NDNU Hallmark Portfolio

Hallmark One

“We proclaim by our lives even more than by our words that God is good.”

     This picture of NDNU’s Cunningham Chapel represents my faith. The chapel represents Hallmark One because it is a reminder of promises and commitments. Before entering the chapel, there is a bowl of holy water by the door - I bless myself with the sign of the cross before going in. This signifies my baptism, and how every time I bless myself with the holy water, it is a reminder to me of my baptismal promises and commitment I have with God. I get to participate in the goodness of what the Chapel has to offer to me.

     This artifact is in Hallmark One because “we value life as an on-going spiritual journey of deepening relationships with self, others, and God” holds true in my life. I go to the chapel everyday, either to pray and reflect or to just play the piano and calm myself down. The chapel is a very important place for me to go to because it’s available and open whenever I need it. I get to grow more in my faith and in my relationship with God too. I believe that Hallmark One means believing that God is good all the time, even though you go through struggles.

Hallmark Two

“We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person”

     Back in June when I attended Freshman Orientation, the first thing I received when I checked in was a folder and this book, Martyr of the Amazon. My assignment was to answer questions in response to the book. This is significant because I believe Sister Dorothy’s words and actions truly represent this Hallmark. She lived by Hallmark Two by developing and appreciating the individual difference between herself and the people of the Amazon.

     This artifact is in Hallmark Two because Sister Dorothy did many works in the Amazon to honor every individual. She was able to develop and appreciate the people, despite the very big differences of living circumstances. She was able to create an environment with the farmers in order to build up their faith as individuals. Lastly, she dedicated a great amount of her time in order to help the people of the Amazon have better lives.

Hallmark Three

“We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.”

     This artifact is significant because it was my first mini gig. Jim McGarry walked in on me playing piano one day in the chapel and asked me if I wanted to play for the service. I said yes, and had the honor of playing reflective music for the service. This event impacted my freshman year a lot because I played my first gig ever, and I had the chance to portray my talent. Playing for this Veterans Mass Service was important because my grandpa is a Navy Veteran. This is significant because I was educated on the works that veterans had done to bring us peace.

     This artifact is included in Hallmark Three because I was able to educate myself “on behalf of justice”. The Veterans Day Mass was also a campus community event open to everyone to attend. This event is also significant in this Hallmark section because of the “action on behalf of justice in the spiritual practice of reflection-action-reflection”. The veterans and active military men and women were honored at the service, and the people attended were able to reflect on everything.

Hallmark Four

“We commit ourselves to community service.”

    

     This artifact is significant because it was my first Call to Action Day. It took place at Treasure Island Sailing Center in San Francisco. Me, along with my colleagues, were given the opportunity to live out Hallmark Four with the 4th and 5th grade students that were there. Through our community service, we were able to give our knowledge and help to them when they needed it.

     This artifact is in Hallmark Four because “we integrate service-learning into the academic curriculum and co-curricular activities”. Call to Action Day was a great day for community service. Although my colleagues and I didn’t do much, we were able to combine what we already knew ourselves with the co-curricular activities the students participated in. This artifact is significant to Hallmark Four because I was able to commit myself(for the time being) to community service, and it isn’t too often that I get to engage in something like that.

Hallmark Five

“We embrace the gift of diversity.”

     This is called the Circle of Fifths. I took this picture(featuring Dr. Schmitz’s hand)  in my Music Theory class as a reminder to write it in my notes later. I believe that this is significant because the Circle of Fifths in music reminds me of the Circle of Life from the Lion King. When we were first learning of the Circle of Fifths, we were told to think of it as the Circle of Life, but for music.

     This artifact is in Hallmark Five because Dr. Schmitz was and is able to initiate different strategies in accordance to our individual ways of learning. This really helps me when learning new things because I can relate it to things I already know. This is especially helpful because I am able to retain the knowledge more and it’s easier to remember when I have something to refer and relate back to.

Hallmark Six

“We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve”

     This is significant because it was my first ever college recital/concert. I got the chance to play for the families of my colleagues, as well as my own. I played violin, in collaboration with two pianists who accompanied me. My colleagues and I had put a lot of effort and practice time to make this recital happen. There was actually supposed to be an earlier recital before this, but it didn’t go through. This gave us more time to make the piece we played more musical and the best we’ve ever played it.

