Jianna Life Map Narrative by Jianna Maso

jiannaamaso — 2023-08-31 18:45:08 UTC

Starting middle school was a big change from elementary school. I had 7 different classes and 7 different teachers. In middle school I felt more connected with my teachers and they really helped guide me and prepare me for the future. Some of my middle school teachers had such an impact on me I still think about things they've told me and use it to motivate me.

jiannaamaso — 2023-08-31 19:03:22 UTC

When I was in middle school, my mom decided to go back to college since she never finished after high school. She worked super hard while taking care of me and my siblings by herself. She graduated with a degree and started her own interior design business. I'm always so inspired by her success and I'm happy she found an occupation doing something she loves.

jiannaamaso — 2023-08-31 19:15:58 UTC

Me, my mom and my sisters have always been close. They have always supported me through all of the different sports and activities I've participated in. When I was in 7th grade I told my mom I wanted to be vegetarian and she supported me and suggested I be pescatarian instead so I could still get a good amount of protein and iron in my diet. After a couple weeks, my sister decided she wanted to try being pescatarian as well and I felt so connected with her and my mom for supporting us and buying us new types of foods to try.

-According to the New York Times, a vegetarian diet may significantly cut your risk of heart disease and stroke. Researchers analyzed the eating habits of 450,000 men and women and found that those who ate a larger portion of plant-based foods had a 20% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

jiannaamaso — 2023-09-05 04:48:10 UTC

High school is a difficult time for a lot of people, including myself. It could be very overwhelming at times and it's hard when you don't have a lot of motivation. Finding a really good group of friends really made my high school experience so much better. They made me look forward to going to school. We went on trips together like Hawaii, Lake Tahoe and Palm Springs. It's really important to at least have a couple really good friends in school because they'll help you push through it.

My connection and relationships with my friends is my social capital. I have had so many opportunities I never would have even known about without my friends. Because of them, I have an amazing job right now.

jiannaamaso — 2023-09-05 04:53:28 UTC

I started doing cheer my junior year of high school. I had played a couple different sports before but stopped after my freshman year. Cheer was a lot different than basketball and soccer because I felt so much more connected with my team and everyone really cared about each other. I was a backspot and I loved it. During one performance, my flyer fell out of the stunt and was falling over my shoulder. I caught her and tried to stop her from falling over me but ended up really hurting my back while doing so. I heard several loud cracking sounds and fell to the ground. I've broken bones before but this was the worst pain I've ever felt and I was so scared. I had to be taken off the field and to the hospital. Thankfully, I had only hyperextended and sprained my back but I'll probably have pain and muscle spasms in my back forever. After about two weeks of recovering, I went back and performed again until the end of the season just without stunting. My coach and a lot of people told me I couldn't but I pushed through.

jiannaamaso — 2023-09-05 04:57:12 UTC

No one in my family has gone to a university or done more than 2 years of community college. I want to break this cycle. I want to transfer to a university and earn a degree in criminal justice. I want to start my success at a young age and set a good example for my younger family members.

These hopes and goals of mine are my aspirational capital. Even though it will be difficult and no one in my family has done it, I will work hard to achieve these goals.

jiannaamaso — 2023-09-05 05:01:38 UTC

It's very different than anything anyone in my family does and very ambitious but I would love to work in the law enforcement field. I wouldn't want to be a police officer but an FBI agent or Crime Scene Investigator. I know it will take a lot of work but it's something I'm very interested in and I want to pursue a career in something that actually interests me so I can have a happy and successful life.

jiannaamaso — 2023-09-05 05:04:59 UTC

This probably seems like a silly goal but I really want to have a big, beautiful house when I'm older. My mom does interior design so I love looking at homes for sale and imagining how I'd decorate them if I lived there. I don't want kids when I'm older so I'd just want to be married and have a cat.

Class topics

jiannaamaso — 2023-12-17 21:37:31 UTC

The topics I chose are mindfulness and goal setting. These topics are about taking a couple minutes to yourself to relax and de-stress and making goals for yourself that are realistic and help you get things done. These topics have helped me throughout the semester by giving me things to do when I feel stressed or overwhelmed. Since this is my first semester of college and it's very new to me, they helped me make a plan and goals for my semester. A piece of advice I would give to an incoming student would be to use mindfulness whenever they feel stressed and to use goal setting throughout their entire school career. The goals don't have to be huge ones, just little ones like finishing a certain assignment at a certain time.

ah-ha moment

jiannaamaso — 2023-12-17 21:43:24 UTC

This was my first semester of college and it was very different from high school. In high school, I procrastinated a lot and turned in many assignments late because all of my teachers allowed it. One of my classes this year did not allow late work under any circumstances. This was very different for me and made me realize I had to stop procrastinating and I won't always have classes that allow late work anymore. Although it was difficult for me and a little stressful, it was also helpful in a way. It forced me to manage my time better and really focus on my school work.

Academic goals

jiannaamaso — 2023-12-17 21:52:47 UTC

My current academic goal is to transfer to a 4-year college after two years at CSM. I chose this goal because I knew it would be better for me to start off at CSM before going off to college. This way allows me to save money and gain a little more independence before fully leaving home. I had this goal before the first semester started and nothing has really changed or shifted. I have made some progress towards this goal by taking four classes that have transferable units and I will continue to take at least four classes with transferable units each semester. My first semester, I learned about financial aid and programs you can join that help you throughout college, like the Promise Scholars program. I didn't expect college to be as independent as it is. Besides the college 1 class, no other classes had any group work or anything of that sort. We had a lot of group work in high school so I thought we would have at least a little in college.