A community is a group of individuals with imparted interests or goals. Everyone is a member of one community, at the least. Whether a community is considered the people who live in your neighborhood, the people who live in your town, or the people that live in your apartment building, the members of the community will always have responsibilities. My community is the University of Hartford. Being a positive community member plays an important role in how the university functions and how to be a better person in general.
In order to be a positive community member, many things must be set in place. The first thing to do is to get involved. For a community to thrive, its members must work together. Member participation on campus is crucial. Being a first-year student here at the University of Hartford, it was difficult to jump in to the “college life” and to adjust at such a rapid pace but with the help of many people, for the most part, I am headed in the right direction. Another key attribute one should have in order to be a positive community member is to take responsibility.
Many times, it easy to lose track and to make irresponsible choices. Responsibility means taking action, following the rules, and being accountable. For the school to be at its best, the people in it must make the most of it. To come out of college and be the successful person that you always dreamed of being, academic performance should be the most important priority. Because of recent tragedies that occurred in my life, I became a person that I never thought I would become. I started getting depressed and overwhelmed and did not know how to handle most of the situations I was in.
Being so far away from my family, life became difficult. I did not know how to juggle the emotional aspect of my life with the social and academic aspects. With that being said, the results of my first semester in college were by far the worst I have ever experienced in my life. In order to raise my GPA I have set many goals for myself this semester. A big weakness of mine is managing my time. Given that in college you hvave so much free time, it easy to lose track and forget the main purpose of being on campus in the first place.
While having fun in college is always important, school should always come first. I have developed an effective study method which involves reviewing notes from each of my classes that night in order for all the information to stick. I believe this method is effective since you won’t be retaining half of the information the night before an exam. Another key to raising my GPA is staying organized. So far, I have written every single assignment from my syllabus. This is a great way to know when everything is due and so I will never be left behind on any class work or studying I must do.
To be organized, one must be responsible and should know when to put their priorities first. The last but in my opinion most important way to raise my GPA, is learning how to separate my personal life from my academic life. Instead of being strong and staying focused while in class last semester, all I could think about were the millions of problems I had going on outside of class. Even though what I was going through was tough, life must go on. Taking care of yourself in college is crucial for a successful four years.
The biggest lesson I have learned so far that I believe will have the largest influence on me in the future is a lesson of balance and responsibility. There are many ways in which I should take care of myself on campus. At the moment, my biggest goal is to lose weight. I am currently on a diet plan and I work out each day to ensure that I can go back to my previous weight. Taking care of myself includes making sure I am healthy and getting enough sleep, cleaning my room and doing laundry, and most importantly attending all my classes and getting all my work done.
It is easy to lose track in college and in order to be successful, it is important to balance time. As a child, the people around me would always ask “What do you want to be when you grow up? ” Of course the first thing that would come to a child’s mind would be a model, actress, fashion designer, etc. Surprisingly, mine was different. Although I loved music and sang all my life, my life-long dream was always to help people. Growing up, I watched my parents give up so many things for not only my brothers and I, but for people they barely knew just to get them out of their struggles.
Being that mom is a missionary for the United Nations, I got to witness first-hand how many people struggled. My mom is my hero and I have always looked up to her. With that being said, my life-long dream is that after I earn my degrees in Politics and Government, I want to do the best I can to create a non-profit organization that will have the ability to help thousands of people around the globe. I have already began putting money aside and will continue to collect money for years until I find the right moment to begin the organization.
While I accomplish what I have been dreaming of my whole life, my brothers will be my first priority. When I eventually make it one day, I will always make sure my brothers are doing well in all aspects of life. If they are struggling, I will do anything and everything in my power to ensure that they are happy. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. ” Even though this clichéd quote may not be as enlightening to be put in history books, it gives a good explanation for my general attitude towards life.
In life, there will be many twists and turns, ups and downs, and even upside-downs. In order to succeed, I have to learn to acclimate myself and make the most out of each circumstance even at the worst moment. At first I just wanted to write this essay to get my punishment over and done with, but as I started to write this essay and expand my knowledge of what a true community was and how to improve mine, I realized how important it is to be a part of something bigger than myself.
I also realized that a community is only as strong as its weakest link and that’s why I want to be a better community member. In order to succeed, one must be determined, focused, organized, and must stay out of trouble. Life is what you make it and I am working vigorously to make drastic changes in my life. Hopefully, the hard work will pay off and I will be able to better myself as a person and finally achieve my life-long dream.
