A reflexivity statement is something that a researcher uses to explain their identity and how it relates to what they are saying.

 My reflexivity statement is focused on South Tucson, Arizona, where my parents decided to migrate and where I grew up, so It is why I picked it as my first pin. 

As I began to draft my reflexivity statement, I was thinking of what makes “me” me as a person, what is my identity and who and what have shaped it be this way. I wanted to start my reflexivity statement as a way for the audience reading it to be able to understand my life and the people around me where I grew up and why my parents decided to start a family here. I was able to express challenges I have faced that have made me who I am and ended with showing my gratefulness for the people who came before me because they are who have brought me this far with all these opportunities. Through writing this I was able to see myself more a writer, A writer to me is someone who is able to share their stories, or are able to tell a story; Through my reflexivity statement I was able to not only tell a story but express myself and share my identity with others, which I believe has made me a writer. 

Throughout my reflexivity statement I did not make a lot of changes, but the changes I made were to make the statement feel more like a conversation untraditional in writing but I wanted the audience to feel the connection while I was reading the statement, I changed some of the wording as I thought it would place a better picture for the audience. Throughout this class I have learned more of my identity and decided to add one last sentence to describe the word Nepantla and how that connects to my identity and who I have become. I made these changes so the statement would feel more personable and so others could either connect emotionally or because they have gone through the same things or think the same as I did when writing this statement.

 This statement really made me think and in a way find my identity, I did not know full who I was until writing this I was able to express the things and the places and people that have made me who i am which has brought me closer to finding my identity. I believe it is different from most of my writing before this class as I was able to be more open and personable but plan on incorporating the emotion I used in my future writing. 

The purpose of a Borderlands Synthesis Essay is to connect what the writer may know about the Border and connect that with different sources, such as personal experiences, videos/documentaries, learning articles, and poems. 

I have chosen the Sonoran to Arizona Border crossing because throughout the essay I talk about the struggles of the people who have to cross inorder to find a better life, and the struggles of arriving to an unknown land. I chose specifically this border because it is the closest border to Tucson, Arizona, the borderland I grew up in. 

Throughout this essay I was able to analyze many poems and a documentary on the border, I was able to analyze the things said specifically in the quote and try to full understand or describe it to the reader the way I understood it as well as for the documentary that gave more facts to the reader I was able to gather information that would be essential statistic wise and show the difficulties of what many go through in search for a better life. The text I selected was text I wanted the reader to hold onto as through finding a specific text I was able to analyze what it truly meant in response to the Border crisis. My thoughts when reading the poems were to the picture my mind was creating as I wanted to paint a picture of what the writer was talking about while in the documentary Borde South, I was devastated as it hurt to see all these people had to go through in search for more opportunities. I collected my notes and ideas by writing what I wanted the audience of my essay to fully understand after reading my essay, in a way writing what I wanted there main take away to be from each source. 

Using Rhetorical analysis when writing and reading is essential to fully understanding what the writer or a reader is talking about. Through the rhetorical situations we are able to fully understand the purpose, the context of the text and who the intended audience is, and the genre is pertains to thus helping us fully understand the concept of what one is reading or writing. 

Throughout his assignment my feelings were mixed as I was learning so much I did not know about the border while still trying to connect the point from the poems and documentary to be personable so the audience of my essay could understand and connect to what I did as I read. I hope to write something like this in the future when I am able to share my voice and the struggles of the borderlands. 

The purpose of the Borderlands Digital Story was to tell a story through photos, images and through interviewing the person the story you will share is about. 

I chose the border of Agua Prieta Sonora to Douglas Arizona because it is the place my parents which the digital story was about both crossed in order to make it to Tucson Arizona. 

I conducted research by first doing an interview with the person I was going to tell the story about, I learned a lot when doing this because I had to really think in order to create questions that would help develop my story. I also conducted research not only through the interview but by visiting the locations the interviewee presented and took pictures so the audience can connect to the photos better. As well as research on statistics on what my story was about in order to statistically provide information so that my story map would be mostly used in pathos, and logos. ​​Throughout this project I was untraditional with my writing as I wanted the audience to be able to connect as the things I was saying were personable ao the audience could connect emotionally and statistically. I mainly wrote using the purpose of the story rhetorically so that people can understand the reason why I am sharing the story. 

This assignment was hard to make as my family was already going through things and replaying and remembering their story was an  eye opener to what they were going to do but also emotionally connecting to the story they were sharing and they struggle they had to go through in order to give us more opportunities. I hope to write something like this soon as I enjoyed interviewing someone and wring a story they love for them. 

Papelitos Guardados is a way in which us as student writers are able to express our emotions or recall memories or opinions on certain topics with a prompt that was given or just through what were are going through at the moment. It is a way to write out in a paper or notebook that is hidden to only us unless we are open to talk about it. 

I chose Tucson Arizona again for this artifact, because in my papelito I talk about how Tucson is apart of my identity as it is the place I grew up in and have had changes throughout my life in it is the place I can be myself as it is so close to the border which makes me feel connected to my roots. 

Borderlands to me are the cities, states that surround borders, but also the places that culturally connect their space or town to the borderland. It is a place filled with many different races that acknowledge the diversity and embrace it. 

This activity has helped me build an understanding of what it means to be apart of the borderlands because it has helped me acknowledge the city I am in and how it embraces my culture and how I should embrace it too. To me being a “Borderlands” writer means to embrace who I am and tell my story because with so many different and unique stories in the borderlands some might relate to mine and not feel alone. Ive that the University of Arizona is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and i've learned I don't just want to be a part of a statistic to the university but I want my voice and story to be heard. I've also learned the struggles many of the people that first got to the borderlands had to face and the gentrification that happened in order for Tucson to finally be acknowledged as a borderland. 

Reflecting on this activity I have grown as a writer and reader because I have found a commonality in genre, language, tradition, literacy, and experiences. I am able to connect with those who feel the same way and not be set to a certain English literacy writing. Borderlands literacy is valuable to me as a writer because I am able to connect with those who have felt or gone through the same things and share our stories with the literacy we connect with. 

This activity has helped me find my belonging as through writing papelitos guardados I have began to learn mor about myself as a writer and be truly transparent because I was writing for “myself.” I was able to discover my purpose as a writer which is to connect ith those who have the same story and show gratefulness to those people that have paved the way for me to have these opportunities.