Author Archives: anastasiamongra

1. What have you learned about yourself through your self assessments and how has this affected your choice of major and career goals?

I learned that I like social environments where I can stand back and observe my surroundings which helps me to have good intuition and the ability to help others by understanding them. It has helped me evaluate my personality and secure my desired career also, it made me realize that my assessment fits my major.

2. How do these results reflect a change from what you expected or planned for yourself previously?

The results weren’t anything that I didn’t already know so it didn’t change much.

3. How did participating in FOCUS 2 help you clarify a future direction for yourself?

It helped me to realize that I am sure about my career path but gave me some direction on how to go about it.

The art piece that I chose is called “Cave Painting” by Isca Greenfield-Sanders. The piece is basically a an image from the inside of a cave which is completely black and has four men who you can make out because the light reflecting into the cave draws out their shadows. I gravitated towards this piece because it reminded me of Plato’s “Analogy of the Cave.” The Analogy of the Cave is a story of a group of prisoners who live in a cave where they are chained by their necks and feet to only face a wall. Behind them is a fire and behind the fire is a wall. On top of this wall are statues that are being controlled by another group of people behind them. These statues are casting shadows on the wall of the cave and the group of prisoners who see them try to make sense of what is going on in the images. One of the prisoners though is released and gets to go out and discover the real world, everything outside the cave. The Analogy of the Cave is interpreted to be the lesson that one’s knowledge is based on the world around them and it is part of their responsibility to venture outside and discover the greater and unknown aspects of the world.

The songs in this playlist all contain quotes which have played an important role in my life. http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Who+You+Think+You+Are/83584968

“The Badness” – J. Cole

“I seen a baby cry and seconds later she laughed;the beauty of life, the pain never lasts.” This is one of my favorite quotes because it is self explanatory and says so much about life. Whenever I’m in a situation where I feel helpless or just don’t know where to turn I remember that those feelings are temporary because after every dark night comes a bright morning. No matter how bad life can get, the pain will never last.

“World Keep Spinnin'” – Joe Budden

“Ima call you a coward if you alive and suicidal, either be grateful for everything God said you were supposed to get or pull the trigger and get over it.” A lot of times when things aren’t right we get so wrapped up in our own issues that we forget about the world around us. I tend to be rather harsh on myself because even though times can be rough someone else out there has it worse and I should rather be grateful for what I do have and the good times I’ve spent instead of dwelling on the negative.

“Send Him Our Love” – Joe Budden

“Love something too much guarantee it’ll kill ya.” As a Taurus I tend to love hard which can be one of my biggest flaws. I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt even when they deserve it the least. Sometimes we can love something/someone so much we are blinded to the fact that it is actually hurting us.

“You Never Know” – Immortal Technique

“Hold the person that you love closely if they’re next to you, the one you love, not the person that’ll simply have sex with you. Appreciate them to the fullest extent and then beyond, because you never really know what you got til it’s gone.” Simple. Self-explanatory. Know what you have while it’s there. Appreciate it while it’s there. There’s no time to love it when it’s gone.

“Can’t Cry” – J. Cole

“Sometimes sunshine turn to rain my n***a, the same ones you love will bring you pain, my n***a, I don’t know if I’ll see tomorrow, but I won’t cry, no, I can’t cry. & in this life, times getting hard my n***a, but f**k that, I’m aiming for the stars, my n***a, I won’t stop, try ’til the day I die.” The sun won’t always shine. No one is free of hard times, even the people you thought would never hurt you do. You never know which day is your last so live each to the fullest regardless of what may be going on!

“Want You Back” – Fabolous

“The karma of f**king over a good person is the a**hole you end up with.” Karma will hand back to you what you present to it, do onto others as you want done onto you. “God gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers.” You’re not handed anything you can’t deal with. “I’m a lover and a fighter, fight for what I love.” Fight for what you love, good things don’t come easy.

“Pray For Me” – Joe Budden

“See my child you need gratitude, maybe just a sample I never give a person anything they can’t handle. Don’t tell me about everything you had to go through there’s reasons for my actions even if I never showed you.” Everything happens for a reason, whether you kow the reason or not.

“My Other Gun” – Ne-Yo

“That’s my other gun. That’s my other eye. That’s who got my back when the world ain’t on my side. She my other gun. Should I go to war? Holding me down that’s what she there for.” I have very intense friendships and I cherish each and every one. My friends are like family, they hold it down for me and I do the same for them.

“All of Me” – Joe Budden

“Anybody out there relate to my pain turn the music up and let me know that I’m sane.” Music is what helps me get through my days. It’s something I can relate to no matter what mood I’m in. I have a very diverse playlist, coinciding with every emotion. Music speaks a language that understands me. “Depression tells me I suck. So I reply I ain’t here cus I fell down, I’m here cus I got up.”

“Losing My Balance” – J. Cole

“Hoping this will reach you and you understand that your value ain’t determined by another man.” You make who you are, you determine your value. People only see what you allow the to see, only hear what you allow them to hear. “I know the hood raised you but there’s bigger better things.” Step outside your comfort zone, there is an entire world waiting to be discovered outside of it.