Reflection on Personal Statement - Essay Example

Personal ment I came to Minnesota Mankato as a freshman college this past semester. I was very excited to become a part of the student community at the university because of the diverse interests and groups that existed to support the students in their daily academic life. The organizations that I chose to become involved in did not let me feel like I was an outsider coming in from the United Arab Emirates. Rather, I was greeted with open arms and embraced as a new family member. I had already heard a lot about the Middle Eastern Student Association during my first day of classes. I was told that this was the group to join as a college freshman from the UAE because the members were mostly sophomore and upper classmen who could help me learn the ropes and feel my way around the school community as a freshman. I was hesitant to approach the group at first because I felt embarrassed being a new comer to the school. I was not sure about how to introduce myself and ask to become a member of the group. Little did I know that my fears were totally unfounded. I was totally surprised when Ahmad Kabalawi, the president of the Middle Eastern Student Association himself approached me one time to introduce himself and ask if I wanted to attend a group meeting after classes the coming Saturday. Relief swept over me as I accepted the invitation. It turns out that it was not hard to join the group at all and they had been wondering as to why I had not approached them yet after a month of classes opening. I was so happy to join this group because they helped me overcome a lot of personal inhibitions that I had at the time. Being a new student whose first time it was away from home and my parents, I had a tendency to become very homesick. The senior members of the group helped me overcome my homesickness and desire to go home by keeping me busy in between classes. I was never alone because they always had group activities that I could participate in after classes and, most specially, I had a group of friend who understood my culture and belief system. That was very important to me because I needed to be able to keep a sense of home and my individuality while I attended school in the USA. I celebrated the important Middle Eastern and UAE holidays with the members of this group. When we were not busy bonding with each other, I helped them with their cultural information dissemination activities. We would sponsor mixers and hold friendly gatherings both on and off campus with others who were not from the Middle East in order to have an active and animated exchange of cultural experiences and information. As a group, we all felt that it was important to help the other non Middle Eastern students on campus become familiar with us and our culture. There has been so much negative news and misinformation about the Middle East ever since 9/11 that we all realized how imperative it was that we all actively participate in the said activities. I would have to honestly admit that by becoming a member of the Middle Eastern Student Association I became more active and interested in participating in the campus events. Our student organization leaders helped promote the interest in attending the campus events by making sure that our group would always have an active role in whatever activity was being planned by the student body, student council, or individual student groups provided that they ask for our assistance. This method of participation helped excite me about the student community and my life on campus. I never found myself bored or wanting to participate in other activities because our group made sure that we always had plenty to do and participate in after classes or on weekends when we would unwind after classes. By participating in these activities, I became extra involved with campus life and found myself calling Minnesota State University Mankato my second home. I would have to say that part of my transition to college and campus life at MSU was actively aided by the existence of the Middle Eastern Student Association. Thanks to the existence of this group, I always had people to lean on during my time of academic need. Those who took the same classes as I did who were members of the group did not hesitate to allow me to join their study groups so that we could study the lessons in our vernacular. This allowed me to get a clearer understanding of the subjects we were discussing in class because my group mates would explain the lessons to me in a language that I could fully understand. I also have to commend the First Year Experience program of MSU. I was more than happy to become a member of the Middle Eastern Student Association but the First Year Experience activities also helped me to make friends outside of my comfort zone. The Learning Communities program also lent me an extra hand when I needed the help in understanding certain lessons. MSU truly helped make learning a highly enjoyable activity during my freshman year. I dont think that MSU could have provided me with a better network of support than what already exists on campus. My learning experience at MSU has opened my eyes to a variety of situations pertaining to everyday student life. Living the MSU student life has allowed me to experience life learning situations and allowed me to grow as an independent individual. I take pride in the fact that I came to MSU as a child but, at the end of my freshman semester, I became an adult who knew the meaning of self-reliance and responsibility. My academic experience at MSU has taught me to become more critical in my approach to life for every lesson that I have, both in the classroom, on campus, or in my personal life, helps create a better educated version of me. It is because of this sense of critical thinking that I approach the coming spring semester with a happy heart. I am looking forward to more eye opening life experiences with the Middle Eastern Student Association as I welcome the incoming freshmen. I will be a senior member of the group now and I will have the opportunity to affect the lives of these students positively just as the upper classmen did for me when I first arrived at MSU. Academically, I am looking forward to more serious studies under the classes of my major. I am planning to buckle down to work more seriously this semester in order to present my parents with an even better grade point average at the end of the semester. It will not be difficult for me to do now because my period of adjustment is over. I am at home already at MSU and I already know that I have nothing to worry about both socially and academically. I have nothing to prove to to anybody except to myself. Therefore, I am looking forward to presenting myself with personal challenges that I hope to overcome in order to give myself a sense of personal accomplishment at the end of the spring semester. As a sophomore at MSU, I am going to be challenging myself to become a more positive role model to the incoming members of the Middle Eastern Students Association. My goal is simple. I want them to see that we have no reason to fail as students at MSU. They have the best learning support group and a magnificent extended family in the members of our organization. I will make it my personal mission to make sure that no Middle Eastern student ever feels lost or left out during my second year as a student at MSU. However, in order to achieve these goals, I will need the backing and support of the Middle Eastern Student Association. I can get their support by coming to them with my ideas for the further promotion of our group and member recruitment ideas. Both of which will be designed to help the non Middle Eastern students develop an interest in our group so that we can continue to foster student camaraderie and participation in school activities. Over all, there are a lot of reasons as to why I am excited to be starting my spring semester at MSU. The things I discussed in this paper are just some of the reasons that I am already looking forward to the first day of classes. Read More