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A Reflexivity Statement is something that a scholar or researcher writes in order to explain their identity and how it relates to their studies.

I picked Phoenix, Arizona as my pinned place because it is my hometown and where I have grown up.

I created the reflexivity statement by talking about what makes me a person and what things have made me become who I am. Before drafting it I was thinking about what things make up who I am and what’s important to me. I knew when to stop writing because I figured I had reached the point to where I thought it included things that were important to me. I consider myself a writer because I have been always been  interested since sophomore high school year in regards to the figurative language of writing.

The changes I made in the reflexitivity statement is shortening it to be able to include only the most important information. The first draft was the much longer and I shortened it to be able to be concise what made up who I am and what I identified more with myself.

This assignment allowed for me to be able to reflect more on myself and be more connected with myself. As well as being able to connect with both parts of my Hispanic and American heritages. I think maybe I will write something like this when possibly applying to certain future schools or jobs. As well as when sharing my story to others.

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The purpose of the Annotation Matrix was to organize and put together all the sources that you gathered in an organized fashion. Specifically, it makes key notes about the information of each of the sources; such as purpose, author, context, and rhetorical choices. This allows for an easier to organize the Synthesis Essay together.

I chose the pinned place of Tucson because I felt that the relation of speaking about the Borderlands most specifically related to Tucson due to the movie we watched about immigration.

I selected the texts by finding two selected texts from the Borderlands synthesis texts and chose the two texts that stood out to me the most. I picked the children's book because I felt that it was important to show how immigration directly affects families and it was a very well visualized text. Secondly, I picked a poem that focused on the process of becoming an American. The last text used was the documentary, Border South, which used a lot more storytelling of situations and experiences of the people.

Being able to study the purpose, context/author, audience, and genre allowed me to think more deeply about the texts. I was able to see how the author, genre, and audience all related to the deeper purpose of the text, and how I could then incorporate it into the paper.

I think that the annotation Matrix was very useful in helping me organize my ideas and later on produce my essay in an organized way. Therefore I would probably use it again when writing another research essay.

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South Mountain Park and Preserve, S Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ

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The Fieldwork Journal is an observational journal used to be able to capture images and items to be able to help with brainstorming the purpose, claim, and thesis of the Borderlands digital story.

I chose the South Mountains in Phoenix, AZ because that is where I collected the data for my Fieldwork Journal. It is also where my whole project was based.

I collected the first part of the journal by describing and visiting South Mountain Park and being able to write down what I thought was a visual description of the place. I also included images and videos of the area that I took in order to encapsulate the feeling of the area. As well as to be able to give more insight as to what the reader was looking at. I then conducted an interview with my Tata regarding the place to be able to get a new point of view on South Mountain Park. This conversation allowed me to be able to get more ideas on what my topic would be focused on. I learned that the research part of the project is very important because it allows you to collect information that will be insightful for later on information.

The conventions I used mostly were the descriptive language of the Park and using the images as a background to show what it looked it. The type of convention I was more lenient on included using text that I would make up what the interviewer would say when describing the place, based on information spoken about in the interview.

This assignment was very helpful overall when trying to figure out what I wanted my project to be focused on. It also allowed for me to organize all that I had from images to voice recordings of the interview to include them in the project. I think I would write something like this again when collecting tools and information for a presentation.

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For this artifact, I decided to pick my Papelito #10. The prompt for this Papelito was “Write about whose shoulders you stand on”.

I decided to pick my family’s place of origin which is Chihuahua, Mexico.

The Borderlands is one common place with many people of all different origins, which creates a diverse community.

I think that this piece of writing allowed me to become engaged with my Hispanic family culture and how it can relate to going to an HSI university. It has allowed me to be able to combine both my heritage and my writing which has become my interpretation of what the Borderlands mean to me.

This activity strengthens my ideas about Borderlands because it allows me to connect with my ancestors from the past whose shoulders I stand on. Thinking more deeply about this raises questions for myself about my past heritage and my family’s journey of coming from Mexico to the United States. Borderlands literacy is valuable to me because I can honor both sides of my heritage and combine it into a piece of work that represents who I am.

This activity influenced my sense of identity because I want to be able to further honor both sides of how I’ve grown up in two heritages. It allows me to explore ways in my writing where I can be expressive about these ideas of having to balance both aspects of my culture, and how that can lead to my purpose of creating writing with all parts of my heritage.

