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Sophia...I am glad the books, especially Tattoos, resonated with you and that you felt that you grew this semester from them.  This is really positive and says a lot about you as a  person! That you grew in empathy and living in the present says a lot as well...these will help you as you grow in relationships and as a person!
Sophia, I have enjoyed getting to know you and have you in class this semester! You have added to our discussions, and small group work! I wish you a wonderful Christmas, break, and next semester! (It looks like you have found a relationship this semester...I wish you the best!)

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I really want to be more grateful and mindful. I have already tried to be more mindful. I have started doing yoga and praying before meals. But, I'm definitely a forward thinker. If I have a goal I won't stop until I get it. I am always thinking about my future. This isn't necessarily always bad. I think it's good to think about my future. However, I do it to a point where it is hard for me to live in the present. I'm really going to try and start being more mindful about that. I want to enjoy my life now and in the future. I also want to be more grateful. I just started praying over my meals. I need to be more grateful for the little things though. Even waking up is such a gift. I want to be like the homeboys and find joy in things like going to a restaurant. A lot of people can't afford to go out to eat and I should be more grateful. The books in this class really helped me to open my eyes to what areas of my life need improvement, and I'm very grateful for that.

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Tattoos on the Heart taught me reflection. As I read the book I reflected on my own life and in areas I need to improve. Living Buddha Living Christ taught me mindfulness. Through the book, I realized just how often I look forward to the future. I'm always thinking "oh, I'll do that in the future." I have a tendency to feel like I'm not truly living until I accomplish all my goals. This book taught me to be more mindful of the present. I have to enjoy life now. I also have to be thankful for everything I have now and not keep waiting for stuff in the future. To live mindfully I started doing yoga every morning. It gives me a chance to clear my mind and live in the present. I started thanking God for my food. And trying to sit and enjoy my food instead of just eating while watching Tv. I make a lot of bad choices and stupid decisions. After I lose my temper or say something mean I reflect on what I just said. That way I'm able to realize that it's wrong and try to improve myself. However, my life is so busy that it's hard to stay mindful. I'm constantly thinking about the next thing that I have to do and I'm usually really stressed. Sometimes I find it hard to reflect too. Especially when something made me really mad and it's hard to let go. It's hard to try and keep these two things so prevalent in my life. But, I try my hardest to do it because I know how important they are for me. I take a deep breath and try to compose myself when I feel like mindfulness and reflection are slipping away from me.

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Tattoos on the Heart resonated with me the most because it showed me how people could overcome extreme challenges in their life. It also showed me how much I take my life for granted. In the book, there is a part where Father G and some homeboys go to a restaurant. This is the first time in their whole life they have ever been to one. The waitress treats them with kindness and compassion when everyone else stares and judges. They are overjoyed to be eating in a restaurant and to be treated with such dignity by the waitress. They finally feel like they are being treated as humans. This story really stuck with me. I take things for granted in life. I eat in restaurants all the time. My family is Italian and half of them own restaurants. I need to be able to find joy in life through the little things that happen. When Going to restaurants is so normal for me. I even find the time to complain if a waitress isn't good or if my food isn't the best. But the homeboys don't think of any of this when they go to the restaurant. They are too overjoyed to complain about anything. This story stuck with me because it made me realize how much I take for granted and how much more I have to be thankful for; including the little things in life.

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Sophia, I really enjoyed reading your blog on It's a Wonderful Life, the story of how George realized that life was truly worth living!  Through your blog and your presentation, you showed a person who was facing big obstacles, but through the support of Clarence, the Angel, found that he could overcome them! As you correlated George's situation with Eric's in Fires, it is clear that having support (and making good decisions) can be what makes the difference.  The themes you took from the movie, not realizing the impact of our lives/actions and things don't always turn out like we anticipate, are excellent "tattoos" for life...good choices, Sophia! I like how you equated these with your life...it is good to recognize that life doesn't always turn out exactly as we have planned...we have to have faith that each bend in the road will be there for lessons to be learned or directions we need to follow...we don't always know what is best for us!
Overall, a well done blog posting! I noted several errors: 1. brothers to brother's; 2. their to there; 3 customer's to customers; 4. The to then,; 5. succeeding in life" a challenge (sentence needed clarity;" 6. Try to stay away from using "you" and "your." 7. When you have and or but at the beginning of a sentence, follow them with a comma. Let me know if you have questions on these. (-2 fir grannar-see rubric) +28/30 A

