1) The document is a reflection by Anchalee June Bloxham, an 18-year-old senior at the International School of Bangkok, on her high school experiences with community service and sports and how they relate to her ways of knowing and understanding herself. 2) She discusses participating in Operation Smile in 2011, where she helped perform surgeries on patients in Thailand, and how it impacted her emotions and use of language. 3) She also discusses playing soccer throughout high school and how it relates to her emotions and perceptions, and how sports will impact her learning approach in the future.

1. Who am I?
Hello. My name is Anchalee June Bloxham. I am currently 18 years and a senior at the
International School of Bangkok. My nationality is half Thai half American and I have lived in
Thailand my whole life. This is my sixth year at ISB and soon I will be majoring in Business
Administration at Chapman University.
Now I will be presenting about my reflection of my high school experiences which will
be in the areas of community service and sport then relating it to the ways of knowing to further
assist my understanding of who I am as a person. Even though these two examples are non-
academic, I feel as if these two areas affect me and help me learn the most. In addition, the
lessons I learn from my non-academic aspects also apply to me in academic areas which in turn
helps me to become a better student.
Why did you choose the example that you chose?
For community service, I will use my 2011 Global Citizenship Week where I participated
in Operation Smile as an example. I chose Operation Smile because it is the community service
that impacted me the most where I able to use my skills, time and opportunity to help others who
are less fortunate. Where the whole trip was very valuable and memorable that it changed the
way I view the world and my involvement in helping others in the future.
What does the Operation Smile say about you as person or as a student?
I feel as if Operation Smile helps me to become more of a globally aware person where
I’m not oblivious to poverty, birth defects, life style of a poor person and other knowledge I
gained from the trip. Instead of going on a non-community service trip to other countries,
especially that this is my senior year, I chose to give back to my birth country and my
community.
What I believe it says about me is that I’m a caring person who has empathy and is
willing to do whatever I possibly can to help out.
What impact does what you have studied in class have on your Operation Smile trip?
This volunteer activity covers two ways of knowing which are emotion and language.
The emotions I felt from all the things I saw or encountered during the entire trip were
the ways of knowing that influenced me the most. Most of the time I felt sad due the unfortunate
circumstances the patients were in or were born with. But at the same time, I was also happy
because soon these patients would be given the opportunity to live a normal life as they possible
could once they have been operated on. Which both emotions are two of the six primary
emotions. The reaction I had from looking at the patients associate with James-Lange theory

2. where my bodily changes occur first which then cause emotional changes. For instance,
immediately after I saw the patients pre-operation, my face showed signs of sympathy and
sadness before I actually experienced those emotions personally.
Another ways of knowing is language which it became a very crucial aspect for this trip
since I was the only person on the trip who could speak Thai fluently. Not only this trip made me
become more appreciative of my knowledge of a language but also made me develop a whole
new perspective since I was able to communicate with the patients. I was able to use my ability
in speaking and understanding Thai to help my peers and teachers whether it was ordering food
for everybody or really listen to the struggles the patients faced due to their condition and at the
same time ease their anxiety and truly express my emotions. However, I am constantly aware of
the possibilities of miscommunication and translation either from doctors down to the trip
organizer, therefore I use my understanding and experience with body language to interpret and
support my understanding.
What do you know about yourself as a student that will change how you approach learning
in the future?
I know that my emotions will have an impact on everything I do. This can be good and
bad. The good side about this is that my emotions will really drive me to be more involved in
community services especially in university activities where it promotes good causes. However,
my emotions can be a little overwhelming at times therefore I will really need to learn to control
it and not have emotions as an impediment to my decision-making process but always use good
judgment and valid supporting reasons.
As a student, I never quite view language, especially my first language which is Thai, as
to be valuable or important. However, this trip taught me to value language so much more as it
can be use to help others and even to an extent that it would make an impact on someone’s life
through good and simply understandable communication. Therefore in university, I plan to learn
a new language and really put an effort into being fluent so I can communicate with more people
and understand them better.
Why did you choose the example that you chose?
For my other example, which is a sport, I will be using my experience from playing
soccer throughout my high school years. I started playing in 7th grade and I am still playing it
until today. I feel as if soccer has become a part of my identity and sometimes what people

3. associate me with. I play soccer all year around therefore it is crucial for me and helps me to
balance my academic with my non-academic activities.
What does the playing soccer say about you as person or as a student?
Playing soccer means I value my health and put importance in being a well-rounded
student and athlete. This sport represents my commitment, determination, passion, and
motivation. I also go play at the women’s soccer club on Thursday and have attended soccer
camp in New York for the past 3 summers. Through soccer I have learned the importance of
team work, communication and the importance of supporting one another.
What impact does what you have studied in class have on your experience with soccer?
Playing soccer is related to the ways of knowing of emotion and perception.
Without my passion toward playing soccer, I would never have continued to play it until
this day. Emotion is the ways of knowing, like Operation Smile, which drives me to play soccer
the most. Because when I play, it makes me happy and gives me such a rush that causes me to
continue playing and loving the game. James-Lange theory can also be used to explain my
attraction toward the sport because when I physically play soccer, I would feel the joy in terms of
my emotions, and consequently, it would make me want to play more because of how good this
sport makes me feel. However, not only does emotion help me to become a better soccer player,
but at times it also acts as an impediment to my performance on the field. Because whenever I
am in a bad mood, either from making a mistake on the field or from school, these emotions act
as an obstacle in my practices or my games, in turn, decreases my performance.
In addition, emotions play hand in hand with perception as most of the time when I play
soccer I experience what is called a tunnel vision. A tunnel vision is the inability to see the broad
range of perspective when a person is under pressure. Me, like most athletes, experience this
which could really decreases my performance and my potential as an athlete. This results in me
making bad passes or making mistakes on the field. Perception and emotion also decreases my
communication on the field in which would be the factor that is beneficial for me and my
teammates. Such as ignoring what my coach is shouting to me or when my teammates call for
the ball while running up the sideline.
What do you know about yourself as a student that will change how you approach learning
in the future?
I know that emotions will become an impediment to my learning especially in sports or
team work. Because I do plan to participate in sports and there will be many opportunities where

4. team work will become crucial to both academic and non-academic aspects in university, I have
to make sure my emotions do not get in my way of me developing as a student and an athlete.
I need to work on my composure in order to balance everything in my life that will make
me a quick rational and reasonable decision maker.
This is my reflection on my high school experience which these examples will help me to
become a better student, athlete and person as I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses
through the ways of knowing. Thank you.