My Wellness Journal

Wellness Journal

For my wellness journal, I have chosen to write about the area of the Social wellbeing. On the surface, it could look as though I’m potentially thriving in this area with many things that I find myself involved in, but that isn’t necessarily the case. I certainly am involved with my community everything from working on community and social issues with the R.A.C.E. group, which has afforded many opportunities to be a part of wonderful things that happen in Muncie, like having the opportunity to drive the Freedom Bus and again meet many of the most amazing people in this community. I also have a job that I love and enjoy being around most of the people that I work with, often having good conversations some laughs. I also belong to a great church body that is open and excepting and never treats me or my family poorly, in fact about 3 years ago when we were going through a rough financial patch the church basically provided Christmas for our family this was both a blessing and humbling. Of course, there is my family and them pretty much mean everything to me and I know I would be miserable without them. However, with all these thing that I get to be a part of and the people I’ve met and come in contact with, I have very few dare I say no truly close friends and this is why I put down on the evaluation the I’m surviving. This has been a struggle for me since we moved here in 2010, back in California, I had a large friend group and several very close friends. I am someone that appreciates the time I get to be alone, but I miss those bonds and times spent drinking coffee or watching a TV show together, or just shooting the breeze together. I have yet to truly find this in Indiana, I at one time and maybe slightly still blame the place, since one of my best friends in California who had spent a couple years here warned me that people in Indiana are not friendly. However, I can’t say that the people I’ve met for the most part aren’t friendly. I have wondered if there is more that I can do to find close friends and I’ve tried, but nothing yet. Now all this being said I do have friends, some that I do have coffee or lunch with and we have great conversations and some laughs, but the biggest thing is that it’s usually me that has to force the issue of going to lunch or coffee. I know that I have the tools to change this area of my life and to thrive socially and to get more fulfillment in my life socially speaking. My wife and I don’t plan on staying in this area forever and that is partly because of the social area, which she struggles with as well, even though the main reason is to be near our children when they move.  Every place that we have moved from involved tears to leave the people we loved both family and friends, my fear is that when we leave Muncie we won’t miss anybody that much, I’d like to change that.

My Study Plan

Study Plan Journal

As I journey through college and this learning adventure, I am sure I will learn a lot about myself and my skills and habits. In this journal, I will layout a study plan to hopefully direct me down a successful path. My goal as a student is to do well and I have learned by experience as well as from the video series we watched that in order to do well at something you have to work at it and do it regularly. One of the first things I will strive to do is to be there, it’s as simple as that, being in class and paying attention is primary for my success. In class I have the opportunity not only to learn from my professor but to learn from my fellow students as well. I know myself and I learn by reading, but I also learn a lot through conversation and the conversations that I have regarding a subject not just with my professor, but with my fellow students will only help me to learn.

I also will seek to be the type of student that will not “give away points” by either not doing something late or small. Every point that I can get toward doing well in a class is a small step toward reaching my first goal of getting my Associates degree and eventually transferring. Even though something might be late, if a professor is willing to give you points you should take it and when it comes to small things, for me it’s always good to remember that all those small points can add up quickly.

The third way that I will be a student who…, is that I will attempt to stay ahead, instead of falling behind and trying to play catch up. This I believe is huge, it is when we fall behind that we become overwhelmed and start to panic and possibly give up. I have so far in my first three months of college stayed ahead of the game in my classes, seeking to not only work on assignments right after they are assigned, but at times and if it is possible trying to get ahead so that I have a cushion to give me extra time if need be.

Even before we watched these videos I was learning some of the things that Dr. Chew discusses. For example, at first I tried to do homework while having the TV on and quickly discovered this was not a good thing. I have seen not only my focus improve, but my productivity as well, since I chose to turn off the TV and focus. I also have tried to constantly improve my work, for example, the other night in English class our teacher offered one on one review of our current paper, I was one of only two people who stayed out of 12 students for this opportunity to improve.

The biggest thing I learned from Dr. Chew is the idea of deep processing, this concept really makes me desire to utilize it and help my ability to learn different subjects. I have waited 20 years for this opportunity to go to school and get a degree in something I desire to do. I appreciate anything that can help me to be successful in achieving my goals and I look forward to the road ahead.  

Diversity

Diversity Journal

           I grew up in Southern California and it is truly a melting pot and extremely diverse, however that that doesn't always breed unity or even acceptance.  I grew up immersed in this culture and I would not have said I was prejudiced but I was. I had a certain amount of resentment for other races and religions because while I grew up with a very immersive multi cultural experience, I never really got to know people from these diverse cultures.

                         The experiences that I had in my youth in California exposed me to most every race, religion, culture, and lifestyle imaginable. I remember going to festivals and fairs that were centered around music and food of multiple cultures and loving the experience. However, when I went home and to my everyday life it was overwhelmingly full of people who looked, talked and lived just like me. There was a disconnect for me, I could love and enjoy multiple cultural experiences and even enjoy the people I met, however they were always kept at arm’s length.

            

                      I wouldn’t experience true diversity until I moved here to Muncie. It started with a friend I met at church, this friendship would stretch me and send me down a wonderful path to diversity. This friend was a part of a mixed marriage and they shared a family with both mixed and black children. This was a new experience to bring into my normal life I had not really gotten close to people whose experiences were so much different than mine. These experiences opened my eyes to perspectives I had not ever even thought about, namely the many prejudices and biases that people of color experience daily. I saw these first hand when I went to the convenience store with their son who was 15 at the time and noticed how the cashier watched him like a hawk as opposed to the way he all but ignored my son. These experiences began to broaden my understanding of diversity

            

                   These experiences have culminated in a group my friend started called Reconciliation Achieved Through Community Engagement or R.A.C.E for short. This group which was started in response to the shootings by police of young black men. However, the work of this group has grown from this original purpose to encompass work with the local Muslim community as well as the local LGBTQ community. These events have afforded me as well as my family the opportunity to get to know many diverse people and has stretched my personal experience, by being with these people, I have met many wonderful people whose experiences have taught me so much.

            

                     My diversity experiences have helped shape me into the man I am today and led me down paths that I could at one time in my life would have seemed unreal or scary. For me diversity is more than simply experiencing different cultures or being around people different than me. Diversity is about a shared life, an opportunity to know people whose lives might look very little like mine. I desire to continue down this path and to continue to be challenged and stretch in my journey of diversity.