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It's a wonderful life is a Christmas movie about a man named George who gets saved by an Angel. The movie starts off with a lot of flashbacks about George's life. These flashbacks are being told by the other Angels so that Clarence, George's angel, knows him better so he can save him. The flashbacks show how George is a compassionate and generous man. He puts others first always. He saved his brothers life. He stepped in at his father's work when he died. He gave up his dreams of college and traveling for his job. He was always using his own money to help those who needed it. He gave up his honeymoon money when their was a mishap at the bank. He pleaded for money from his biggest enemy to try and keep his customer's happy and his father's work alive when he went bankrupt. George was always thinking of others first. When he did go bankrupt he was miserable and lost. He tried to kill himself. Knowing how generous of a man George was, Clarence jumped off the bridge knowing George would save him, so that George wouldn't commit suicide. The Clarence gives George the opportunity to see how life would turn out if he never existed. George sees how his life and his kindness has greatly impacted the lives of others. He returns home and upon his arrest the town rallies around him, pooling their money, to help him from going bankrupt. George realizes he truly does have a wonderful life.

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"It's a Wonderful life" relates to the book Fire in the Ashes because both focus on overcoming hardships in life. In Fire in the Ashes life in the shelter for these characters seemed to make succeeding in life after a challenge. Some were able to overcome this and others weren't as fortunate. Eric was Victoria's son. He reminded me of George. He was fed up with how his life turned out and he got tired. He decided to kill himself. The hardships he faced in life were too much for him to overcome. George faced many hardships in his work. He was always competing with Potter to keep his bank in business. He faced many hardships that forced him to make large sacrifices; including giving up his honeymoon. And he went bankrupt and was about to be arrested. Just like Eric from Fire in the Ashes, George wanted to take his own life. George was tired of living in such pain and misery. His life hadn't turned out how he wanted or imagined. But with the help of his Christmas Angel George was able to overcome his obstacles and find a way to succeed in life. I learned something from both these stories though. I understand how tough life can be sometimes. And it may just seem easier to run away from your problems or end your suffering completely. But both Eric and George wanted the same thing. They both wanted to be dead. And seeing both their outcomes taught me that life is always worth living. If George had ended his life like Eric had, he would be giving up on so much. He would be abandoning his family and all the people whose lives he had touched. They both didn't realize that ending their lives hurt other people as well. Everyone has problems. Ending your life is not a solution. It only causes more problems.

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There are two main points that can be taken out of "It's a Wonderful Life." The first is that your good deeds have a larger impact than you know. The second is that sometimes things in life don't always turn out the way you want. With everything going wrong in George's life he almost decides to commit suicide. Luckily, he gets a chance to look at how
life would be if he never existed. During this time he sees how all the good things he did impacted other's lives more than he realized. By jumping in the river after his brother he was able to save his life. And because his brother Harry was alive he was able to save his whole unit during the war. He saved Mr. Gower's life by noticing that he almost sent out a poisonous medication to a child. Which saved Mr. Gower from life in prison. And the generosity he showed to all the people of the town through his bank turned out to help him in the end. When George was going to be arrested at the end for bankruptcy the town rallied around him and pulled together all their money and belongings to save George.This point has impacted me personally because growing up my mom always taught me to do the little deeds. The little things have grand power. People will remember the little things you do for them. I always try to do the little things for people. When people forgot their lunch in high school I gave them some of mine. When I see a homeless person on the street I'll give them some food or money. If I have the ability to make someones day a little bit better I will. Sometimes in life things don't always go the way we want. George's life surely didn't turn out how he planned. He had dreams to get out of his small town, go to college and travel the world. But because of his father's sudden death plans changed. He had to take over his father's business. He never got the chance to go to college or to get out of his hometown. Then his business went bankrupt and he was to be arrested. This were so bad that he wanted to take his own life. Life can be difficult. Not everything will go your way. And that's meant for a reason. I'm a strong believer in everything happens for a purpose. I believe that the bad things that happen to us are just an obstacle for us to overcome to make us stronger. Things in my life have definitely not always gone how I planned. But I was able to react to them and figure out a way through it. Everything in life happens for a reason and is all part of a plan. I chose these two points from the movie because they stood out to me the most as well as related to me the most. I took these as the strongest points from the whole movie

