This document contains 12 journal entries written by Mirnell D. Gonzalez for an Emotional Intelligence class. In the entries, Gonzalez discusses her feelings about starting college, managing time, interacting with others, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a positive personal mission. She reflects on adapting to new experiences and improving her study skills through applying techniques learned in the class.

1. Mirnell D. Gonzalez
Journal Entries 1 – 12
Chapter 1- (page 26) Emotional Intelligence Journal - How you are feeling now
My parents used to say; “College is a new world”, “it’s a new experience”. At this moment I
can say I am satisfied and proud to have taken the decision to study. College opened doors to
many opportunities and adventures that I still have yet to live and discover. I’m excited to meet
each and one of my professors and know what challenges each of my classes will bring. I know
for now, that it will be an unforgettable experience.
However, knowing how anxious I am to experience each of these adventures I think I still
have things to learn, fix, and understand. I am a very shy person and I hate talking in front of
people. Also, I have a hard time keeping up with professors and understand what I read. There
are many things that I have to fix but that doesn’t limit me to try and give my best. I know that
with God’s help and my family I will accomplish this and more.
Make a “To Do
List”.
Managing
Time
Check those Relist new goals
things I had and a specific
accomplished. time I have to
accomplish them.

2. Chapter 2 - (page 58) Emotional Intelligence Journal – How you feel about your time
management
There are many things I do that make me feel happy, fulfill, and satisfied. I like to sing, take
photographs, make pantomimes, participate in Church and dramas, help others, etc. Everything I
do has to be great. I like using my imagination and being creative in everything I do. When my
work represents my person is very well done. I am the type of girl that every detail has to be
covered, nothing more and nothing less. I usually go beyond what people expect of me. These
are the things that make me feel this way.
However, when something does not go as I want, or simply does not work out well I get
frustrated, anxious, and drained. There are many things I mastered as a person but when I leave
my comfortable zone I get frustrated and lose myself. When you do things you had never done
before it requires more effort and more of me. In other words, is going beyond what the person
expects from you. Also, is thinking deeper than usual so everything can go as I plan. Therefore,
is good to get out of your comfortable zone and try new things but I understand that not everyone
has the capacity for a change as drastic as this one sometimes.
Finally, both help me a lot in my daily life. Thanks to what I have learned through them I can
stop what I’m doing and think better my steps. Also, it has helped me to make better decisions
and work more with my emotions. Even thought I do not like leaving my comfortable zone I
understand it’s the best I can do and that is the only way to explore new things in life.

3. Chapter 3 – (page 87) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Your interactions with others
Since childhood I have been a humble and kind hearted person. I love to help the needy and
give a helping hand to those who are going through difficult times in their lives. Moreover, I am
very sincere and I like to be faithful to those who are around me. I will never pretend to be
someone I’m not, I will always be me. I do not judge anyone because I understand that everyone
makes mistakes and we aren’t perfect, only God. However, those I allow to surround me I prefer
for them to be like me or better than me. I think that by having positive people next to me as my
friends I will always be a positive person too.
On the other hand, I do not like people who are negative, liars, people who judge others, who
think they are better than anyone else, and so on. In this world no one is better than anyone
because at some point we are all equal, we are the same. I really don’t like liars because I
understand there isn’t sufficient or good reasons to do something like this. As I mentioned
before, there is no reason to judge, much less when all at one time in our lives we had dirtied our
own hands doing things we weren’t suppose to do. I can’t understand why there is so much evil
and cruelty in this world. However, these kinds of people make me feel bad, sad, frustrated and
sometimes like garbage. Anyways, being a Christian has help me understand that God wants me
to love these people, to forgive them, and help them to do better. He is the one who fills me with
strength and softens my heart to accept them in my life.

4. Chapter 4 - (page 120) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Make a wiser choice
To be honest professor, I do not want to change anything in and about my life. The decisions I
made in my life, whether good or bad, have help me to mature and grow as a person. These
decisions have made me a stronger and more independent person. However, yes I have made
many mistakes in my life and yes I have encountered a thousand times but thanks to every
mistake and every trip I have come closer to God and have learned to rely on Him not me.
Thanks to this I have learned to see life differently. Like someone said; “life is a roller coaster,
has its ups and downs”. Also, “what makes you strong is not knowing how many times you fall
but how many times you had risen up again” and I always get up on my feet.

