Reflection: A Humanizing Experience

Hello my name is Nikita Mikhailov. I am a freshmen student at UNC

Charlotte studying Economics at the Belk College of Business. In my study of
the human experience for my Contemporary Project and Practicum Entries I
noted the following definition for the human experience: A human
experience is the embracing of lifes joys and satisfactions through
achievement of goals. I see the human experience as the most significant
achievement in ones life. To me the most important human experience is the
attainment of spiritual and material satisfaction from work, and also being
surrounded by the ones closest to you (friends and family). This to me is the
highest goal one can achieve in life, the successful attainment of the human
experience. In practicing the human experience, a person becomes a human
being, whereby he mentors others on their journey of giving life purpose and
satisfaction (human experience guide). After applying this definition to
study the ROWE Gallery, and through experiencing the first semester of
college I noticed how studying the human experience is so fitting for where I
am at in my life. It is at this time as a college student where I have
metaphorically come to a fork in the road, and have to make a decision that
will impact my entire life, that is choose a career. By identifying what the
human experience means to each person (it is a unique concept, differs for
everyone) then I will be able to make a more informed decision about what I
want in my career, by weighing my interests and achieving the right balance

between social and professional life. This will help me in making my career
decision in college.
Throughout this year and shortly before I started my studies at UNC
Charlotte I was frequently in deep introspection and extensive research into
what I want to do with my life. I aligned my interest with careers and
pinpointed a future in business. More specifically Investment Banking. I talk
about the field much more extensively in my Wild Cards Academics
section (business essay). In short I realized that this was the field that I
would be able to maximize my skill, and unlock my full potential. It is in this
career that I believe I will function optimally, achieving a satisfying social and
professional life. I quickly realized that this field is very difficult to break into
and requires immense networking connection to attain. Throughout this year
I have been motivating myself through reading social media about successful
businessmen, and reading motivational books (namely Think and Grow
Rich ~ Napolean Hill). To me the human experience guides are the
successful bankers in this field, the managing directors who have attained
immense prestige and live happy healthy lives. These hard working men and
women hold the traits: of mentoring, ambition, honor, and success. Although
I am not nave in thinking that the business world, and investment banker
field in particular is without its bad apples. I know there are many corrupt
professionals, but I as an optimistic person gain strength and drive from
individuals who demonstrate both skill in their work ethic, but also good
natured, strong characters. I seek to learn from these professionals, and by

doing research in the field and talking to old friends in Canada who have
gotten internships at Investment Banks like BMO, I have become extremely
motivated, and have seen immense growth in my ability to work hard both in
my academic and social life. I define this as an elevation. In my definition it
is the ability to tap into your innermost potential and drive yourself to the
goals in ones life, striving despite all odds and failures, moving forward to
your goal until the world around you, by some natural phenomenon, begins
to shape itself around your goals. You push yourself to success, and you
achieve it. After I achieve my goals I seek to motivate others who like me
would be facing times of stress and depression regarding the future. In terms
of what I heave learned this term. I have learned to embrace every
possibility despite fear and stress. What I have learned is that stress is the
positive facilitator of character growth. Throughout this term in higher
education, and specifically in the UWRT 1103 class I have learned to work
hard and meet tight deadlines. The workload had been tough, unbearable in
the beginning, but like all things you learn to adapt. It is in this adaptation
that I have changed for the better, I have become a harder working, better
caring, immensely more motivated individual then I was just one year ago.
An example, is when I first started off, at the school where I didnt know
anybody. The thought of this plus the responsibility for schoolwork made me
very depressed, but fortunately I was able to realize early that I did not want
to be in that position I was in and I decided to get involved more. I got
involved in particular with the Business Honors Program and the Delta

Sigma Phi fraternity. In each I met new people, which was an uplifting
experience for me at the time. I achieved this, because I refused to accept
my present predicament, and strove towards a better future. I have learned
to apply this mentality to all things, big and small. In completion of this eportofolio I reminisce about each assignment I upload on the page, it brings
back memories of long writing sessions, constant editing , and ultimately
brings a feeling of joy to me, because it is tangible evidence of my growth
both as a student and as a human being. On the verge of completing this
semester, I look back and understand that although clich to say, anything is
possible if you put your mind and body into it. Identify your goals and do
whatever it takes to achieve them. Welcome mistakes, and learn from them.
Become a better version of you, and the world is yours (you will achieve your
goals). All in all, there where both positive and negative experiences in the
term. The positive experiences was that although I was saddened that I left
my friends back in Canada I was able to make new connections gain new
perspective on the people in this country, and in NC. This has been a
rewarding and satisfying experience for me as I welcome diversity. The
workload has acted as both positive and negative experiences. Although I
initially saw it as a overbearing, I grew to overcome it and become a better
student by becoming more effectient and applying time management skills
Some SLOs that I have developed in this class are: Rhetorical
knowledge, Critical reading, and critical reflection. Rhetorical knowledge is
defined as the ability to comprehend and analyze literature that attracts

different audience types and presents different purposes. I believe that I

have successfully developed this skill throughout this course, because we
dealt with well selected texts that were interesting in their own right, but
where a good practice for this type of SLO, because of their differences from
each other. For ex. while studying the Arrival I answered questions both to
myself (while reading) and in formal writing regarding how different types of
audiences would view the events in the text. I was able to successfully see
that my unique view as an immigrant in this country who has essentially
lived the events of the silent protagonist, gave me inside knowledge as to
what I believed the message the author was trying to portray in each image.
I also was able to understand the perspective of Americans whos families
have lived here for generations, this was due to my extensive time living in a
similar culture to USA, the Canadian culture. I have also successfully
developed the SLO of critical reading. In the arrival, critical reading took on
the form of reading not the words, but the nuances that each image was
trying to portray (everything was displayed in a way on purpose). This non
traditional way of critical reading was fantastic in developing my critical
reading skill. I also use the ex. of American Gods where it is easy to get lost
in the confusing mythological story, but if we are able to see and to apply
what we know about America (that it is a country of constant technological
change) then we are able to see that the war between the old gods and new
is really a struggle as Americans try to abandon the traditional
characteristics of justice, thirst for knowledge. This is just one perspective of

the book, because of Gaimans brilliance each individual can gain a unique
perspective. The third SLO that I have learned is that of critical reflection.
This has been extensively practiced in each assignment, and I believe rightly
so. After each assignment we have been asked to reflect, that is give our
thoughts about that value of the literature from varying perspectives. We
have also been asked (on a number of times) to give our personal viewpoint
of the author and of the work. I believe this technique has become invaluable
to me, because it has allowed me to integrate my own views and pose my
own questions to the author and his work.

I hope that the readers will learn more about me from my work as a
student. I hope they see me as a disciplined student and determined
individual and all aspects of life. Now that the reflection and term are over I
hope to further develop the SLOs that I have mentioned and pick up on the
others (Knowledge of Conventions, Composing Processses) in my future
writing courses in English and Philosophy. I hope that my discovery of the
human experience will help me achieve my goals, both personal and
professional. I am sure that this understanding of the human experience will
remain with me and be the source of my motivation and energy for new
ventures in life, wherever it might take me. After this term is done I will likely
predict that I will become more and more involved, as I impact the
community in a positive way and hopefully will be able to instill the

knowledge in others that drives me today. I would like to personally thank

you for being a fundamental factor in my development this year.