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Peter Pham
11/5/19
Dr. Trout
Hero Path Essay
My first fundamental value is expression. To me, expression means
conveying thoughts and ideas through mediums such as spoken word and art.
The roots of this value stemmed from my life at home. Expressing myself
through modes such as singing entered my life during the age of five, with
movies such as The Lion King, Highschool Musical, and Pocahontas being
prominent influences in my life. As the movies played on my T.V., I vividly
remember singing along to songs such as “Bop to the Top”, “Hakuna Matata,”
and “Colors of the Wind” with my sister. While singing was seen as a “girly”
activity to most boys my age, I found it to be an outlet to express myself in ways
that “boy” activities like football and basketball could not. These early moments
of expression were not only important to my happiness and esteem, but would
prove to be fundamental to how I expressed myself in the future. Moving
forward, this passion for music and expression made its way into my life at
school. In the second grade, I was able to star in “Stone Soup”, which was my
elementary school’s fall musical production. There, I was able to grow my
passion for singing and showcase it to a larger audience. Moreover, I started to
see the impact expression was having on my life. Singing as a mode of
expression validated my own identity as a human being. While I didn’t realize it
at the time, music and singing were activities that brought pure joy to my life,
and being able to express myself was key to achieving this feeling. In other
words, without the ability to externally express, I wouldn’t feel like myself.
Following my elementary school years of music, I transitioned into another mode
of expression: playing the clarinet. Like many, I started in the 6th grade. What
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compelled me to play the clarinet, and subsequently pulled me away from

singing, was the sound it produced. I remember hearing the older students play
and being in awe of its rich, warm, and smooth tone. Throughout that year, I put
all of my effort into the clarinet. I would routinely volunteer for extracurricular
activities that involved competitions and small-ensemble groups. One instance of
this was during my first ensemble conference in Troutdale, OR. My group, which
was comprised of my two best friends at the time, would be judged by a small
panel of respected musicians and conductors in the area. Despite the many hours
put into learning the piece, I remember messing up multiple times throughout.
The judges, however, were impressed by the skill my group had amassed in such
a short amount of time. With that, I became even more motivated to further my
skills. I would section off large portions of my day to practice for upcoming
recitals. During my spring recital at the end of the year, I was given the “Student
of the Year” award for my 6th grade class. I believe this showed the amount of
effort I put into band and how much it meant to me. These years of my life were
incredibly impactful, as it allowed me to express myself in ways I hadn’t in
previous years. I was challenging myself, trying new things, and building the
motivated person I am today. But it wasn’t until my sophomore and junior years
of high school did I truly hone in on playing the clarinet as a form of expression.
During those years, I was involved in Reynolds High School’s premiere band:
Wind Ensemble. There, I grew immensely as a musician. A driving factor for this
growth was the amount of struggle I went through. I truly felt challenged by the
pieces we were required to play. Just like in middle school, I dedicated hours
upon hours of my time to playing music in order to achieve the quality necessary
for competitions. While this may seem stressful and tedious to some, I perceived
the work I was putting in as rewarding. I enjoyed showcasing my skills and
being a part of a group of like-minded individuals who had an equal passion for
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music. I also enjoyed receiving feedback during competition. Whether good or

bad, I felt like any sort of feedback coming from such respected musicians was
worth taking note of. However, while competition season was a proud moment
in my high school career, I found the most fulfillment in small-ensemble recitals.
The reason for this is due to the amount of discretion I had in the music I played.
For example, I was able to add a staccato (i.e., separated notes) or slow down a
piece if I wanted to. This added to the amount of individuality I could express
through the music I played and gave me the opportunity to add my own twist
into already established pieces. This moment was personally impactful because I
was finally allowed to be creative with my instrument and make my work as a
musician much more unique. Not only did these aspects help result in a more
genuine form of expression, but it would be the driving factor in how I uniquely
express myself today.