5. Chapter 5 - (page 156) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Reading challenges
One of the classes that I have that presents the most difficult challenge to grasp and
understand when reading is, ENC0025 (English). In this class not only in reading I have trouble
but also understanding the class in general and what the professor sometimes talks about. Most
of the times I have to look for help on my homework’s and assignments because; there is so
much frustration and stress on me that I end up closing myself. However, if I could put a level of
difficulty to this class would be a 7. Also, I hate when I cannot keep up with the others because, I
feel incapable and late. This is because, what I'm learning in this class is new to me. I had never
taken this material before.
When as a person we have lots of negative thought we tend to get depressed and we limited
ourselves to only do certain things. We are unable to leave the comfort zone because, we feel
oppressed and unable to do anything beyond the ordinary. I often feel like this when reading.
When I am unable to understand or comprehend what I read I get frustrated, headaches, negative
thoughts, etc. Acting in this way not only affects us emotionally but physically too. Also, it
affects our studies, our careers, our goals and our dreams because; we can get to the point of
giving up. Anyway, there are many techniques in this book that can help us but, one of my
favorite is the 5 steps to improve your reading. These are: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and
Review. Applying this method into my reading problems I know that I will understand better
what I read.

6. Chapter 6 - (page 184) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Understanding your needs and
making changes
In high school, I had an anatomy class, which I chose because it seemed very interesting for
me. By the first day of class, the teacher seemed to have a good personality and very dedicated to
what she does. But, when doing note-taking I didn’t feel very comfortable. The teacher spoke
fast and rarely wrote on the board what she said. I am a very slowly writer and it’s hard for me to
listen to the person and write at the same time because, most of the time I get lost. I felt
frustrated and stressed. Also, there were times when I felt unable to accomplish things. In the
end, tired of all this, I decided to join a peer group and study with them. This helped me a lot in
my personal life and to improve in the class.
This class and this book had taught me extraordinary methods that help us track and
accomplish all that we propose. It's a good idea to start our first year of college in a class like this
because, it prepares us for what is about to come. But, in order to overcome every obstacle you
must know and use the methods taught in this class. The methods that have helped me learn to
take better notes and lighten my step are as follows; Outlines, Cornell T-note system, Think
links, Charting method, and Other visual strategies. These methods are wonderful and useful.
Like I mentioned before, it will help you take notes faster during a class. Learning to take notes
(good notes) will help you to prepare better for class, exams, assignments and quizzes.

7. Chapter 7- (page 218) Emotional Intelligence Journal – How feelings connect study success
When we find ourselves in situations full of stress, frustration, headaches and we pass our
exam or we did great in our job it’s obvious we will feel extremely well, happy and proud of
ourselves. I think that not everyone has the ability to make this happen. It is not easy to know
how to handle situations like this one, which will always be present in our lives. In my opinion,
when I find myself in situations like this I like being alone, listening to music or maybe do arts
and crafts for a while since this makes me feel better. This helps me get my feet on the ground
and my head in place and to keep doing my things the right way.
I can remember what I study by
asking questions like; when,
where, who, what, why, and how.
By understanding what I
memorize.
Studying during short, frequent
sessions.
Using flash cards.
Recite, rehearse, and write.
Using audio strategies.
Creating visual images and
associations.
Using images to remember items
in a list.
Using songs or rhymes.

8. Chapter 8- (page 252) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Test types
Multiple-choice exams are easier for me than the exams where I have to write down the
answer. I don’t know why but, I always feel nervous on essay or short answers exams. For me
it's easy to choose an exam that I don’t have to memorize all the information only to review it
and choose the right answer. By choosing free-response exams we must memorize the
information required to respond and pass the exam. As I said earlier, this makes me nervous and
I start to think negatively. Nervousness is not good to take an exam because; it does not allow
you to concentrate well. I start thinking that what I write may be wrong and that everything is
wrong. This can affect us emotionally and physically and you know that you will not have a
good grade on the exam because, you couldn’t concentrate properly.
I know I need to get a lot of emotional preparation to get used to other exams. This book
gives me the information I need to be able to do this. The preparation is worth a lot in situations
like this one but, also emotional and physical preparations are very important. Maybe my
mindset never changes but if I can get to control my actions and my negative thoughts I can
make them positive. As I always say, "Do not tell God how big is your problem. Tell your
problem how big is your God."