     This artifact is in Hallmark Six because “we create interactive and collaborative educational experiences” and “we create an atmosphere of open and direct communication”. The Camerata Ensemble class impacts my life because as it says in the Hallmark, an atmosphere is created of open and direct communication. This holds true, because as musicians, we must be open to all criticism, good and/or bad. We are also able to create interactive experiences where we get to express ourselves through music and say our input on our other colleague’s performances.

Hallmark Seven

“We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life”

     This is significant because Haocheng’s graduate recital was the first live performance I attended here at NDNU. He performed a series of pieces that continue to amaze me. I believe that as his colleague in Music Performance, I should be supporting him in what he does and witness his growth as a performer.  I support his intellect and psychological growth when it comes to music      

     This artifact is in Hallmark Seven because I believe it represents the active support of the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, psychological, and social growth of the members of our learning community. I understand this Hallmark as educating in its entirety. That us, as members of the NDNU Community, should support everyone in all they do because it’s what being an Argonaut is all about. We should support each other, mind, body, and spirit in our intellectual, emotional, spiritual, psychological, and social growth.

Inside Out

Friday night was the first time I ever watched the Disney Film “Inside Out”. I enjoyed the movie a lot because there were lots of emotions occurring, whether they were Joy, or Sadness. It made me realize the whole meaning of being a part of the Happiness FYS section. I believe that this film is trying to teach us that in our own lives, happiness is not the only emotion that we may feel. Joy was the most prominent character/emotion in the film, and her role in the beginning of the film was to operate on Riley’s feelings. When something went wrong, Joy came to the rescue to fix Riley’s emotions and make things better. However, that is not how our brains and emotions work. Throughout the movie, we were exposed to other emotions - Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. We then learn that these emotions try to stabilize Riley’s brain. I realized that emotions are what run our views and perceptions in the world today. I also realized that Joy could not have been as happy as she was without Sadness. Sadness played a big role in the film, because Joy wouldn’t be Joy without Sadness, and vise versa with all other emotions. We see throughout the film that Sadness slowly takes control of Riley’s emotions about the changes in her life. We see this happening when Sadness makes the images of Riley’s memories of her life blue. Sadness influences Riley’s feelings and emotions to see the changes happening in her life, which led her to a new identity. I feel that being a part of this FYS section has taught me that our current emotions influence what we remember about the past, how we go about situations in our present, and moreover, our future.

Freshman Research Conference

The Freshman Research Conference was very informational. I received a pretty clear sense of what the other two sections in our pod were doing and what they were learning about. I think that the information presented was very eye-opening and very interesting to learn about. From Professor Fitzgerald’s Brain Class, a panel of 4 students presented on Cooperative Learning. They gave us information about the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the obstacles that come with cooperative learning. Their information taught me that cooperative learning and group work is important. In the Altruism Class of Professor McGarry, I learned a lot about altruism and how altruists have lived their life from traumatic events such as the Rwandan Genocide and the Holocaust. From our class, I learned a lot more about happiness and the difference between self-efficacy and self-esteem. The information presented from all sections have taught me something new and helps me gain a better understanding of what happiness is and where it comes from. My role in the audience was to be supportive of everyone presenting and to give them my full attention by being attentive and respectful.

Is Partying Fun?

There have been times where I found myself doing things that were supposed to be fun, but in all honesty, they were the complete opposite. “Partying” isn’t really my thing for many reasons. However, my friends always invite me to go out with them because it would be fun to go out outside of school. This one time, I decided to go since I had nothing else to do at home, and I didn’t have work. So, I thought I’d go so I wouldn’t waste my Saturday night. Nothing really happened at the party. I literally just sat there on my phone, when I could’ve been doing that at home. This was not my cup of tea because I didn’t really talk to anyone and I was sitting there in silence, glued to my phone while everyone was socializing and doing their own thing. A source of fun for me is going out with my friends from my church youth group and getting milk tea and talking about life. I also like playing my guitar or piano for fun to get my mind off things.