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Xavier College Preparatory, North 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ

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Alma Meléndez

Professor Melani Martinez

ENGL 102 Borderlands

4/30/24

My Testimonio

It was the morning of August 13, 2019 when I walked out onto the humid field to join the other runners. It was my first day of practice alongside the Xavier College Prep cross country team, I was ready to make a good impression because I was a freshman and wanted to show up and see how fast I could run. As I said goodbye to my Papá who had driven me to practice, he told me “Echale Ganas,” meaning to give it all I got and work hard. I took this saying along with me throughout my running experience. As I approached the group I started to see everyone talking with each other, even the freshman knowing everyone. I started to feel lightheaded and left out seeing everyone talk amongst each other. It was then that I realized some of the freshmen had started training earlier in the summer and had already gotten to know each other. Then, I felt this overwhelming sense of distress and feeling left out. I wanted to join the team to make new friends yet it seemed as though everyone already had their own friend group. I tried brushing it off and reassuring myself I could make friends by “showing off” how fast I was. However, once we started that first day and leading into the next few weeks I came to realize I was actually the slowest on the team. Which made me feel very ashamed of myself and I never wanted anyone to look at me during practice.

As freshman year progressed I continued to show up but felt very upset and uncomfortable still being one of the slowest girls on the cross country team. This made me feel very left out and uncomfortable. That same semester I started becoming friends with a girl on the team, Calista, who introduced me to her friends with whom I then became friends. It was nice being able to have a few friends on the team but I still felt upset not being able to keep up with my teammates in practice and in races. Suddenly COVID started and I began training on my own, with my dad biking alongside me.

I started to realize during COVID that running was a place where I could rest and be able to escape quarantine. Our coach gave us mandatory training to do on our own and I began to set a goal for myself. I wanted to be able to reach as close to the varsity time levels as possible. I began to have a change in my mindset and wanted to stop having a negative attitude towards being slow and instead change that into something else. As I progressed through my training during my freshman and sophomore years. My 3.1-mile times began to lessen from 28 minutes to 24 and 23 minutes. Even though I wasn’t yet at the varsity under 20 minutes for a 5k time I started to see a change in my relationship with running.

I started to feel more connected to the sport. It became an emotional connection that allowed me to feel more liberated and less stressed in all aspects of my life. Another thing that helped me feel less stressed was journaling those emotions in my Papelito journal because “emotion is something for me that guides my everyday life choices” (Papelito 2). Running in the morning allowed me to be more in control of my emotions and let go of what was bothering me.

The whole routine of waking up at 4:30 every morning before school and heading to practice cleared my mind for the day. It was a preparation for the day of many hours and schoolwork and exhaustion. Even though going to practice contributed to my lack of sleep, it made up for feeling so great in the morning and prepared me for the day. I began to realize that my love and motivation for the sport weren’t for how fast I was. But instead, it was an exercise for my mind and helped me have a clearer mindset.

I eventually did reach my goal of achieving a varsity time. I was in the mile race and was the only one from my high school. I ran the race but was very nervous the entire time and I convinced myself I was the last one in the race. Instead, it turned out I had lapped many of the girls and was the first one to cross the finish line with a time of 5:58, which beat the requirement for the varsity level which was 6 minutes.

Since then, running has stayed with me and although I don’t go every day and wake up at 4:30 am anymore, it always helps me keep a clear mind, especially with the stress that comes with college. It has been a sport that has been consistent in my life and that I will continue on for many years to come. It also allows me to connect with “the people whose shoulders I stand on…my ancestors from many generations that are guiding my path of life” (Papelito 10):

These ancestors come from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, and specifically the tribe of the Tarahumara who are known for running extensive miles. When I learned this a while back it made me realize that is also part of the reason why I feel so connected to running. This part of my life has also come to be a huge part of my personal identity based on where. As I stated in my Papelito, “I grew up in South Phoenix which is mostly home to many Hispanics. However I’ve always gone to school in North Central Phoenix, where there are more diverse groups of people” (Papelito 1).

Running was able to connect both of these parts of my identity because I would run at practice at school in North Phoenix and then come home and bring back that same mindset when I ran at home. It has also made me have a healthier and more positive mindset when It comes to things I am struggling with. Instead of making myself feel upset about it I’ve learned to do something about it and make it a positive change in my life. I hope to bring these skills I’ve learned from running with me for the rest of my life.