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2. "Living Buddha, Living Christ and More"

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2. "Living Buddha, Living Christ and More"

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The theme in "Tattoos on the Heart" is compassion. There are a lot of themes in this book but compassion was seen throughout the whole book. Compassion is concern for the sufferings of others. Father Greg Boyle is always stressing the compassion we need to feel for others, especially people in rough positions like the homeboys. Even Father G's simple offer of removing the homeboy's tattoos shows tremendous compassion. It shows how he is able to forgive the criminals past and feel compassion for them and want to help them. The theme in "Fire in the Ashes" is overcoming your past situations in life. The book focused on people who struggled in some part of their life due to time in the shelters. The shelters were an awful place were people lived in inhuman conditions. The experience that people had at the shelters stayed with them for the rest of their lives. And as we saw in the book some people were able to overcome it and people weren't. Victoria's son Eric was not able to overcome his past experiences. At the end of the book he ended up killing himself because he let his life get out of hand. However, for Victoria's daughter Lisette, things turned out differently. She did find herself getting into some trouble, but luckily she was able overcome her past experience. She didn't let her life spiral out of control and she worked hard in school and life in general. I chose this theme because I personally understand how important it is to overcome your past if you want to have a successful life. The theme in "Living Christ, Living Buddha" is mindfulness. The book has a strong emphasis on being mindful of what's going on around you. It helps you to live presently and be thankful and mindful of the little things going on in your life that most of us seem to overlook. I chose this theme because it is seem throughout the entire book. It's really the main focus and has helped me to become more aware.

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1. "Living Buddha, Living Christ and More"

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1. "Living Buddha, Living Christ and More"

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I have had a strong growth in developing empathy. As most people, I have a strong focus on myself and achieving my goals in life. Yesterday a friend told me something terrible that she has been going through and for the first time I was able to relate even though I hadn't gone through anything like her situation. I was able to put myself in her shoes and feel her pain. And because of that I was able to better help her. At the beginning of the year this would not be the case. I felt bad for people but I was never able to feel true empathy. The books that we read in class taught me what true empathy was, especially "Tattoos on the Heart."This book really introduced me to what true empathy was. I was able to feel the pain of the characters in the book. I understood that empathy is necessary in life to help others and keep peace in society. I still have a lot to work on with empathy but these books were a great introduction for me. I will continue to place myself in other people's shoes and try and relate to them as best I can. By developing empathy I am also able to better develop myself and who I am.

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Sophia...I enjoyed reading your blog! You are a person who is strong emotionally, which is very positive, especially as you contemplate a job working with people!  I really liked that you found value in the EQ Questionnaire and that you agreed with the strength results, as well as the results in areas that weren't a strong.  For the latter, you are a strong person who wants to improve and become a better person, which is commendable and says a lot about you as a person!
You are a perceptive blog writer...positive! I noted a couple of writing/grammar errors: selfish, but (comma before but); other people's 'needed;it is was repeated; and emotion should be emotional control. +10

