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Throughout our discussions, I’d say that most sources were really informative and sufficient for a moderated discussion. In addition, I noticed that my classmates offered decent lengths of sources: not too short and not too long. I think that keeping the sources in the specified range kept arguments closely linked and easily transitioned between, leading to a more stable and smooth discussion. Speaking of sources, what I did well was always referring back to the sources provided and trying my best to fight my urges when it comes to adding unrelated information.  I may have slipped once and talked about something unrelated, but because of it, I instantly remembered my mistake as soon as unrelated thoughts barged in. During the last discussion, I did not contribute that much, which puts me right in the middle: a dominator once, a taciturn once, and a well balanced contributor once. Now, that I have been in all three and felt what it was like to be one, in future discussions, I will sense that I’m doing something wrong and I’ll quickly adjust my style.

I think that having this experience is one of the semester’s highlights for me. It equipped me with the tools needed for a proper discussion: referring back to sources, waiting for that millisecond pause to start speaking, knowing when and for how much to speak, and many more. Although it sounds like a common app essay, but now I believe that as soon as my freshman year approaches and I notice a moderated discussion assigned for me, I definitely won’t feel anxious or unprepared.

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It's a funny story, actually. I went to Chipotle a week ago and ran into one of the friends I had met at the gym. He happened to be Asian. We chatted for a couple of minutes while waiting in line, and to fill the silence, I asked, "So, what are you getting?"

His response was, "Just a burrito with some chicken, lettuce, sour cream, and cheese."

I couldn't help but exclaim, "That's weird, how come you're not including rice?" Now, the way I said it wasn't intended to assume any stereotypes, but after a while, I realized that it might have come across that way.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he asked about my order. I told him I'd be getting a bowl with double chicken and a few other toppings. He chuckled and said, "A bowl! Double chicken! You must have a lot of money, man." I jokingly replied, "Believe me, I don't." He then added, "No, no, you Saudis have a lot of money! Oil money!"

We both laughed for a few minutes and ended up ordering our "stereotypically filled" meals. It was a lighthearted moment, but it made me realize that although certain things may be common among different cultures, it doesn't mean they apply to every individual within that culture.

I consider myself lucky to have made that mistake with a carefree, friendly joke and learned from it. In other situations, assumptions can lead to more psychologically damaging actions towards others. I'm grateful that I have learned and reflected on my mistake without harming others.

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At first, I was afraid that the discussion wouldn't be as active and engaging as desired, but it turned out great. As soon as I started the discussion by asking a relatively broad question "What do you generally think of freedom of speech?", everything went smoothly thereafter. I have prepared a list of broad and heavily debatable questions-which were the main focus- and relatively direct and easy questions for the situation of dominance over other members. And that's what did happen. I noticed group members not participating and asked them these direct questions to keep them going. After asking the questions, I definitely noticed the discussion balancing out more.

What I learned and executed greatly is improv. Although I had a list of questions that followed the order of the article, the discussion didn't go that way. Instead of staying strict with the order, I improvised the order of questions in relation with the discussion, and came up with new questions that fit the discussion better than the ones I already had.

What I think I could've done better was spotting and resolving the dominancy of members earlier in the discussion. It was also a result of another mistake: spending a lot of time on one question, which led to the dominant members to keep their discussion going while others won't have contributions to the same topic unless it was changed.

Overall, I think it was a really great experience and I'm glad I had it before my years in university started. That way, I can be fully prepared for it when the time comes.

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Sanger Sanger Handouts
-Procrastinators:

Which One Are You?
-Study Cycles
-Monthly Calendar

Longhorn Wellness:
-Setting Up Your Room For Success
-Napping
-Sleep Strategies

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-Get a score of 770+ in the SAT Math section. I will schedule at least 5 hours of Math practice per week on a total of an hour per day for 5 days of the week. Each session will contain at least 30 mins of error logging and learning from mistakes.

-Get a score of 700+ on the SAT English section. I will put 3 to 4 hours of English work, either an hour per day and interceding with some of the math days or increases the load per day to avoid interception between the math and English. Similar to the math, I will include at least 20 mins of error logs and learning from mistakes.

-Get a score of 108+ on the Toefl test. I will practice daily alternating between section, as well as including typing practice to increase my speed and generally do more reading. I have brought 6 interesting books from Saudi, so I will start with reading them in addition to reading newspaper on a regular basis (a tip I received from my SAT tutor).

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1- Prepare for a powerlifting competition due November 11th. I have to workout for 5 times a week with a bare minimum of 1.5 hours at least per session.

2- Fix my sleeping schedule by allowing a window for at least 7-8 hours of sleep

3- Fight the almighty Gratification monkey. I will fix this issue by scheduling my day to the most specific detail and increasing the deadlines that I put to myself

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1- Although there were some minor reasons, I still do not fully understand why Americans are negative in the way they view themselves.

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1- Cultural Values

2-Learning the skills to fully culturally adapt

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1- The origins of why Americans believe in hard work that will surely pay off

2- The process of cultural adaptation, adaptation, and shock

3- Difference between melting pot and acculturation

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I think one of the the reasons americans are most of times negative about how they view themselves is correlated to how they viewed themselves to the public or specifically how they want to portray the image of “the ameican dream” through the different parts of the media vs how the average american is. At the end of the day, America is a huge country. And, like any other country, it has a wide range of social classes and statuses. Having that “ideal” picture and wanting to live by it and then being broken by life’s natural cycle, where some individuals work hard and make it while others may not be entirely successful or have that image finally painted for them. So, having that high bar and not being able to reach it will definitely make some psychological damage, and having that scenario happening to a great number of Americans, to my belief, is a factor that contributes to the negativity that the Americans clearly experience according to the data.