Introductory Essay

 
Please introduce yourself to your professor and to your classmates by writing an essay about yourself.  Write an essay based on the questions below. Use the question to prompt you in writing about yourself.  Write beyond the questions if you wish.  If you feel uncomfortable sharing any of the information in the questions below, you may choose to ignore that question.  You are required to write an essay with a minimum word count of 400 words.   You are not graded on your opinions.  In fact, this essay required but is not graded and weighed in your course grade.  Write your answers in complete sentences. You can paste your introductory essay into the writing/submission area by clicking the “Reply” button.

What is your name?
Where are you from?  (Where born, grew up, etc.)
If you’re from another state or country, what did you know about and think about Texas before moving here?
What is your major or concentration here at HCC?
Do you attend another school along with HCC?
Are you planning to transfer to another college after completing a two-year associates’ degree and where are you going, or are you working on a certificate or a work program?
What is (are) your career goal(s)?  Why?
Are you active politically?  Did you vote in the last election?  Why or why not?
Do you identify with either the Republican or Democratic Party?  A third-party?  No partisan affiliation? Why?
Would you consider yourself conservative, liberal, middle of the road, or other ideology? How did you arrive at that ideology?
What is your primary source of news and information about government and politics?
Tell us about who and what influenced your political beliefs. If you are from another state or another country, tell us what politics and government were like there and how people felt about politics and government there.
Who is your most admired PUBLIC figure (in other words, someone in the public arena such as a governmental official or politician, a religious leader, a sports figure, a celebrity, businessperson, scientist, etc.? (Contemporary or historical–for example, George Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Pope Francis, Billy Graham, Mohammad Ali, Beyoncé, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Rachel Carson, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton…someone in the public eye.) Why?
What are your “hot button” issues, in other words, issues that press your button–upsets you, inspires you, excites you (or example, the death penalty, discrimination, abortion (pro or anti), child abuse, the election, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, the Muslim travel ban, discrimination, climate change, racism, affirmative action, etc.)? Why? Explain why the issue or issues matter to you.
Feel free to include any information about yourself you would like to share with your fellow classmates in this essay

Here are the personal things you need to know to put in the essay:

My name is Graciela Maya but everyone including my mother calls me Gracie, unless she is mad at me then she will use my government name to mean business. I was born and raised in and around 2nd ward of Houston, Texas. I have recently started attending college and to be honest I don’t hate it as much as I used to hate high school. I started at HCC doing my basics and I am still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I’m 33 and still don’t know what I want to do. I am leaning towards an associates in Nursing and afterwards transferring to a university to get my bachelors’ degree, let’s hope I don’t change my mind again. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to be a nurse and I actually now work in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital and you know what? I kind of hate a lot of the nurses! Go figure! I mean I hate the attitude and the high school mentality some have but I do love the work they do. I think maybe because our unit is one of the highest stressed unit so perhaps that has a lot to do with it. Like I said the work these nurses do is immense and I commend them for that. The most active I am in politics is voting every 4 years