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My self awareness score was a 45. This did not surprise me at all. I am very aware of my emotions and how other people's words and actions can impact them. It was actually my highest score out of all the other ones. I have a very strong focus on myself in life. This may sound selfish but, most people do too. Even though my score was high there is always room for improvement. I will continue to focus on my emotions and my being as a whole. Managing my emotions scored a 34. This score is just one point away from being one of my strengths. I was not shocked at this test result. I am very good at managing my emotions when I want to. I am a very relaxed person. I do not hold grudges for more than a week at most. And when I'm angry or sad I heal very quickly. I am able to shrug things off fairly easily. However, I do have a quick temper. My mother thinks it's the Italian in me. However, I am also good at controlling it. To improve managing my emotions I will continue to keep my temper in check. I will also continue to live life very calmly as I have been doing. I will tell myself to let the little things go because they aren't that important. My motivating oneself was a 28. Even though this isn't a terrible score it was the worst on my whole list. My problem is starting something. I have many good ideas in my head and I know what I need to do and how to do it. My problem is just starting the task. It takes me forever to build up the strength to do it. However, once I start I can't stop and get extremely focused into the task at hand. I will always struggle with motivation. I am always trying to improve it though. I try to tell myself to "just do it." It needs to get done and it's not going to do itself. My empathy section was my second lowest with a score of 30. This didn't surprise me either. I knew my empathy was lacking. But I am an extremely caring person. I have a good heart and I'm always helping the poor and offering my time to help others through community service. However, I do these things because I want to help them, not because I can feel their pain. I struggle to feel other peoples pain, but that doesn't stop me from caring and wanting to help them. I am somewhat empathetic. I just have a hard time feeling other people's pain. I have always wanted to fix this but, I'm not sure how. I'm not sure what could change this about me unless I actually felt their pain for myself. However, like I mentioned, this lack of feeling doesn't stop me from helping them. My social skill score was a 39. This didn't shock me either. I have always been an outgoing person. I made friends quickly when I got to college. At my job over the Summer I also made friends quickly. I'm good at communicating with others and keeping up conversation. However, like everything else, there is always room for improvement. Many people have told me that I look "unapproachable" at first and that I'm "much nicer" than they thought I would be. I think I need to work on my body language, because it can give people the wrong impression of me. My perception of EQ is that it is that it is what we use to manage our emotions and relationships. Presently it's extremely important in my life. I have to use it with my teachers, parents, friends teammates, boyfriend and strangers. And based on my relationships, self awareness and social skills that I presently have I was not surprised that my scores were so high. And as I grow older I will only need it more. I will need it with my husband, because no relationship can word without communication and emotion control. I will also need it with my kids. I think an strong EQ is one of the most important things to have when raising children. I t will help you to better understand them. I will especially need it in my work. To be successful in any job you have to have a strong EQ to work with your co workers, boss and customers. Overall I believe that a high EQ is very important to have and I will continue to work on mine everyday throughout my life.

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Sophia...I love the photo of you and your friend at a Cubs game!  I also enjoyed reading your blog and learning more about the positive way you have worked through the earlier stages and how you are working through ones now.  You have been fortunate to have great people to support you along the way!  They have certainly helped in guiding you to be the great person you are today!  That is exciting that you are in a new relationship!  It sounds like you have a great perspective in how you want to approach it and grow in it!  I wish you the best! I also wish you the best as you continue to contemplate and decide just exactly what you want to be. This is one of the most difficult decisions to be made...I'm glad you are taking time.
I noticed several typo/writing errors. Look them over and let me know if you have questions. Stage 2: it's hard (no its);stay away from using "you" in blogs; Of course, (comma needed after course); don't need "though;" use a semi-colon for me; they weren't trying; no "now" Stage 3: The following is... (no "which") , but (, needed before); no make (should be might)

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The trust vs. mistrust stage has greatly impacted who I am today. I grew up with amazing parents and brothers. I always believed them, and looked up to them, and knew that they wanted what was best for me. I trusted them greatly and was never let down. Because of this I tend to put a lot of trust in people, especially friends. I feel secure and confident in the world around me too. The autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage didn't affect me as positively as the trust vs. mistrust stage. When I was three my parents did give me the freedom to move around and play with toys, but I still wore what they put me in and still ate what they fed me. I was even put in dance because my mom wanted me to be a dancer. So I really didn't make that many decisions for myself. This has led me to doubt my own abilities, which is a struggle of mine because its hard to succeed when you don't believe in yourself. I try to tell myself that "you can do this." I try and believe in myself, and just know that I have so many other people that believe in me too. Of course my parents were just looking out for me though. They weren't trying to overly control my life. Which is why I find that I successfully passed the Initiative vs. guilt stage. I did made up my own games when I was a child. I tend to be more of a leader than a follower, especially in sports and group projects. I learned to trust in myself and believe in myself now. Because I taught myself that I can succeed in things and trust my own abilities. I also completed the industry vs. inferiority stage. My teachers and parents always praised me as a child. My art work was hung up and my good grades were always rewarded. I remember always being so excited to show my parents what I could achieve; even if it was something minor like rubbing my stomach and patting my head at the same time. I believe I am still in the identity vs. role confusion stage. I have an idea about what career I want and how I want my life to look but, I still struggle with who I am as a person and what my purpose is in this world. But, I believe that it make take a whole lifetime to be able to fully understand that. I work hard in school now and take the time to enjoy living in the moment. I know that everything in my life will fall into place and I'll be doing what I'm supposed to be. I believe I am also in the intimacy and isolation stage. This stage has always scared me. But, I have gotten better. I have decided recently to focus on a few friends and build those relationship other than just being friends with everyone. I also just started dating my boyfriend. I have never had a serious boyfriend before and never really wanted one till later in life. This was a big step for me and I plan on continuing to build that relationship with him. Overall I am very blessed to be raised the way that I have been. I have so many people who love and support me in everything I do.

