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Individuals with Disabilities Act (2004)

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Individuals with Disabilities Act (2004)

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Federal law passed in 2004 which governed how students with disabilities recieve education. The act focused on increecing inclusion of people with disibilites in general education classrooms, the creating of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), early intervention and identification of disabilites, accountabilty and assesment of students with disabilities and reasonable accommodations for those students.

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After spending kindergarden and first grade at a Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School, I transfered schools to a Pluristic Jewish Day School where I would continue learning throughout the rest of my pre-college years. Dispite being more religiously aligned with my origional school, I ended up switching as the result of two factors. Firstly, I was falling behind in my classes and when meeting with my parents the school had remarked that I was "slow," and that as a result of my processing disorder, I would have to accept struggling more than my peers. Secondly, I was heavily bullied at that school, and thefore in response to those factors my parents decided to move me to this new school, which had a learning resources center designed to help integrate me with my classmates.

It was there that I became best friends for the next ten with an atheiest, and began to explore my religious identity. Both of us appreciated being challenged by opposing perspecitves and refining our arguments in response to one another. Through this friendship, I truly began to value the growth only possible through having relationships with people who differ from you, and learning to respect another persons model of the world.

Both this relationship, and the support of my school, empowered me to see myself as someone who is intelligent, and as someoene who has unique perspecitives on the world. I am eternally greatful for both the instution as well as the friends I made there, for forging my idenity.

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Economic downturn from 2007-2009 caused by the housing market bubble bursting. This recession was the greatest recesssion in the U.S. since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The recession resulted in significant job losses and fluctuations within the housing market.

In education, decreeced tax revenues resulted in severe budget cuts. These cuts ofent resulted in teacher layoffs, reduced programs, decreeces in resources, and larger class sizes.

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Fortunately, in 2010 my parents were able to purchace their own house. I still remember the excitement of having a house, and looking back on it I know appreceate the security that this brought to my family.

It was really at this moment that my parents were able to start building equity for themselves; providing a greater sense of psychological wellbeing at home.

For me, having a house also privded me more space to play and socialize with friends and towards developing positve relationships with others.

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Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (2012)

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Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (2012)

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In 2012 Colorado became one of the first states to legalize recreational Marijuana. This legalization had significant ecconimic and social effects on Colorado, causing an econimic boom and a much greater prevalence of open use of Marijuana.

As a result of the econmic boom, the increese in canabis tax dollars provided additional funding for verious innitivives including enhancing educational programs.

On the flip side, a greater concern of the potential negitive effects of Marijuana use in schools brought with it increeced educational campains advising students of the adverse effects of drug use, especially that of Marijuana.

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In seventh grade, my processing disorer was continuing to be a major impediment to my ability to learn. While in theory I was able to grasp and contribute to the material, it often took me much longer than my peers to digest the material meaning I was often behind.

In response, my parents sent me to this program called Brain Balance, which through various games and excersizes helped me deveolop new mental pathways to help me better inegrate information within my mind.

After months of afterschool activites with them, my preformance in school stated radically shifting, to the point were I was outperforming many of my peers.

Addtionally, my attitude towards learning completely shifted and to this day, learning is still one of my favorate ways to engage my self.

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After high school, I decided to spend a year in Israel at a gap year program known as Yeshivat Migdal HaTorah. There I focused on developing my Jewish identity, and after about two months there I decided to extend my stay for an addtional year. The learning focused on developing my critical thinking skills when approaching religion and was something I fell in love with.

In addtion to becoming something that I'm passionate about, the learning also drove me to explore instituions where I could continue progressing will simultaneously contining my accademic career. I had origionally intened to attend college at University of Maryland, however, I ended up deciding to attend Queens College while continuing to advace my Judaic studies here in New York.

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The Covid 19 pandemic struck the world starting in eairly 2020, leaving a large impression on many aspects of human life. The virus disrupted world economies, strained world healthcare systems, and greatly impacted daily life through large shutdowns across the world.

In terms of education, the pandemic also changed the learning landscape with a shift to remote learning. Teachers had to addapt to this new teaching enviroment, creating challences in student engagement.

In addition, the pandemic further exasperated educational inequalities with margionalized communites being dispreportionately affected. Digital dispartity became a more apperent reality forceing governmental agencys to reevaulate how they provide education.

At the same time, these challanges promoted rapid growth in new educational technologies, making remote learning a much more prevelent and accessible reality to this day.