I have adopted expressions as an adult because I see the importance of

promoting ideas I’m passionate about and having an outlet to relieve my stress.
Without the ability to express, whether it be talking about music, listening to
music, or making music, I would lose the sense of individuality that expression
provides me. I put expression into practice today by creating and analyzing
music. At the age of 19, I find myself incredibly influenced by the music around
me. Artists such as Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Daft Punk are people I look up
to and respect greatly. Moreover, while their music as a whole is great, I’ve
always been fascinated by the production side of their music. The
instrumentation, mixing, and arrangement of their production is always unique
and highlights their vocals so well. With this fascination, I began producing
music of my own. Using FL Studios, a popular music producing software, I was
able to start creating original music and uploading it to streaming sites for others
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to hear. Furthermore, I believe that music-making is something that I’ve been

working towards as I grew older. I no longer feel obligated to another person’s
ideas and I feel free to do whatever I believe is artistically right. With that said, I
truly believe that I am upholding the truest form of expression. Moreover, I’m
able to continually challenge myself like I did in the past. The only difference is
that, instead of a clarinet, I’m using a computer to gain a sense of independence
and voice how I’m feeling at any given time. Additionally, I’m a part of the
University of Portland’s radio station, KDUP. Once a week, I’m able to broadcast
music that interests me and voice opinions regarding music-related topics.
Whether it be creating a relaxing playlist or giving a review of the new Kanye
West album, this outlet allows me to express myself and relieve stress from my
very busy life. Moreover, just like my band classes from the past, I find joy in
being surrounded by individuals whose interest in music is as vast as my own.

My second fundamental value is teaching. To me, teaching means

transferring knowledge from one person to another. The roots of this value
formed from my early relationship with my older sister. Prior to formal
schooling (around the ages of 4 and 5), my Dad required me to complete math
booklets and math sets in my spare time. For about half an hour a day, I would
sit down and go through basic and fundamental math problems with him. It got
to a point where I was able to actually teach my sister the concepts that I learned!
So, while I may not have enjoyed spending my time doing math, it allowed me to
develop my current foundation for teaching. For example, I was able to clarify
and help her understand addition and subtraction problems. However, my skills
were not perfect. I was not nearly as articulate or patient as I should’ve been in
teaching someone a concept. So, while I may not have been incredibly successful
in teaching, this moment was extremely impactful to me. Teaching gave me an
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ego-boost, as I was able to prove that I knew math well enough to teach it to
someone. I also felt proud in being able to accomplish tasks that were designed
for older students. This introduction towards teaching certainly allowed it to
enter my life in a very organic and natural way. It also would be the foundation
in understanding the importance and significance of teaching others. During the
ages of 11 or 12 was when teaching became much more prominent in my life.
During that time, I was a proud member of the Math Club. As the name implies,
this club was comprised of students who loved doing math and loved competing
in math competitions. The preparation for math competitions was quite simple.
Since most of the topics were above the grade level we were currently at, each
student would be responsible for learning a concept and teaching others about
the topic. Truthfully, I don’t remember the concepts that I was responsible for.
However, I do remember the seriousness I felt in learning these concepts. I
wanted to be able to communicate a topic thoroughly in order to be able to teach
it to others. In the learning process, I would go through sheets of examples until I
had a firm grasp on the topic. With a solid understanding, I was now prepared to
explain the concept to the students. Using an oral explanation in conjunction
with example problems, I was able to express to the club members how to do the
problem. Not only was this a proud moment for my team, but it was personally
impactful. This moment gave me the fundamental tools in how to teach others.
Additionally, I learned the importance of understanding a subject well, and how
full understanding is key to teaching others well. Around the age of 13 (6th
grade), I was a part of the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program. TAG was an
advanced learning program in subjects such as mathematics and allowed for
students to be in charge of their own learning. So, while deadlines were still
assigned by a teacher, students would learn and collaborate with each other to
complete task. In my experience with TAG, teachers would form small groups of
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students to work with. As the President of my group, I was responsible for