Call to Action Day Reflection

My first Call to Action Day took place at Treasure Island Sailing Center in San Francisco. It was honestly different from what I expected it to be. My class and I helped guide a mixed class that consisted of 4th and 5th graders. They learned about positive and negative buoyancy, as well as being able to go out and sail themselves. The students were able to engage in a hands-on activity by using a piece of aluminum foil to make a boat. They tried to fit as many marbles as they could before it sank to the bottom. From the 5th grade class,  two students, Jason and Aldo, were able to put 270 marbles into their aluminum foil boat before it sank. They had a strong sense of knowledge of what and how buoyancy worked. Although the day was eventful for the kids, it was unproductive for my class and I. I was not able to engage as much as I wanted to, because there was only so much I could do. I helped in ways that I could, by counting marbles with the students and encouraging them to keep trying and not give up. It was nice seeing the students enjoy the activities. Although I couldn't help out much, I enjoyed seeing the smiles on their faces.

The Best Moments of September

9/1 : My best friend surprised me with brownies
9/2 : Explored through Belmont after my classes finished and went to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the first time
9/3 : Spent time with my family
9/4: Prayed the rosary with my family
9/5 : Baked cookies with my little cousins
9/6 : Ran into an old friend at Starbucks
9/7: My friend surprised me at work
9/8: Learned a new violin solo piece
9/9: Unexpectedly spent the whole afternoon and evening with my best friend
9/10: Had a camp retreat leaders training
9/11: Sang at my church's youth mass
9/12: Visited my Grandpa Rudy at the cemetery
9/13: Bought new solo pieces to play on violin
9/14: Unexpectedly attended a mass here at NDNU during my gap
9/15: Finished homework early
9/16: Had a deep talk with an old friend
9/17: Went to my cousins 21st birthday party
9/18: Learned how to waltz
9/19: Everyone was amazed when I played my electric guitar
9/20: Macroeconomics class was cancelled
9/21: Performed a new solo piece for the first time and it went better than expected
9/22: Went to confession with my friends
9/23: First day of retreat in Oakland
9/24: Gave a testimony to over 100+ youth
9/25: Sang the responsorial psalm with Jhoselle for the first time
9/26: Made brownies for my family
9/27: Got a free pretzel
9/28: Spent time with my best friend before she left for Texas to see her brother in the Air Force
9/29: Had a confirmation leaders meeting
9/30: First confirmation class went great with all the new changes made


It is hard to choose which day was the best day for me. Even though I had bad days, I had a lot more good moments coming out from it. This gratitude journal helped me realize that I should be thankful for the little things that happen everyday.

If I had to choose which day was the best day of the month of September, I would probably choose September 24th. On this day, I was on a retreat in Oakland with my youth group. I was one of the leaders that were chosen to give a share about who Jesus Christ is to me. I was honestly so shocked when the coordinators of camp chose me. However, I was honored to be chosen to speak among the youth. I was so nervous to give my testimony because I have never spoken to a large amount of students before. Though I was very anxious, I knew that I had enough confidence to speak what I went through especially with all my experiences. It was such an amazing sight to see how interested the students were in hearing my story. I thought that these high school students would have just brushed me off and listened because they had to. But they proved me wrong. I was told by one of my coordinators at camp that I was able to convert and inspire souls through my share because they went through similar circumstances and experiences too.

It humbled me so much knowing that my story inspired other people. The 24th of September was a great day, and I will never forget it.

Reflection

Last week, I blogged about applying one of my strengths into my daily routine. My strength that I used was gratitude, and my task was to get out of my comfort zone and affirm a stranger or friend to further my thanks for what they have done for me. At first, I felt like nothing had changed because saying “thank you” was normal for me. However, on Friday morning before my first class, I went to Starbucks. I was walking to the entrance as I saw an elderly woman with a cane walking the same direction. From here, I decided to do a good deed. I walked slowly to make sure I can hold the door open for her. Not only did I hold the door open for her, but I also bought her a grande coffee. I practically spent my whole morning before school started with this woman. Through this short period of time, I felt so much gratitude and humility because I realized how great I felt after, knowing that I was able to offer her help as well as buying her a hot coffee to keep her warm on the chilly morning. As I picked up my drink, I passed by the table she was sitting at and I told her, “Have a blessed day!” I am glad with how I stepped out of my comfort zone in order to use my strength and make someone else’s day brighter.