Stefany Alicea

Advisory
Beth Thurber
Habits of Mind
The Habits of Mind (HoM) are never in the forefront of my mind; they are subtle
and ingrained in the everyday activities that I do. I dont practice all the HoM every day,
but every day I work on a different ones. This year, I feel has been especially difficult for
me, given all the requirements both academic and advisory wise that I have worked
hard to make it a good year.
First I will begin by talking about my biggest accomplishments and which HoM
were essential for achieving them. I believe that my biggest accomplishment were: my
acceptance into the National Honors Society, receiving Seth Magaziners Young Leader
Award, receiving the Economics award and 1st Place Varsity at the Roger Williams
debate tournament. Integrity, zest and optimism were key HoMs that I used throughout
my junior year. I'm a naturally optimistic person, I enjoy looking at the bright side,
because I believe it makes everything better. Zest means participating enthusiastically
and passionately; invigorating others. I enjoy involving myself and others in activities
because I strongly believe that it makes it better. This ties into my optimistic
personality, which I hope invites others to join a conversation or feel comfortable
sharing their thoughts.
Furthermore, integrity is telling the truth to (or being honest with) oneself and
others through ones words and actions, even when it's difficult. I feel that this is a HoM
that has helped me grow as a person. I value honesty because it brings trust to
relationships and adds a layer of comfortability to the people around you (and yourself).
I know my boundaries and comfort zones. I am able to tell myself I am able to do that
or I am not able to do that. Most of the time I do this, not to limit myself, but to give
me more time to do the things I can do. For example, I know that I can't be an Olympic
athlete, or simply a track-star, simply because I do not enjoy sports to that degree and I
did not start training at a young age. I believe that being honest with oneself, in a
positive manner, is important to build your confidence and be more comfortable with
who you are.
On the other hand, I have demonstrated humility, which means awareness that
everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Humbly acknowledging success while bravely
confronting ones weaknesses and encouraging others who do the same; gratitude
means showing appreciation for others and for ones opportunities. I am a huge
believer in the potential in others and try to show this whenever I can. I also show
appreciation with the opportunities I have been given.
Collaboration which means working successfully with others by listening
empathically, leading sensitively, contributing meaningfully, and learning from group
members and community engagement, which active participation in the school, local,
state; and global communities, is also a HoM that I have worked on. I participate in
multiple afterschool activities, from Debate to Yearbook to Literacy Leaders (which is
the group of people who read and try to inspire a love of reading to young children)and
other seasonal afterschool activites. I try to participate in my school community and I'm
going to volunteer with Miriam hospital, which will help me be involved with my
Pawtucket/ Providence community. In my classes, I participate during class discussions
and try to involve people into conversations. I believe that everyone has something
important to say.
On the other hand, the following HoMs are the ones where I am proficient, but I
believe I could improve on: Grit, which means persevering despite difficulties; finishing

what is started; working independently with focus and intensity, self-advocacy which
represents being the director of ones own life; demonstrating agency to become
empowered, and being an upstander, who demonstrates active compassion, even when
afraid or in front of a crowd (or especially in front of a crowd); righting a wrong;
helping those who are situationally disempowered. I feel that having pride in labeling
myself as a feminist has helped me with these HoMs. This helps me to be an upstander,
but I feel that I could still be more outgoing about being a feminist. Given this, I have
other ways of exercising my upstanderness. I feel that starting next years feminist club
will definitely help me with being and up and self-advocating for myself. I am not the
best when it comes to overcoming difficulties, most of the time I stumble along the way,
but finish/ complete/ fix the problem that arose.
In the beginning of the school year, I tried focusing on the three HoM that I have
struggled with previously: creativity, organization and wellness. To start off,
organization means giving structure to ones thinking, ones work, and ones life. To be
fair, I have structure in my life; I have set schedules and routines I perform
weekly/daily. On the micro-level I have little structure to my school work. I rush and
usually end up putting everything in one place. In the beginning of the year, I had
structure, color coded folders/binders, but as the year progressed I stopped taking the
time to organize everything an opted for the quarterly spring cleaning routine, which
stressed me out completely. Creativity, on the other hand, means daring to think
flexibly, being willing to reconsider ideas, solve problems by taking appropriate risks,
and discover more about oneself through the process. I feel that this describes me, but I
have not been excising this HoM. I enjoy structure, especially in math, but I also enjoy
things like writing stories, drawing, and painting.
Wellness, which means actively working to maintain a healthy mind, body and
soul. Focusing on sleep, nutrition, exercise, and managing stress in an effort to reach
peak performance, I believe is my weakest HoM. I usually sacrifice sleep for homework
or downtime, and I eat what I enjoy, not really what I feel is best for my body. Exercise
is out of the question after I finish Cross Country, and if I do start a routine, I break it in
about a week or two. I believe that wellness is my worst HoM simply because I always
put other things in front of my health; whether watching that new movie, eating what I
crave, or sleeping late/taking a nap (instead of exercising). I think that once I move out
of my house and am forced to take care of myself, I will improve my wellness.