monitoring the learning process and to ensure that everyone understood the
topics for upcoming tests. In this position, I would also have weekly check-ins in
order to summarize the chapters and to ensure that everyone had a clear
understanding of the topics. Similar to my teaching style in past years, I would
go over difficult problems and ask for questions to check for clarity. Teaching at
this age was impactful because it boosted my self-confidence. Within this role, I
gained a sense of leadership and confidence in my effective teaching process.
Furthermore, by seeing the positivity my teaching was bringing, I started to feel
a sense of fulfillment in helping others complete daunting tasks. The most
fulfilling form of teaching I’ve ever experienced was during my junior and senior
years of high school. During that period of time, I was a part of Raider-2-Raider,
which was a peer-to-peer tutoring program at Reynolds High School. For an
hour everyday afterschool, I would help individuals with a wide array of topics
(mostly focused in mathematics such as geometry, algebra, and statistics). In
tutoring students, I would verbally explain to them concepts as thoroughly as
possible. More often than not, however, a verbal explanation wouldn’t cut it.
That’s when I’d bring out visual aids, drawings, or alternative solutions to
conceptualize my words. Often, this combination of explanation tactics was
enough to give the students a solid understanding. An instance of using this
tactic was with one of my recurring students. The topic in question this time was
finding the surface area of a cube. My first inclination was to explain to them
using the formula for surface area: six times “x” squared. However, with the
student having confusion regarding the formula, I found that having a physical
cube in front of me to explain the formula came in handy. It allowed me to show
the process of finding the area of each side and proving as to why the formula
made sense. Not only did this get them to understand surface area, but it also
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gave them an in-depth explanation as to why the formula is the way it is.
However, being in this environment and having recurring students allowed me
to understand the moral aspect of teaching. Many of my students had English as
their second language. Being in this environment has consequently made me
adapt to learning strategies that rely more on visual aids and numbers rather
than words. This is a style of teaching that would not exist in my life if I weren’t
involved in such a diverse and culturally mixed club. Furthermore, teaching in
this environment has broadened my understanding of many cultures and
backgrounds that I wouldn’t have been previously exposed to. So, while I had
mainly seen teaching as a shifting of knowledge, I now see it as a way to build
relationships with others and understand other backgrounds.

I’ve adopted teaching as an adult because it allows me to form important

relationships with others. By entering a new and different background
(University of Portland), I find it crucial to share knowledge with others and
attain professional relationships with my colleagues. I put teaching into practice
during my weekly Calculus study-group sessions. College courses, as I had
imagined, are incredibly difficult. With that said, I find that collaboration is the
best and most efficient form of teaching. These group sessions allow me to
confirm my understanding, teach others what I know, and get help on what I
don’t know. For example, during a study session with my friend, Devam, I was
able to teach him about derivatives (rate of change of a function). What led me to
successfully teach him the topic was the amount of time I personally spent
studying derivatives. I dedicated a significant amount of time on practice
problems and online coursework. With this repetition in completing practice
problems, I was able to teach him how to perform derivatives. Additionally, I
showed him a visual proof of the derivative problem we were working on, which
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flattened out any lingering confusion he had regarding the topic. Moreover, with
the help I gave him on derivatives, Devam was able to clarify some confusion I
had in my Physics class regarding gravitational properties. From this example
alone, while I still feel a sense of pleasure and happiness from teaching others, I
find that the real significance of teaching comes from the relationships I’m able to
form. By entering a semi-professional setting that is this university, I find it
important to have people that I can go to for help and clarity. Through my
teaching, I’m able to have a reciprocal relationship with those around me. Not
only do I find this relationship productive in the way of learning, but it allows
me to continually improve and refresh on essential teaching skills such as
communicating and explaining.

My hero path is independence. Independence is being able to feel

comfortable in expressing who I am as a human being and being able to present
myself in my truest form. Having independence should be a freeing state for an
individual to speak and do what makes them comfortable without judgement.
This theme is important to me because I like showcase who I am to others. I
make my interest and personality traits known. Interest such as music and art are
a part of my identity and promote my uniqueness to others. In presenting this
side of myself, I’m able to connect with those that have similar interest as me and
build relationships with those that align with my values.