Personal Reflection

                                                                 Becoming a Scholar

    This reflective essay delves into the growth I have achieved, highlighting the valuable knowledge and skills I have acquired. Additionally, I will outline my plans for utilizing this newfound information beyond the classroom. When it comes to my writing, I feel that I have learned to be more personal with what I write. Not only that but also how to connect what I am reading to the real world. This helped me understand what I was learning a bit more and have a sincere feeling about the stories I was reading. An example of this would have to be "A Streetcar Named Desire". Me connecting with the characters and the scenery helped me write a better essay as I felt I had more of an understanding of each character's lives. I also have grown as a speaker. I don't really like speaking in public but when I am put to do so I try my best to not show my nerves. In this class, I was put in many situations where I needed to speak in front of the whole class and I believe that helped me a lot. For example, when I speak I am usually swaying from side to side but the more I got to practice speaking, the more I got rid of that habit. Now what I need to work on is decreasing my arm motion as I know that when I am speaking, my arms like to speak too.     

    Throughout the semester I also learned new ways of thinking. The power of love and silence was something I felt the class heavily consisted of. From the stories we read to the activities, we did in class. I always knew the great power silence had either when you are silent or when you are not. What I never really took into consideration was the power of love. We saw how love can leave people to their own self demise, like in street care and Antigone. On the contrary, we also saw how love can keep one's sanity in dark times like in "Children of the Sea". This is not just a feeling felt through characters in a story but also ones that can be felt in the real world. We must be weary of who we love and how we love because it could lead to a life of joy and happiness but also one of pain and sorrow.     

    To be honest I don't see myself as a writer, it's by far one of my least favorite things to do. But as a thinker and speaker, I hope that I will reach a higher level of understanding. In five years I hope that both the way I think and speak will help things get moving, not only in my life but in the lives of others as well. "The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible" (Winston Churchill)