9. Chapter 9 - (page 281) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Your experience with prejudice
I've always been a thin girl but, healthy. My friends at school used to call me names like;
stick, bone, malnourished, etc. Also, I had relatives who used to tell my mom to take me to a
doctor because, I was sick. I moved to the United States facing so many problems that I fell into
depression. The boys at school used to bother me because, I never fixed myself or because I had
my eyes black from not sleeping well enough. I love rock music and as a rocker it is obvious that
I like the color black. However, is hard for me to tell this to people because, there have been
many who have moved away from me for this.
In my opinion, I think people now a day worry more about the lives of others than of
themselves. They judge others without looking that they have done worse things in their lives.
They judge you because you are skinny and he is fat, this guy is high and that one is short, that
guy is white and this one is black. I want us to stop for a moment and reflect in the things we are
doing. We must understand that we are all equal, we worth the same. We need to understand that
in this world no one is better than anyone because, God made us equal and with the same
purpose. We must understand that nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. That's the beauty
of life, accept one another and accept our differences. It is to do a mistake and learn something
new and positive from it. One of my favorite quotes says; “Who are you to judge the life I live? I
know I’m not perfect and I don’t live to be, but before you start pointing fingers make sure your
hands are clean”.

10. Chapter 10 - (page 312) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Addiction
I've never felt well when talking about addiction and the consequences it brings. I think no
one should feel good when talking about a topic like this. Addiction is something that brings
pain, depression and destruction to our lives. The addiction is like a chain, which binds your soul
until it ends it. Also, is the key that locks the doors to new opportunities and adventures. Living
with addiction makes it impossible to realize your dreams and live a happy and healthy life.
In my case, I have a brother who is addicted to alcohol. It hurts having to remember those
disastrous scenes which my parents had to deal with his attitude and screaming’s. I still
remember like it was yesterday, seeing my mother disclosed waiting for her son to come home
safe. Also, my mother used to stay up and kneel to pray for him. These are experiences that not
everyone has the ability and the strength to live with. Honestly, it is not easy but it is my brother
and I love him despite his addiction.

11. Chapter 11 - (page 342) Emotional Intelligence Journal – You and credit
Right now, I don’t work nor pay bills in my house. Anyway, if I had a job and money to pay
my bills, I will consider myself a good credit user. For example; my parents, when we lived in
P.R. used to have problems with money and bill payments. Many times they will waste the
money or use it the wrong way. Moreover, several times the will pay late the bills. Time passed
and things got a little handy and my dad lost his job. When searching for new jobs, all of them
offered him half of what he was usually paid; so they decided to move to the United States.
Now, thank God and this experience my parents have learned to manage money in a better
way. Also, they make sure to save up in case of an emergency; we can solve the problem.
Despite that my father got a great job and gets pay well; he knows the value of money and not
wastes it like his use too.

12. Chapter 12 - (page 369) Emotional Intelligence Journal – Revisit your personal mission
Honestly, there's nothing I want or desire to change about my mission. I understand that the
mission I have drawn for myself, is the right one. As I have always said, being a Social Worker
is my dream. However, as someone who likes to dream and think big, I have other goals set that I
will love to meet. Therefore, I thank God for giving me an amazing family that supports me
100% and goes with me in every step and decision I make. Also, my brothers/sisters’ and
nephews/nieces’ which are my inspiration to keep moving forward. I wish someday they can see
me as an example to follow. My boyfriend is my right hand and provides support at all times.
Last but not least, God. He is my guidance, He is my strength to keep fighting every day that
passes by and the one who makes everything possible; including my goals and dreams. There
will be no mountain so high I cannot climb if I’m by His side. I know I am capable to do what I
want and with the help of all of them it will come true some day.
Anyway, I want to thank my professor Mrs. Leith Mazzochi, for her continued support and
for all her dedication in preparing us to face the reality of college. Thanks to her advices and
education we will make it far. God bless you!