A&M International University). We will be using six different pictures that I took during the

semester to create a visual of how I had been making connections, growth, and empowerment

throughout the entire process. There will be two pictures for each section of the categories. At first,

I never understood the purpose of connection, growth, and empowerment until I experienced them

all during my first semester in TAMIU. I am considered an extroverted person, so the thought of

making connections, friendships, and allies would make me nervous. Thankfully, my two

orientation leaders, Alex Bando, and Alicia Huerta, TAMIU made my journey in making

connection at dusty camp beneficial for me. It was my initial time getting out of my comfort zone

and going to a new place without a parent or guardian, I did not know what to expect or how it

was going to go. In other words, I felt extremely terrified. However, it went extremely well. My

fear of feeling unwelcome and left out completely vanished with just being there for a moment. I

instantly felt received and seemed, which helped me build confidence to make conversation with

new people from other places and cultures. Moving day was extremely hard more me. I have never

in my 18 years of living have been apart from my mother, especially since I live two hours ways

from Laredo. It was an excessive change that I had to get used to, especially being so far from

home. Eventually, it helped me be more independent and have an idea of how my future will be.

Living alone far away from home is scary but also education. It helps me have more control of my

life and expenses. Later, during the semester in one of my classes it required me to do a group

project with three of my classmates. We all thought it would be nice to book a study room to work

on the project. At first, I was afraid of the idea of having to be with complete strangers and doing

a project on a topic that I am not that familiar with; however, my partners did not make me feel
dumb or out of place but completely the opposite. They let me know that it was okay to not be

familiar with the topic and that I was not the only one. They made me feel welcome and helped

me better understand the topic, which really made me be more open with them. After this project

was done, we kept meeting after to either study or tutor each other in classes. As time went on,

university events kept coming. At first, I was hesitant to participate in these events, because I did

not know whether my friends would be on board or not. One day, I sent a picture of a loteria event

that was happening in the STC (Student Center) (Student Center) ballroom to my friends, since it

was something that we were familiar with. They agreed. Justing knowing that there are a lot of

people who participated in this event is mind blowing honestly. It really helped me grow out of

my comfort zone and explore other events like this. Eventually, I went to a KPOP party with my

friends. In the event, I was able to meet a lot of new people with the same interest of music. During

this event, I was able to express my love for different music without feeling alone and out of place.

It really gave me the confidence of opening myself up to people and trying out different things to

better socialize with new people. After so many events and class exam, there is always something

that has people going crazy which is registering for classes. My mentor, Elisa Muniz, was the

person to remind me about this subject and gave me the basic details on how to work it out and to

book an appointment with my adviser. Although, I did have to go walk in since my adviser was

fully booked. My friends and I went to get our schedules done. However, when the day came one

of our classes did not want to register so we had to alert the adviser about the situation. Eventually,

it was fixed. This made me more aware of the help available on this campus and all you must do

is email or walk in.