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Sophia...I am continuing my feedback...I am so glad you arrived at the decision you did, even though it was a really stressful one to make! You are right in going in the direction of your major...as you indicated this will be a big part of your life after college and you want to make sure you choose a school that provides that! I am so glad too that you have found the decision you made to be the right one for you and that you like DU!Comparing your experience with Grumpy's was really a perfect one...good choice!
You express your ideas well and I always enjoy reading your blog posting! I only noticed one error: decided should be decided. Good!

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The Brain Dominance Test is for Blog 2.  For this assignment, you are ahead!  You were to provide a biography about yourself for this one as well as reflect on the assessments' ...results
Overall, I would agree with your perception of the assessments' results.  You are a friendly person, one who I think people would like to know and be around! As you are an athlete, you enjoy working in a team environment...good attribute to have for your future career/life! You may find yourelf more comfortable in a team role vs. team leader role...that may be your thinking now, but this could change as you grow in experience!
I enjoyed reading/learning from your reflection...I look forward to learning more as you write more!

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My results from my brain dominance test showed that I was a slight preference toward the left brain. Because of this, the test says that I am more analytical. I agree with this. I believe that I am a logical thinker and put the hard facts before my feelings. The test also states that I am systematic, meaning that I make decisions by facts. This I also agree with. I give objective judgment and am willing to hear both sides to a situation. I am definitely the planner. I love to plan out my days, weeks and even future. I love to think ahead but I also love to live in the moment and enjoy the present. I strongly agree that I need to be organized before working on a task. This especially applies to my school work. Considering that I am only slightly left brained I find that I have some of these right brained characteristics as well. I am the type of person who will do things spontaneously or without planning. I am also someone who thinks a lot with my imagination, especially when problem solving. I usually do not process information as a whole though. I tend do go beyond task on a lot of things, especially in homework or at my job. I am not very intuitive. However, I do value rich varied input. This past year I had a very hard time decided which college to go to. Like I said I'm a planner. Knowing that this decision decided my future put a lot of stress on me. I came to a point where I was decided between two college. These two were Dominican University in Chicago and Ave Maria in Florida. Overall, Ave Maria was a better fit for me, I would be playing D2 for basketball and in Florida. However, the only downfall was that it didn't have my major. I was so conflicted between which school to pick. I even had to delay signing my letter of intent on signing day, for basketball, because I hadn't picked a school yet. I asked teachers, my guidance counselor, friends and family for their input. With all their help I was able to make my decision. I chose Dominican University because I couldn't go to a school that didn't have my major. A school that was a better fit didn't compare to the fact that my major would be the building blocks to my career. Now that I'm at Dominican I realized that I put way too much stress on myself. I was consumed with stress and worry. I relate to Grumpy from our book "Tattoos on the Heart." He was covered in tattoos head to toe. They consumed him. I felt like I had been tattooed with stress over my whole body. Like him, it took me a while to realize that I could remove these tattoos any time I wanted to. I just had to make a simple decision and trust in God's plan. This stress that I marked myself with held me back, by removing it I felt free, just as Grumpy did.

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From my Personality Test my ESFP was composed of 50% Extravert, 22% Sensing, 22% Feeling, and 12% Perceiving.I have moderate extravert over introvert, meaning I am more outgoing. I agree with this I like meeting new people and going out. I have 22% sensing over feeling, which I also agree with. I do not make decisions off "gut feelings" I like to plan things out and see he outcome. I have 22% feeling over thinking. I disagree. I think my feeling actually control my decisions way more than 22%. I'll usually always react to things based off the feeling I have. I have 12% perceiving over judging. I also disagree with this. I feel like I perceive more than only 12%. I believe I perceive more than I judge. My Leadership test results were a 63. I agree with this score. I believe I am a leader but not enough of a leader to be that person that is always telling everyone else what to do. I try to lead by my example. I find this test result to be accurate for me.

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I grew up in Oswego Illinois with my 4 brothers and Mom and Dad. Growing up playing sports with my brothers, I have always had a great love for sports, especially basketball. I am a freshman at Dominican University. I am double majoring in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing. I love spending time with family and friends.